The Unification of Windows for Desktop, Notebooks, MIDs, and Phones ...
Hi zax,
<< Thats huge that WP8 will be based upon the Windows 8 kernel. Big-time convergence. >>
It really is huge in my estimation as well. Make that HUGE! It's more than catch-up and could and should put Softie ahead of the curve entering 2014 and usage of Win8 will drive usage of WinPhone 8. The transition will be challenging and there is certainly risk attendant but potentially it's a real game changer if Microsoft with the collaboration of their well chosen strategic partners and licensees can execute the transition well, particularly since they'll reach requisite relative hardware parity with the new and evolved chassis specs, will have an unexcelled languages advantage enabling them to poke into every global nook and cranny, and since WinPhone 8 will allow for native code support developers can port apps they've already written for another platform to Windows Phone with relative ease allowing for rapid expansion of both the developer base and the applications and content base.
I suspect that the Belfiore leak was intentional and I also suspect that while he hit some high points Microsoft is probably still "holding a lot of cards close to its chest," to tantalize while not giving away the store.
It's exciting. The Metro UI is fresh, different, and exciting. I say that as a 28 year prosumer user of Microsoft OSs skipping only DOS 4.x, Windows 1.x and 2.x, ME, and Vista along the way, of IE browsers (the good and not so good) as primary or secondary since '94 after ditching 16-bit then 32-bit Netscape with the winsock, of business Software (Office and its components) since '95 after saying good-bye to Innovative Software's Smartware suite in the DOS days and the Lotus suite with AmiPro, 1-2-3, and Freelance Graphics in the early Windows days, Outlook, OE, and Windows Live E-Mail clients as primary since '95. I've been a frequent beta tester of Microsoft products over the years for my employer or myself and as an individual investor have maintained a basket of the equities of several of the pioneering market leaders in digital convergence in his portfolio for many years.
My original Win7 machine was a budget priced, actually throwaway priced, AMD dual core Vista equipped Compaq 32-bit box with free upgrade to Win7 but it has never missed a beat and still runs like a champ but I just recently added a very highly discounted budget priced but nicely expandable Intel powered dual core 64-bit HP with the intention of installing and dual booting the Win8 Beta as soon as it goes public. I'll wait till Win 8 is commercial and there are more usable 64-bit apps to go high end quad-core with heavy duty power supply, and hot graphics and sound cards. I'll continue to use my S^3 Anna (soon to be Belle) Nokia N8 smartphone -- the 3rd Symbian phone I've owned and used since '04, and which originally replaced a 16-bit Palm based Kyocera -- for some time, but I suspect that my next smartphone purchase will likely utilize the WinPhone 8 OS. Eventually I'll probably add a Windows tablet slate or hybrid ultrabook to replace an aged Dell Latitude notebook running XP SP3.
It's all going to be fun to watch and participate in. There will be Virtual Warfare for every Virtual Warrior wearing Virtual Armor and sporting Virtual Weaponry that frequents message boards like those offered by SI, regardless of the various nutball fringes native persuasion. In the smartphone and MIDS game there is the battle of ecosystems playing out, but new sideshows will include ARM Holdings and Qualcomm v. Intel ICs and architectures, the whole movement to cloud computing where the Microsoft, Google, and Apple superpowers all compete in its early stages and will jockey for dominant positions, and the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing that will eventually power smartphones and MIDs. Fun stuff!
Cheers,
- Eric - |
