Microsoft: We aren't going to have three different versions of Windows

[Brink]

Microsoft currently has three different versions of Windows running on mobile devices. But Microsoft is working to reduce that number, Julie Larson-Green, Executive Vice President of Devices and Studios, confirmed in an interview last week.

At present, Microsoft offer plain-old Windows for Intel-based PCs and tablets. There's Windows RT for ARM-based PCs and tablets. And there's the Windows Phone OS for Windows Phones.

I reported earlier this year that one of my sources said Microsoft is planning to whittle this down to two versions, though possibly not until the spring of 2015.

Read more at: Microsoft: We aren't going to have three different versions of Windows | ZDNet

 

[Kari]

We have to remember that Julie Larson-Green is one of the names on short list to replace Ballmer, one of only half a dozen names Microsoft is considering at the moment. Comments made by anyone on this list could in my opinion also be seen at least in some extent as "campaign speeches", plans which might not be realized if MS chooses another candidate.

 

[ThrashZone]

This is a pretty out of reality statement I thought ?

Larson-Green dropped a couple of other interesting tidbits during her UBS interview on November 21. She hinted that Microsoft is working towards a future where users may carry multiple kinds of phones or portable devices of some kind. she said that there could be a time when users have "three or four" phone-like devices they'll be able to switch between, using the one best suited to a particular scenario.
I have that six-inch one (presumably the Nokia 1520 or a device like it)," she said, "and when you're traveling on the train and you're using public transit so you can see more and do more, and then when you're out in the evening and you only have your suit, or your evening dress, you have a small one that slips in your pocket. You can buy more than one."

Possibly I should clarify reality as in My reality,
Her second device did not comply with my reality,
Which would include a Laptop not a playful little tablet with cloud everything,
When I travel I actually bring a very small printer as well as my laptop and a few other items which all fit in a small backpack,
So this is where her statement does not fit my workload and needs,
My needs don't rely on a Internet connection every step of the way either because it actually has usable programs and 200 gig hd I can do work on while I travel.
I believe her third and forth device does not include a desktop either which is another story because the story ended so who really knows,
Cheers.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I've read that Julie Larson-Green was responsible for the awful Ribbon.

I can envision her jumping up and down, squealing with delight, when Metro was first mooted.

 

[Britton30]

This is a pretty out of reality statement I thought ?

Larson-Green dropped a couple of other interesting tidbits during her UBS interview on November 21. She hinted that Microsoft is working towards a future where users may carry multiple kinds of phones or portable devices of some kind. she said that there could be a time when users have "three or four" phone-like devices they'll be able to switch between, using the one best suited to a particular scenario.
I have that six-inch one (presumably the Nokia 1520 or a device like it)," she said, "and when you're traveling on the train and you're using public transit so you can see more and do more, and then when you're out in the evening and you only have your suit, or your evening dress, you have a small one that slips in your pocket. You can buy more than one."

Possibly I should clarify reality as in My reality,
Her second device did not comply with my reality,
Which would include a Laptop not a playful little tablet with cloud everything,
When I travel I actually bring a very small printer as well as my laptop and a few other items which all fit in a small backpack,
So this is where her statement does not fit my workload and needs,
My needs don't rely on a Internet connection every step of the way either because it actually has usable programs and 200 gig hd I can do work on while I travel.
I believe her third and forth device does not include a desktop either which is another story because the story ended so who really knows,
Cheers.

MS needs to quit "envisioning" my, our, future and get on with their bread and butter, making the best OS possible and get out of the hardware business. I'm certainly not going to carry multiple mobile devices, that's crazy.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've read that Julie Larson-Green was responsible for the awful Ribbon...

Hey! I like the ribbon!

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

A wrist watch and a cell phone that just makes and takes phone calls (and gets used mostly for emergencies only) is all I care to carry with me all the time. I'll take a notebook with me when on the road. That's all the more connected I need or want to be.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I've read that Julie Larson-Green was responsible for the awful Ribbon...

Hey! I like the ribbon!

I know that a lot of people seem to like the Ribbon.

Unlike my opinion on Metro, I'm in the minority in my opinion of the Ribbon (I find it OK in Excel though).

