Microsoft Will Continue Pummeling Us with Windows 8

Microsoft has been getting a lot of flack for Windows 8, enough to warrant canning company stalwart Steven Sinofsky. But this is Microsoft and they will be relentless (or desperate, depending on your point of view) in flooding the market with products running the new Windows. Rumor has it the brains in Redmond will release three new Surface tablet models next year. The word comes from MS_nerd, the generally “in the know” leaker of all things Microsoft, who accurately called the demise of the Zune as well as most of the specs for the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows smartphone.

MS_nerd's specs suggest that Microsoft wants to blanket the market on tablet-laptop combos. The Windows RT model, which runs on ARM, shrinks in size to an 8.6-inch display, making it a little smaller than the iPad; and the Surface Pro, which offers the full Windows 8 experience, will now have an 11.6-inch screen, in line with the MacBook Air. The third model is called the “Surface Book” and it’s huge at 14.6 inches.

It’s a continuation of the company’s “no compromise” solution that is inherently a compromise. The RT is a tablet that’s kind of also a laptop, and the Pro is supposed to be a laptop that’s also a tablet. If anything, the Book would represent Microsoft’s commitment to the hybrid format. Why do you need a regular laptop when you can have all of that and more?

The compromise of course is Windows 8, a software solution for this whole endeavor that left old school users confused and was hit or miss among critics. It was always going to be a gamble versus Apple’s refined, focused approach, one that risks alienating users still happy with Windows 7, including the all important enterprise.

Last week, tech bloggers had a field day over finalized prices for the yet to be released Surface Pro. Starting at $899 (no fancy keyboard covers included), it’s by no means cheap. With that kind of money, you could buy yourself an iPad, a Nexus 7, and an iPhone (with contract). Microsoft’s intention however, is that we compare it with the MacBook Air. Remember, by producing their own hardware, Microsoft is trying to be more like Apple. With that comes a price premium. Surface is supposed to set the bar. The problem for Microsoft is that Apple has long solidified its dominance in running the closed ecosystem model. Meanwhile, Microsoft has done little to convince us why we even need Windows 8 in its current form.

For all of the new operating system’s problems, the success story is that while Metro and “Classic Windows” remain distinct concepts with a sometimes confusing relationship, they reside within one kernel. This means Microsoft has a touch platform to build on for the future, even if the present isn’t yet perfect. While Apple seems content taking the laptop concept thinner, Microsoft is looking to go further, and touchscreens are the natural evolution. The laptop concept is certainly due a reinvention. Others argue that reinvention already happened. It’s called the iPad and people love it. Microsoft’s Surface? It’s not quite so unanimous.

There are some that may be buying into the vision. Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses since launch, the company announced last week. We have to take their numbers with a grain of salt since they didn’t offer a breakdown. It’s impossible to know how many of those sales went to consumers or are installed on unsold Ultrabooks sitting in a warehouse somewhere. We also don’t know how well the Surface is doing. But as a comparison, the company sold 60 million licenses of Windows 7 in the first two months, meaning Windows 8 may actually be selling faster (although an upgrade to Windows 8 Professional at $40 costs $60 less than the Windows 7 equivalent). In the end, it’s possibly just PR fluff. Still, it shows that Microsoft can throw its weight around when it wants to.

Here’s the thing. Microsoft isn’t going away and this is only their first swing. The revolution is over. Now it’s time to fine tune and build. Windows 8 appears a fixable if flawed iteration, the Surface series will only improve and Windows Phone is already solid. This wouldn’t be the first time the company steamrolled itself into a competent market position against an entrenched company known for its premium prices, elegant designs and portable music players. Not Apple, but Sony. The Xbox remains one of company’s shining lights in the last decade.

Microsoft also has its desktop dominance to leverage. That the company would sacrifice its iconic Start button shows just how willing Microsoft is to pillage the past to drag us into the future. (Apparently, this was Sinofsky’s idea. He’s gone now.) The hope of course, is that Windows 8 doesn’t piss everyone off before that day ever comes.

Follow Alec on Twitter: @sfnuop