Windows 8, Windows 9 in the Post-PC World

[JMH]

What does the future hold for Windows 8, Windows 9 and beyond? Where is Windows heading in the next five years, or in the next decade? Is the post-PC era going to usher in the post-Windows era as well? Are the two synonymous?

These are legitimate questions, especially on a day when Microsoft’s soon to be ex-Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie opines that we’re at the dawn of a new day and that the post-PC era is coming.

And just in case that the post-PC concept sounds just a tad too familiar, I want you to think to a few months ago, when Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs also predicted the death of personal computers as we see them today.

Ozzie seems to share Jobs’ view on the fact that the world is ready to evolve beyond the PC. He ties this with the 25th anniversary of Windows which will come on November 20th, 2010.

“The next five years will bring about yet another inflection point – a transformation that will once again yield unprecedented opportunities for our company and our industry catalyzed by the huge & inevitable shift in apps & infrastructure that’s truly now just begun,” Ozzie states.

After 25 years of Windows, imagining a post-PC world is like forcing a revelation that Microsoft might not be able to comprehend, let alone embrace. An exercise into reinventing itself so drastically, that the very core of the company would implode.

And make no mistake about it, 25 years after Windows 1.0 was launched, Windows is still the heart of the software giant.

More -
Windows 8, Windows 9 in the Post-PC World - Softpedia

 

[MattRainier]

"Post-PC"? I'm sorry, but until people no longer wish to have their own personal, powerful computing devices, PCs are here to stay...

 

[marco100]

I think Matt is right.

They can miniaturize every other component but when I am doing any apps I still want a decent sized display and a decent size keyboard.

I understand the appeal of running apps off of a PDA or phone sized device but most of the time there's simply no need to do so.

 

[Barman58]

anyone remember the paperless office?

 

[Shadowjk]

I Just want to add will Windows ever be "Virus Proof" ?? If the OS Upgrades then so does the Viruses One thing I Hope to see in Windows Within the next 10 Years is some Protection against Viruses and Spyware

 

[Nigsy]

Internet enabled TV, My OS and data stored in the cloud, no need for a home PC.
How about Android for my TV?

For home users I think the traditional desktop monitor setup is in for a big shake up.

 

[Vertex]

Internet enabled TV, My OS and data stored in the cloud, no need for a home PC.
How about Android for my TV?

For home users I think the traditional desktop monitor setup is in for a big shake up.

If you don't have Internet access, how the heck can you even use cloud??

 

[24c]

It is fun to be involved in this always evolving field of electronic do-dads. If history has taught me anything it is that some of the new stuff will be good, some not. Just cuz it's new don't make it good, just cuz it's old don't make it bad.

 

[marsmimar]

The computers of the future will be able to take your grocery order by voice. It will order your pizza for you. It will be connected to everything in your home, from the television to the bathroom water. It will be able to be used anywhere, like laptops, but much more advanced.

The computer ten years from today will help you organize your life. It will do your work for you. Imagine being able to control your home, like a smart house. The doors can be locked and the lights will be turned off. You will be able to do everything all from your computer, which will be small enough to fit in your pocket, yet fold out like a normal size computer.

Source: Science and Industry » Computers ten years from today

There is a direct synergy between software and hardware. Depending on the advancements of one will determine the course of the other.

 

[Trucidation]

Pffft. What am I doing on my Core i7 machine that I wasn't on my old 1.8MHz IBM PC clone over two freaking decades ago? Sure, the games are more shiny, MS Office 2010 can run loops around WordPerfect, and all these browsers and websites are a damn sight better than the 1,200 baud modem + telnet combo... but I see no earth shattering, paradigm changing difference. I see no plausible reason to expect the PC era to end any time soon.

Undoubtedly powerful tiny mobile devices that can run your entire household will be a boon, but they won't remove the want - the need - for personal computing. Of course I wouldn't mind if tech could shrink the components to negligible size, but people suddenly loving tiny palm-sized screens instead of their nice huge HD displays? Not happening. Unless the tech gets really advanced and they can like interface with our brains directly so that we "virtually" see a huge display inside our heads or something. Yeah... not holding my breath for that either.

 

[Barman58]

I personally find that as I get older my preferred screen size gets larger, yes it's nice to be able to check my email on the move, but it's a lot easier to answer it with a full size keyboard on a 28" monitor than a 3" touch-screen.

The packaging may adapt as technology improves but unless the human body adapts drasically ther is a limit to miniaturisation

 

[Layback Bear]

I guess I'm goofy because I want my screen bigger. The mouse and keyboard the same size are okay. Making things so small you can't see them or use them without poking them with a needle doesn't impress me. They could probably do that now but how many would buy them. At this time and in the near future they are pushing Cloud Computing. I don't think that will last long because of the security. Just think the worlds hackers, virus program writers and users putting every thing in a cloud. Now try to catch them. A hacker in a Cloud steeling password from another Cloud and storing them in another Cloud.

 

[Grimmjow]

Clouds, clouds everywhere! Rainy days are coming fellow geeks:huh:

 

[n0th1n9]

Cloud computing? You would still need a PC to interface with it, unless they plan to make us into cyborgs.

 

[blackzero]

Don't you wish a super computer like in science fiction movie where you can just raise your hand and type in virtual keyboard to do google searches?

 

[DMHolt57]

...soon your pc will be watching you..........

 

[xarden]

...soon your pc will be watching you..........

It already is.

 

[hello people]

'Post PC world'....I take it that means no more component parts...no more building your own computer...Windows computers will be like Macs. Is that what they mean?

 

[Nigsy]

Internet enabled TV, My OS and data stored in the cloud, no need for a home PC.
How about Android for my TV?

For home users I think the traditional desktop monitor setup is in for a big shake up.

If you don't have Internet access, how the heck can you even use cloud??

Ummm. INTERNET ENABLED TV.

 

[xarden]

Internet enabled TV, My OS and data stored in the cloud, no need for a home PC.
How about Android for my TV?

For home users I think the traditional desktop monitor setup is in for a big shake up.

If you don't have Internet access, how the heck can you even use cloud??

Ummm. INTERNET ENABLED TV.

How can you use internet enabled TV if you dont have internet access?

These TV's plug into your modem/router/network to get the stations, not the traditional way of using radio waves.
Think TiVo.
The only cloud you'll get is on a rainy day.