Microsoft May Unify Windows Phone and Windows RT, Develop New User Interface

[eugie]

Windows 8 on smartphone, tablet ,pc, apps run in all hardware ...

 

[z33dev33l]

Yeah, we've known of this for months

 

[eugie]

I think it's great that Microsoft wants to be able to run any app in all three ecosystems....i don't give up my wp...

 

[crash1989]

As a developer I want that more than anything. It will change the experience a lot since I could basically develop one app (with tweaks for diff OSes) for Win Phone, Win 8 , XBox and any devices that support Modern UI. Exciting times. I also want MSFT to develop Office touch which seems to be in development as the rumors suggest. Seems that they want to get rid of the desktop

 

[Pacus1x]

A more tight ecosystem is more than required, maybe is one of the reasons that stop people buying RT tablets because investing so much on your Windows Phone and none of that you see on your RT tablet, no good that's for sure. And the app count would go up in an unique system than a separate ecosystem, so finally will stop people saying WP o RT "no appzzz no gamezzz"

 

[anony_mouse]

Seems that they want to get rid of the desktop

I think that could be the worst business decision of all time (worse even than IBM circa 1982).
MS marketshare in smart phones: <5%
MS marketshare in tablets: <5%
MS marketshare in laptops/desktops: >90%

I think I can say with some confidence that Microsoft will not get rid of the desktop.

 

[fwaits]

MS wants to get it down to Windows (WP/RT/Xbox) and Windows Pro (Full Win w/Desktop + Modern UI) that way you have 1 store to rule them all, develop once, access all (With exception of traditional Desktop apps), and maximize service ambiguity across all devices so they work as seamless as possible. At least that's what I hope.

 

[dznk]

Unifying them would be great. It would boost the number of apps and in the process the number of people using WP. The sooner they do it the better.
As for the Desktop going, yes it will at some point, but I hope not for many years. Microsoft would be shooting themselves in the foot if they tried to do it within the next few years, as too many people are still used to using it (me included).

 

[gsquared]

I think that could be the worst business decision of all time (worse even than IBM circa 1982).
MS marketshare in smart phones: <5%
MS marketshare in tablets: <5%
MS marketshare in laptops/desktops: >90%

I think I can say with some confidence that Microsoft will not get rid of the desktop.

They don't have to get rid of it. All they need to do restrict the necessary tools to develop for it. The desktop will disappear on its own.

 

[marcomura]

They don't have to get rid of it. All they need to do restrict the necessary tools to develop for it. The desktop will disappear on its own.

Yeah, who uses the desktop afterall...

 

[Laura Knotek]

They don't have to get rid of it. All they need to do restrict the necessary tools to develop for it. The desktop will disappear on its own.

It will be a gradual process. Enterprises are not going to be able to get rid of legacy software and retrain all their employees at once.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

I say go for it with removing the desktop from RT... after you move a few more things over to the Modern UI.

 

[anony_mouse]

They don't have to get rid of it. All they need to do restrict the necessary tools to develop for it. The desktop will disappear on its own.

Time to buy Apple shares.

 

[BitPusher2600]

I would've liked to have seen Windows Phone OS used in place of RT. Weren't they at one point considering scrapping RT or am I mistaken?

 

[dkediger]

It will be a gradual process. Enterprises are not going to be able to get rid of legacy software and retrain all their employees at once.

If only they would free up Terminal Server/RDP/Hyper-V licensing.....And make a WinRT RDP client. That would make it possible on 8.x Pro/RT/WP devices. I would really, really consider rolling a bunch of desktop PC's over to a Surface 2/Nokia 2520, etc.

 

[anony_mouse]

If only they would free up Terminal Server/RDP/Hyper-V licensing.....And make a WinRT RDP client. That would make it possible on 8.x Pro/RT/WP devices. I would really, really consider rolling a bunch of desktop PC's over to a Surface 2/Nokia 2520, etc.

How would you deploy those tablets? I could see them being used in a dock, with a keyboard, mouse and monitor (as with a laptop), and the user extracting them when they need portability. Is that what you are thinking of?

Personally, I think I would stick with a laptop for work. A bigger screen and better keyboard is better for work, even with the extra weight. But I'd be interested to hear people's experiences of this kind of set up.

 

[dkediger]

Its a good thought process. I work for a car dealership group. We have A LOT of legacy Win32 apps that aren't getting updated very rapidly. Its becoming a real pain from a hardware/software driver standpoint, as well as an OS/software layer standpoint to support those apps. There is unfortunately a lot of Java in those apps, and a lot of those utilize external access. If MS went "back to the future" and included a TS license with Windows RT devices I could cost justify kicking those apps into a TS desktop to isolate them a little. In the process, they can sell a bunch of SurfaceRT's as well as maybe a server or 2.

Yeah - with a keyboard, mouse, monitor when needed. Would be perfect for sales portability, yet plug into a bigger presentation screen for use with a customer. We have very few traditional physical workspaces - except for that PC sitting there. And the phone. Most people have their desk extensions forwarded to a cell anyway - I would really like to get away from desk phone sets at some point.

Service write up has to do a walk around courtesy inspection now. Most of those are iPad based, some can use a web browser. But then they still have to return to PC to perform the actual repair order entry. Two devices needed for essentially one job function. And one of those devices - the iPad - is really useful to us for just that inspection component. A $400 device that sits unused for 97% of the work day.

We have a number of "group" employees that move from location to location. Most do have notebooks, but then we're still bit with the compatibility bug.

I could do all that today, but the cost of having to acquire another full license for that TS/RDP instance is what holds me back

 

[juanitoriv]

With RT, you can do remote desktop, I think may be wrong though, natively. I'm in need of a new machine, and I'm tired of the PC only setup. Don't want a laptop, but a tablet/convertible is very appealing.

 

[anony_mouse]

Very interesting... I can see that tablets could work well for you. I think Microsoft really need to be flexible and to address this kind of situation. I'm not convinced about Windows RT for consumer use, but done properly, it could be great for enterprises (which iOS and Android don't really address in a serious way). To be honest, I see Microsoft as primarily an enterprise-facing company, not a consumer-facing one.

I remember about ten years ago when Linux became a significant force in IT - the fact it was free made it cheap and easy to try out new ideas. It was a revelation at the lab I worked in at the time. Of course, Microsoft will want to protect their revenue streams, but they need to be careful that licensing conditions don't prevent people from experimenting, or force them towards other more open systems.

 

[dkediger]

Yeah - There is a Modern RDP client. It has to be installed though - no biggie. What would be absolutely awesome would be a Parallels-style "Coherency" mode.

The real big gotcha though is - to run virtual machines in TS/Hyper-V, you have to legally have a license for that virtual machine instance as well. Which is just as much as a regular desktop license. Way back with Windows 2000/NT, that virtual machine license was included with your desktop license.

It would seem to me that including that virtual machine license with the physical machine license again could increase the pace of adoption of Windows RT devices, and prune the traditional desktop back even more on Windows 8.x.