All eyes in the technology world turned towards Microsoft’s Build 2013 conference in San Francisco Wednesday, where the company’s biggest guns gathered to convince a vast horde of developers (and journalists) that yes, Windows 8.1 is the key to finally fulfilling the company’s vision for its new-look operating system.
The keynote speeches at Build 2013 were Microsoft’s chance to sway people into buying what the company was selling—if its pitch was keen enough.
Was it?
No—but the problem wasn’t the message as much as the medium.
Steve Ballmer came out swinging, and he actually made a pretty convincing case for Microsoft’s overarching vision. Hearing him excitedly talk about it, the company’s sudden shift to rapid releases and multiple form factors becomes far more intriguing, especially since Windows 8.1 itself fixes many of the most glaring flaws plaguing the vanilla Windows 8 operating system.
Windows 8.1 was built for a world where Windows devices aren’t necessarily all PCs, Ballmer said. At one point, he snatched an Intel Core i7-powered Lenovo Helix hybrid from a stand onstage and espoused its all-day battery life.
“It’s touch, it’s pen, but it also has a keyboard with a built-in battery that literally makes it the most powerful PC and the most powerful, capable, lightweight tablet you can carry,” he said. “Should you call that a PC? Should we call it a tablet? What I call it is all Windows, all the time.”
Put it that way, and hybrids start to sound pretty gosh-darned good.
But at the same time, Ballmer stressed that Windows 8.1 was designed to more elegantly integrate the desktop experience into Microsoft’s modern-style vision.
“Suffice to say, we pushed boldly in Windows 8, and yet what we found was that we got feedback from users of those millions of desktop applications that said—if I were to put it in coffee terms—‘Why don’t you go refine the blend here?’” Ballmer said. “…So what we will show you today is a refined blend of our desktop experience and our modern interface and application experience.”
Windows 8.1 ‘refines the blend’ between the desktop and the modern Start screen.
And then he did. The ability to boot directly to the desktop and the return of the (repurposed) Start button truly enhance the base desktop experience on Windows 8.
Ballmer killed. Everything was going wonderfully, and I was falling under his spell. With Windows 8.1, maybe you can spend most of your time on the desktop, and if you decide to wade in the modern-style waters, you’ll find superb synergies and a refined interface waiting to greet you and make your life more seamless, more connected. Sounds nifty!
Ballmer said people with touchscreens love Windows 8 more than Windows 7 users enjoy that OS—and I found myself believing him.
Yes, despite my best attempts at journalistic objectivity, Ballmer’s smooth pitch had me on right the cusp of being sold… but then the rest of the show happened.
After Ballmer, the show collapsed. The message, or at least as the consumer message, became drowned out in a sea of in-the-weeds details showing off the most arcane aspects of the new operating system, from 3D-printing support to seriously nuts-and-bolts talk about the more under-the-hood aspects of the OS.
Microsoft formally unveiled Windows 8.1 to developers on Wednesday, with executives promising a “rapid release” schedule to keep the pace of new innovations coming.
For those who have read PCWorld’s hands-on of the Windows 8.1 preview, Microsoft’s announcements were nothing new. Executives confirmed the reworking of the Start menu, new boot-to-Desktop options, as well as a slew of updated apps that take advantage of Windows 8.1, which can be downloaded in preview form from preview.windows.com.
For Microsoft, the Build 2013 developer conference represents a chance to connect or reconnect with developers, luring them back to the Windows platform. Although Microsoft is nearing 100,000 Windows 8 apps, that still falls well short of the millions of apps that have been written for the Apple iOS and Google Android platforms.
For Steve Ballmer, the chief executive of Microsoft, the company is undergoing a transformation to a business that develops devices and services, and not just software. “And the only way that can happen is by a company undergoing a rapid-release schedule,” he said.
Although Ballmer and other Microsoft executives focused on Windows 8, they took a few moments to make a few announcements regarding Windows Phone, which provides an interface consistent with that of the other Windows platforms. “It’s beautiful, and it looks like the same software that we have on Windows tablets, Windows PCs, and our Xbox systems,” Ballmer said.
