Microsoft Windows 8 is being released before it’s fully ready. That is what Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini told staff at a recent meeting in Taiwan. An attendee from the private meeting told Bloomberg that the Intel CEO said improvements to the OS still need to be made. However Mr Otellini expressed the opinion that it is the right move by Microsoft; because the time is right and the software company can issue updates after the new OS launches.
Timing
Timing is crucial; Microsoft and its partners need to get the new Windows 8 OS and the raft of new associated hardware into retailers and available without shortages or supply problems in good time for the holiday shopping season. Customer interest in new products like, for example, the Microsoft Surface needs to be aroused well before those Xmas presents are bought. Microsoft and its hardware partners don’t want a white (or black iPad) Christmas but a multi-coloured one with a modern UI...
Bugs?
A surprising aspect of the Intel CEO’s statement wasn’t about how the new Windows OS is not yet fully developed enough for consumers but that it contains bugs and is “not fully baked”. In an earlier Bloomberg report, analysts Alex Gauna of JMP Securities LLC said “We are concerned at the level of bugs and fine tuning that appears necessary to get the beta systems we demoed ready for prime time”. Also another analyst speaking to Bloomberg said manufacturers “haven’t had enough time to work out kinks with so-called drivers, which connect software to such hardware as printers”. These notions fly in the face of Microsoft spokesman Mark Martin’s statement that “With over 16 million active preview participants, Windows 8 is the most tested, reviewed and ready operating system in Microsoft’s history”.
Last night c|net received a statement from Intel, a statement which rubbed a little lotion onto Windows 8’s grazed knee. An Intel spokesman wrote“We continue to see Windows 8 as a significant opportunity across the board and are excited at our prospects in new form factors like Ultrabooks, tablets and convertibles.”
It’s exactly a month until the launch of Windows 8. I have been running the RTM Enterprise evaluation version of the OS for a couple of weeks now and am happy with the smoothness of operation and stability. All the old peripherals I have installed have worked well, that includes several printers and scanners. The only unreadiness I perceived was on the desktop side of things, when I first switched from the Modern UI to the desktop it was like a desert – “where is everything?” I thought. But now with all my favourite programs and folders pinned to the taskbar, some on the desktop, others in the Modern UI side of things I feel at home again. Have any readers experienced bugs in Windows 8?
