For the Apple and Macintosh [Mac] faithfuls, Windows and anything non-Mac and non-Apple is garbage. Even worse, Apple-loyalists have never been more convinced of any products flawless value proposition than they are of anything stamped with the famous Apple “bite.” Essentially Microsoft can just go away and the world will be a much better place.
Most computer users however, fall in the moderately logical category to computers; - we want something that works, nothing complicated yet reliable, and we don’t care if it is stamped with an Apple [or Watermelon] that glows in the dark. For that reason alone, Microsoft is correct in recognizing that the playing field is still up for grabs, although the Apple-loyalists will swear that a person’s star aligns perfectly with the moon, and life expectancy increases by 50 years, just by owning a Mac. Sure, maybe Microsoft still hasn't figured out all the flaws in its operating system, and the countless necessary updates are a turnoff for most computer users.
Microsoft is hoping its new Windows 8, supposedly with a tablet-like visual feel, will be the much awaited game changer to its operating system. They might as well run a commercial to say “This isn’t your Granddad’s Windows.” The world has changed a bit since the DOS years, and with a computing world always on the hunt for the latest and greatest [and “sleekiest” designs], optimizing products for touchscreen and other “cool” visual interfaces might be the one way to fight back, and fight hard.
One thing Microsoft may have figured out [correctly] is that computer users want a full computer experience on-the-go. For instance, iPads are nice gadgets until you find out what files from your email you can’t open because of the “C –word”, compatibility. Insiders say Microsoft is veering into a tablet-PC combo that allows it to compete with the hundred different versions of iPads that Apple churns out every nanosecond.
The tricky proposition with technology is that two thirds of a product’s customers have no clue of the core differentiators between product A and B. They hear the educated one-third [often computer “geeks” and the genuinely tech-savvy], and repeat their words like gospel. These early adopters [opinion leaders] are often more concerned with bugs, applications, and operating capacity, than they are with fancy interfaces, cutesy icons and colorful cases.
My point? Visual overhauls are fine [and dandy], but if Microsoft plans on giving Apple’ a run for their money, the software’s development should not lose sight of the critical value proposition embedded in the basics; - a computer that works.
