Today, Microsoft launched Windows 8 alongside the Windows Store at a press event in New York City.
The Redmond-based company's introduction of a new tiled user interface (UI) is tailored for touch screen interfaces and poised to take on iOS 6 and Android in the ever-growing mobile market. Windows 8 is a ground-up reimagining of Microsoft's legacy operating systems and will surely give pause to some consumers who are unwilling to relearn UI navigation on their personal computers, laptops, and tablets. Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer asserts, "Windows 8 shatters perceptions of what a PC now really is. We've truly reimagined Windows, and kicked off a new era for Microsoft, and a new era for our partners." So, who will enter this new era?
Installed Base Projections
Windows 8 is more than just an operating system; it is an ecosystem to drive apps and service-based software. To this end, Microsoft has streamlined the upgrade process and offers price incentives to consumers who purchase the OS online. Windows President Steven Sinofsky touts that 670 million Windows 7 licenses are expected to be upgraded to Windows 8, in addition to 1,000 computers certified for Windows 8, and 400 million predicted Windows 8-based PC sales. Sinofsky proclaims that Windows 8 will capture an installed base over a billion devices between launch and next October.
Windows 8 Store
An installed base of a billion users is an attractive prospect for any app developer, and Microsoft unsurprisingly used the statistic to pivot into a pitch geared towards these very same people who will decide whether the Windows Store thrives or it withers. "The potential market for apps is the largest for any platform," said Sinofsky.
He adds that while the Windows Store cannot compete with the number of apps available on iOS and Android devices, thousands of new developers are joining the ecosystem each week, and that Microsoft's platform will launch with more apps than any competing store had at their opening. Sinofsky argues that developers will have "access to the vast [catalog of] Windows compatible hardware," such as printers, audio, video, and input devices.
"With Windows 8, we're introducing a new way for developers to build apps that are touch enabled, connected, and mobile," the Windows president continues.
A New Era
Sinofsky summed up the purpose of the Windows press summit, claiming that "the next era of Windows begins [today]."
With Microsoft's own surface tablet landing on store shelves on Friday, and a number of Windows 8 phones launching, the company looks to redefine computing around touch, for better or worse depending on each user's opinion.
As multiple operating systems, device types, and app "ecosystems" thrive and co-exist in the marketplace, consumers have more options than ever to customize their computing experience to their liking. Ballmer boasts that "for the first time, Windows has first-rate tablets, in addition to desktops and notebooks." With Windows 8, Microsoft looks to unify the user experience between each of these platforms and gain footing in the market by meeting the needs of every consumer, regardless of their device preferences.
Windows 8 is available online for $39.99.