 

[Dallas 7]

MS needs to quit "envisioning" my, our, future and get on with their bread and butter, making the best OS possible and get out of the hardware business. I'm certainly not going to carry multiple mobile devices, that's crazy.

If we could cut off their LSD and Crack supplier, maybe it would cure that "envisioning" problem.
Microsoft needs to go into rehab, and when they do, they need to take that Larson-Green gal with 'em.
I'm with you, I won't be carrying any of their multiple mobile devices.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there

A smart phone and a thin light (ultrabook) type of laptop iare all I need -- Smart phone is useful for travel - the travel apps are always FAR better for getting info than standing in a very slow moving line at an "Information"(??) kiosk -usually behind some Lady (sorry Gals - but it's usually women who are seen more often in these lines - men usually just want ticket from A to B and don't care how they get there or what colour the train carriages are etc) who is asking some weird obscure question about a train that only runs once every twenty five years or so and wants to compare all 76 different routes and ticket prices - and a Laptop for doing genuinely Computer type stuff.

For me a tablet buys totally NOTHING over a decent smart phone - and a 7 inch is the worst of the lot as it doesn't buy me a lot over a nearly 5 inch Samsung S4 and the phone is a lot more powerful and useful. For reading I'd take an E-reader -- any sort of backlit device for example ipads are just HORRIBLE for reading in bright sunlight anyway - the bog standard e-reader is far superior. On the phone I can even watch movies decently or transmit to a full HD screen via a Wifi device or direct HDMI connection.

I could understand things like tablets could be useful for waiters in restaurants for creating e-bills (or m-bills these days if the get transferred to your mobile) or for service engineers for reading meters, reporting faults etc or tradesmen for consulting parts databases / booking appointments etc but otherwise (for ME - others will have different requirements - tablets were best left for Moses when writing / receiving the 10 Commandments !!) .

If I'm taking notes say at a meeting - I still can't beat the old fashioned pencil (ball point pen) and paper especially for diagrams --I've yet to see an application on a tablet plus the hardware to go with it that can DRAW a complex 3-D proper perspective diagram or sketch a piece of machinery quicker and more accurately than I can do it "The old fashioned way" - Please note - I'm not thinking about CAD solutions here - merely quick sketches at say lectures or demos.

As far as the Office ribbon is concerned - just press CTRL + F1 to minimize it -- trouble is these days seems people are afraid to bother with keyboard short cuts any more --probably because they are too used to Texting / twittering, Face-booking etc.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...trouble is these days seems people are afraid to bother with keyboard short cuts any more --probably because they are too used to Texting / twittering, Face-booking etc.

Cheers
jimbo

In my case, I can't remember what the keyboard shortcuts are (ADHD).

 

[lehnerus2000]

As far as the Office ribbon is concerned - just press CTRL + F1 to minimize it -- trouble is these days seems people are afraid to bother with keyboard short cuts any more --probably because they are too used to Texting / twittering, Face-booking etc.

Minimising the Ribbon (there are at least 3 ways to do that) just makes it even more annoying.

Its supposed advantage over menus is that you can see every option that you'll ever need (according to MS).

• Where is the Print Ribbon?
• Why are half a dozen of them hidden?
• At least one of them is totally disabled by default

 

[Layback Bear]

To me Microsoft is trying to drive down too many roads at the same time.
I would have two roads.
One being the full fledge operating system and the other mobile.
Having the full operating system for PC's and work Laptops and another for cell phone, tablets, netbooks ect.
I never understood having Windows 7 Starter. What a waste of time and money.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I would have two roads.
One being the full fledge operating system and the other mobile.
Having the full operating system for PC's and work Laptops and another for cell phone, tablets, netbooks ect.

Agreed.

I never understood having Windows 7 Starter. What a waste of time and money.

It's the result of the modern corporate practice of gouging customers, using the "nickel and dime" theory.

Did I say modern practice?
Insurance companies have been doing it since time immemorial.
There was a Monty Python sketch in '70s about it (I bet it wasn't anywhere near the first such sketch).
"You bought our 'We Never Pay Out' policy."