Yesterday at the Microsoft Build 2011 event, the world was introduced to the latest Windows operating system, Windows 8. Mind you, this was a developer preview, and thus no doubt will have its fair share of bugs and improvements to come out in the months to come before it launches what is slated to be fall 2012. Regardless, Windows 8 looked pretty awesome, and it showed the world first how to combine the traditional ‘desktop’ Operating System with the ever expanding and demanding ‘mobile’ operating system.
The reason this is a big claim for Microsoft is because Google claimed this was a probability for Android OS to converge and combine on some levels with Chrome OS. Many people were confused why Google would create a desktop OS when Android was clearly doing so well, and thus thought it would be a waste of time for Google to explore a piece of the market that Microsoft has, and still ultimately dominates with a commanding 90%+ market share.
On the flip side, Microsoft entered back into the mobile operating system market early last year with Windows Phone 7, a huge improvement over their earlier Windows Mobile 6 OS, which died as soon as Android started gaining popularity. Windows Phone 7 however is a major improvement, and some may say is actually the best mobile OS on the market as it combines the stability of iOS, but yet offers customers choice as its partnered with several different manufactures for devices, while maintaining a hardware standard for Windows Phone 7 devices (something Android has lacked). There also, Microsoft was asked the same thing of its move into the mobile OS space, when Apple and Google command 75%+ of that market share.
After watching the demo of Windows 8, I quickly realized that this is truly a leap ahead of other software OS developers, as Microsoft has literally combined the best parts of Windows Phone 7 OS with the latest and greatest features of Windows 7 Pro OS, merging them and making them, work simutaniously, allowing the user to choose either or both launchers to interact with at anytime, whether you’re on a tablet, desktop, laptop, or netbook. Google Chrome OS was supposed to be the innovator here, but alas, Microsoft has beaten them to the punch, and we all know what happens in technology land when you’re the first…”you have the bridge”.
