3 ms·

The thing about Windows is they don't really have to do very much and they'll still sell a boat load of copies. Windows 7 has sold tens of millions of copies. I

The thing about Windows is they don't really have to do very much and they'll still sell a boat load of copies. Windows 7 has sold tens of millions of copies. I would consider that a resounding success in such a short period of time. But the fact is, attention is quickly shifting away from desktop operating systems. So while it will be do doubt successful, I still wonder when Microsoft is going to step up their game on the mobile front.

sgk284 16y ago
While that's all true (one minor correction, 150 million Win7 licenses have been sold). If you haven't taken a look at Win7 mobile, you might want to. It's a pretty decent and novel approach to mobile UI. Microsoft has stepped up it's UI efforts in the past year or so. You're starting to see this in most of their products. They finally got a kick in the nuts after resting on their laurels for too long. Win8 shouldn't disappoint.
- huhtenberg 16y ago
  Having looked through the slide deck I can't help but to draw the parallels with similar plans for Vista. "It will have this, it will have that, 3rd and 4th" and in the end all that left was the protected media path and the windows-tab gimmick. Perhaps MS has changed, but frankly given the history and considering its size and the amount of office politicking involved I find it fairly hard to believe.
bad_user 16y ago
> attention is quickly shifting away from desktop operating systems You could've said that 10 years ago, and it would still hold the same value of truth. Fact of the matter is, consumers and companies are still interested in desktops and laptops, and Windows is the default OS. Also, I know it's trendy to say this (since we are on HN and all) but this is wishful thinking.
- jbrennan 16y ago
  Don't get me wrong, I think people will continue to buy "desktop" class computers for a long time to come, and in great numbers, so I believe Windows on the desktop has a long and prosperous future ahead of it. But so far as where the growth is these days, it's all in mobile.

sgk284 16y ago

While that's all true (one minor correction, 150 million Win7 licenses have been sold). If you haven't taken a look at Win7 mobile, you might want to. It's a pretty decent and novel approach to mobile UI. Microsoft has stepped up it's UI efforts in the past year or so. You're starting to see this in most of their products. They finally got a kick in the nuts after resting on their laurels for too long. Win8 shouldn't disappoint.

huhtenberg 16y ago
Having looked through the slide deck I can't help but to draw the parallels with similar plans for Vista. "It will have this, it will have that, 3rd and 4th" and in the end all that left was the protected media path and the windows-tab gimmick. Perhaps MS has changed, but frankly given the history and considering its size and the amount of office politicking involved I find it fairly hard to believe.

bad_user 16y ago

> attention is quickly shifting away from desktop operating systems You could've said that 10 years ago, and it would still hold the same value of truth. Fact of the matter is, consumers and companies are still interested in desktops and laptops, and Windows is the default OS. Also, I know it's trendy to say this (since we are on HN and all) but this is wishful thinking.

jbrennan 16y ago
Don't get me wrong, I think people will continue to buy "desktop" class computers for a long time to come, and in great numbers, so I believe Windows on the desktop has a long and prosperous future ahead of it. But so far as where the growth is these days, it's all in mobile.