New Windows Phones will appear on Sprint. The big news for Windows Phone is that Sprint will add the HTC 8XT as well as the Samsung ATIV S Neo, meaning that Windows Phones will appear on all U.S. wireless carriers.
But whether it’s a phone or a tablet, smaller screens will become increasingly important, Ballmer said.
”The PC of today doesn’t look a lot like the PC of ...five or seven years ago,” Ballmer said, referring to an “explosion of new devices,” including small-form-factor tablets. Acer’s eight-inch ATIV tablet is “flying off the shelves,” Ballmer said, enabling kids to do homework and do a little bit of entertainment, too.
”This small form factor is very important,” Ballmer said. “I wouldn’t call them PCs, but this small form factor is very important.”
Ballmer also promised that hardware makers would deliver Windows 8 devices with touchscreens, a capability that was neglected within early Windows 8 offerings. Consumers will see an “outpouring” of new devices that are notebook computers in every respect, and touch-enabled, Ballmer promised, Customers that have touch systems are much happier than non-touch-enabled customers, or Windows 7 customers, he said.
Ballmer showed off the Helix notebook from Lenovo, a Core i7 device with a full day’s worth of battery enabled with a keyboard dock.. “It literally makes it the most powerful PC, and the most powerful lightweight tablet... should we call it a PC? Should we call it a tablet? I’d call it all Windows, all the time,” Ballmer said.
Finally, Ballmer moved to the meat of the presentation, the changes that it had made to make Windows 8.1 a bit more consumer friendly—or in Ballmer’s words, to “refine the blend” between the Start page and the Desktop, among other changes.
Ballmer said that the way in which the Desktop and the Start page will be integrated will represent a better blend of both, with boot to Desktop, common backgrounds between the Desktop and the Start page, and other features bringing both together.
Combining the Desktop and Start pages "refines the blend," according to Steve Ballmer. Julie Larson-Green, who runs the Windows division at Microsoft, said she was proud of how responsive Microsoft’s engineering team had become. The company had over 800 updates to the products since Microsoft launched Windows 8 last October, and Windows 8.1 is the biggest.
In portrait mode, the new Start screen works well on the new small-form-factor devices, Larson-Green said. The Twitter app has been designed for the new, smaller form factor. With Windows 8.1, she said that Microsoft had added gestures to the on-screen keyboard, where users can slide their fingers across, tap, and then the word appears. Users can also press and hold to access.
Microsoft's message at Build 2013 is that apps rule—both its own, and the ones created by third-party developers.
Larson-Green showed off the new Mail app, due in the fall. Users will be able to banish or Sweep emails from a certain sender, and then segregate automated emails, such as those from Facebook and Twitter, or subscribed newsletters, into their own folder.
Free music streaming from from Xbox Music will comes with Windows 8, Larson-Green said, together with the ability to create a playlist from music it finds on the Web, she said.
Larson-Green also showed off personalization features, such as the ability to show photos via the lock screen, the ability to take a Skype call from the lock screen, and Windows 8.1’s ability to add personalized backgrounds. She also briefly explained integrated photo editing, plus new apps including Food & Drink, which can be manipulated via hands-free mode. Basically, all the apps “in Windows 8.1 have either been written for Windows 8.1 or updated for it," she said. Those apps can be snapped together, with four per widescreen monitor.
Windows 8.1 ‘refines the blend’ between the desktop and the modern Start screen.
New Windows Phones will appear on Sprint. The big news for Windows Phone is that Sprint will add the HTC 8XT as well as the Samsung ATIV S Neo, meaning that Windows Phones will appear on all U.S. wireless carriers.
Ballmer showed off the Helix notebook from Lenovo, a Core i7 device with a full day’s worth of battery enabled with a keyboard dock.. “It literally makes it the most powerful PC, and the most powerful lightweight tablet... should we call it a PC? Should we call it a tablet? I’d call it all Windows, all the time,” Ballmer said.
Combining the Desktop and Start pages "refines the blend," according to Steve Ballmer. Julie Larson-Green, who runs the Windows division at Microsoft, said she was proud of how responsive Microsoft’s engineering team had become. The company had over 800 updates to the products since Microsoft launched Windows 8 last October, and Windows 8.1 is the biggest.