Well... let's save some time
Hi there
Businesses operate differently to private consumers - I'll bet these days in the few cases where old fashioned desktops are still used the hardware is LIGHT YEARS behind what people have at home.
I guess lot of people is aware of this, unfortunately, the great part of the market is fullfiled with unexperienced users that do minimal stuff on PC... "Light Years" by the other hand sounds a bit exaggerated, here I know poeple with more than 8 GB (the least) of RAM and Phenoms with 6 or more cores (if not Core i7 from Intel...), but average user has a standard 2 GB PC with a dual cored CPU... in most cases that is not too far from what bussines could have... A tablet can NEVER (at least by now) enter this contest, if you are talking about hardware power, just because they are relatevely new and their hardware need to be worked out more to support what a desktop does.
-- Upgrades etc are planned a long time in advance -- they just don't go out --buy a new OS and if it's no good just downgrade again.
W7 upgrades were in place long before W8 was "even thought of" -- and no business is going to go through TWO OS upgrades in a short time - so I don't think the XP===>W7 vs XP===>W8 was a valid point.
True, that's the reason why they refuse to install W8, not only of the short period between 7 and 8, but also about productivity, they need to think about new features tthat need to be learned, if the change is too radical, they need more time to teach users. W7 Incorporated inpressive tools and enhacements for the interface, when Vista came out, Aero was only an eye candy (very pretty but useless and resouce hog), when Windows 7 came, then Aero was tweaked, was faster, reliabe and incorporated neat features that enhaced productivity (Aero Snap, Aero Shake, Aero Peek, Live Clickable Previews...)
Windows 8 goes backwards, you can stay on desktop as long as you want, but needing to add a toolbar to get back Start Menu is silly, even worse, Start Menu in W7 has a search bar so you can even find control panel items without EVEN oing into it. W8 instead forces you to look for the start screen everytime, loosing time, adding more clicks and just being tile showoff instead of organizationaly better... Start menu sorts programs, yes, you need one more click in case of subfolders/subcategories, but is organized, Start Screen is just a mess, even with grouping tiles... Search bar is no longer there unless you click for it... there is more, but is just...
I still maintain that for a lot of people a tablet makes a better option IN THE NEW WORKPLACE - provided the tablet is a DECENT ONE, you have an external decent size monitor and you can connect it to a docking station --with a keyboard and / or mouse as well.
This defeats the entire purpose of buying one of those things... Laptops and netbooks don't need docking stations, and is not about hardware architecture, if it was so easy to use a single tiny screen with serius stuff like offimatic programs or digital painting, those devices would become useless...
Nobody says --least of all me -- that touch for some applications can replace a keyboard -- even with a "Stylus" people can type on a keyboard much faster than they can write and certainly enter via touch.
I don't think people understood what I'm saying here --- IMO a lot of the so called "Traditional" office apps don't really need a "Classical computer" any more -- and with more companies adopting a "BYOD" policy all the company will have to do is provide an infrastructure that a myriad of appropriate devices can connect to.
If 90% of your computer tasks at work are in using word, powerpoint, excel spread sheets, email, or working in such areas as HR, A/P, A/R, Purchasing, Procurement, Customer service etc all these tasks can be accomplished really easily with pretty well ANY front end device attached to a monitor keyboard and mouse.
But is not... you forget people that use specialized input devices (like a digital painting tablet or finger scanners...) The screen simply does not replace them, and having a touch screen along with this is just silly, its cheaper and reasonable that you get a Laptop or PC for this...
A corporate server will provide a decent RDP experience -- and a lot of "Production applications" are essentially "Logon to say an ERP system and choose the application". For example if you are running a SAP system then so long as you can connect to the SAPGUI it doesn't really matter what the front end OS is -- whether it's via an HTTP Portal, Linux or any flavour of Windows.
Developers etc have different needs as well as those administering servers and that type of work -- but I say it again --the basic "Stand alone" Workstation is essentially dead or certainly dying --even in the workplace.
True again, but this doesn't mean that tablets will ever replace this kind of harware... probably I'm just too old fashioned, but standalone servers are still and will be still needed, just because of backups and critical info storage... even the cloud needs this concept... hell... even the Matrix does... XD
I can probably say that in the last 3 years even I haven't actually SEEN anything other than Laptops in the large companies I've worked at -- and more recently plenty of Ipads / Samsung tablets as well -- and these type of devices are just brilliant when making presentations or or demos -- much easier than disconnecting a laptop, finding a LAN, connecting up again to the server, loading up Office from the network --then Bang the network goes down etc etc.
Laptops are portable in a reasonable way, also, allow users to take work at home.
I've also seen a growing usage of tablets for presentations, but never seen someone doing one on it...
And trying not to sound harsh, laptops don't need a LAN, all of them are equiped with a Wi-Fi Antenna device, you don't need cables to connect to the network...
I know the desktop won't disappear 100% -- but even today I'll bet it's around 80% GONE in workplaces and in fact the whole BYOD concept makes the whole procurement and installation of corporate OS'es much more simple -- so long as the server(s) provide the relevant GUI the I.T staff just have to fix the server(s) -- they don't have to deploy 2500 copies of Windows etc any more.
Then, Windows is useless here, even worse,
Windows 8 is... they got their own corporative enviornment and this kind of companies hardly will ever make it into buying a copy of any version of Windows, unless they need it to run they layer software, which returns again to no Windows 8 here...
Small offices may even find it easier as there's usually no "established I.T dept --usually a GURU who messes around with a small server -- so providing a single GUI on the server should be a doddle also.
Even corporates need at least one server to get backups at least... it's not that easy to have data floating around without taking some precautions...
Final Note:
Not that I'm trying to defend the "W8 is s***" plot or something, but here are facts that really pissed off the community about this OS:
- Unnessesary change of the GUI for traditional computing. Traditional PC DOESN'T need tiles floating around, hidden options and improductive ways of working, instead you need a clear desktop experience, with all you need at hand and clearly easy to find.
- Forcing users to the new GUI, knowing is just a mere stetical change (for the worse) raher than a true improvement. And by this, I mean not having the option to choose from Traditional desktop experience, or the new Modern UI, Intermediates and advanced users could be pleased because all options are available just like it was on past. Newbies or not experiences got the option to use a simpler UI wich will let them to do ligh stuff (check emails, facebook, chatting...)
- Trying to fool experienced users with a marketing argument (Modern, new, changes...) and even taking Windows 95 into account, when is clearly not the same case. Windows 95 was a vast improvement, not just because the enhacement of 16 bit computing and start of 32 bit, but also Start Menu and task bar, programs organized and easily accesed by just one click ahead...
Personally, I liked Windows 8, Start Screen looks nice (until you install all you need and you discover is a whole sea of tiles) and Modern UI looks new enough... but trying to do serius bussiness on it is like assisting suicide...
Most people has the same issue, that's all, there is more than just complaining about an appereance, this is about workload and efficiency at it...
So, in short, Tablets and Smartphones = Windows 8, PC's = Windows 7, make your choice, be happy. MS forcing users to Windows 8 because is clearly not an improvement = Fail for them...
Just my two cents, and with all my respect and politeness, I don't mean to effend anybody.
See ya!!
Not too bad for a company supposedly going nowhere).
