Over the last few days it seems if a Microsoft Windows 8 presentation aimed at PC OEM\u2019s has leaked out onto the net.\u00a0 Of course no one has confirmed it\u2019s real, but it looks much like the documents I saw during the Vista and 7 development cycles so I\u2019ve no reason to think it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not going to republish the slides here, as clearly they should be under NDA, but not this info is in the public domain I\u2019ll discuss major points in general and my take on the implications.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s new in there?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Industry Trends<\/strong> They describe a market in 2012 providing a wide range of hardware form factors and offering users ubiquitous internet access.\u00a0 In a world where connectivity is assumed MS will continue its \u2018Software + Services<\/a>\u2019 push in Windows 8.\u00a0 With the recent Windows Live Wave 4<\/a> releases already providing a pretty strong platform of local applications coupled with Internet services (Hotmail, Office Web Apps, Photo Gallery etc), they mention that Wave 5 release of these apps is pencilled in for release at around the same time as Win8.<\/p>\n MS are also keen to point out that peoples personal and business computing experiences are rapidly merging.\u00a0 This is something that I\u2019ve certainly encountered over the past few years, and it will be interesting to see how MS counter this.\u00a0 The challenge is in keeping corporate applications and data secure, whilst also providing the flexibility people look for in personal computing from the same device.<\/p>\n Solutions out there in the market currently use a pretty heavy handed approach, using perhaps a separate OS instance though a VM or using \u2018OS on a Stick\u2019 solutions that effectively turn a personal computer into a thin client that then connects to a business desktop.<\/p>\n I suspect that MS could provide a slightly more elegant solution if they choose to build that abstraction into the OS.\u00a0 Windows 7 already supports booting from a VDI virtual hard disk, and can use XP Mode or MED-V to provide applications that run from a separate local OS.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see both of these technologies advance further to present a single \u2018desktop\u2019 to the user that ties back to separate \u2018personal\u2019 and \u2018business\u2019 VM\u2019s.\u00a0 Presumably this may lead to a Client Hypervisor version of Hyper-V along the lines of Citrix\u2019s XenClient.<\/p>\n Apple Envy I\u2019d have hoped that was all a bit obvious to be honest, but it\u2019s interesting to see that it\u2019s a clear part their thinking and even state \u201cThis is something people will pay for!\u201d.\u00a0 Hopefully MS are learning lessons from Apples success, and in fairness their own successful Windows 7 release.<\/p>\n Windows Store<\/strong> I\u2019m therefore very happy to see MS outline plans for \u2018Windows Store\u2019, an iTunes equivalent.\u00a0 It seems like I\u2019m not the only one as the slides show feedback suggesting that it \u201ccan\u2019t happen soon enough\u201d!\u00a0<\/p>\n The concept seems fairly well advanced, the slides include a wireframe storyboard of the app browsing and purchasing experience, which looks quite Zune like \u2013 a good thing I reckon.\u00a0 They also show that a users apps and settings will follow them across PC\u2019s, presumably tied to a Live ID as with XBox Live.\u00a0 The app store will also provide mechanisms for delivering updates or patches to installed apps.<\/p>\n For developers there will be a personalised portal to submit apps, track their progress through the approval process and view analytics around sales and usage.\u00a0 One of the most interesting items shown in the portal is a tab for Telemetry.\u00a0 This shows that developers will be able to monitor how the apps are used and receive crash dumps that are returned by faults.\u00a0 As far as I know this is far in advance of any other systems out there and should help ensure that the quality of apps delivered through the system is kept high.<\/p>\n Something that isn\u2019t covered is how the applications themselves will be delivered.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen MS dabbling with streaming applications<\/a> over the Internet with the Office 2010 beta, which I understand was a big success.\u00a0 Given the current trend towards application virtualisation<\/a> I could see Windows Store making use of App-V<\/a> or a similar technology to deliver apps as discrete objects rather than the traditional MSI\u2019s.\u00a0 Given MS\u2019s own desire to replicate Apple\u2019s \u2018It Just Works\u2019 view of the world using virtualised apps would seem to be be a good route for Windows Store.\u00a0 It would help minimising the errors and incompatibilities that can plague large app portfolios.<\/p>\n Personally I think Windows Store is an incredibly exciting development for users and developers.\u00a0 What I\u2019m curious about is how this might then relate to business use of Windows.\u00a0 Presumably it wouldn\u2019t be to hard to extent this model out into the Enterprise space.<\/p>\n There are already solutions out there that provide \u2018shopping cart\u2019 style interfaces into Microsoft\u2019s Configuration Manager (SCCM)<\/a> application delivery tools, but this sort of interface would certainly be a welcome addition for businesses.\u00a0 I guess there would be a couple of approaches that could be adopted.<\/p>\n For one, Windows Store itself could provide a way for companies to allow users to buy software through it.\u00a0 This would probably need an approval mechanism to ensure that spend was authorised, and also an alternative method for invoicing and payment.\u00a0 It would also be desirable for companies to be able white-list or black-list apps.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s a challenge for sure, but it\u2019s not too hard to envision it happening.\u00a0 With MS\u2019s ability to federate it\u2019s Online services with internal company Active Directories they could potentially access a primitive authorisation matrix through the \u2018Manager\u2019 information in AD.\u00a0 And Group Policy would be a perfect way of switching the Store into a \u2018business mode\u2019 that doesn\u2019t bill the users directly.<\/p>\n The second method might be to build a similar interface that can be hosted internally and used with SCCM.\u00a0 Providing a similar user experience on company machines has obvious benefits to users and IT alike.\u00a0 Indeed given the focus on bringing together people work and home experiences the ability to switch between them at will is probably worthwhile.<\/p>\n Identity and Authentication I\u2019ve played with some tools<\/a> for this before, and it\u2019s a very nice user experience.\u00a0 If MS can get it right and fix the false-positive issues that facial recognition systems can have (i.e. holding up a photo of the computers owner to logon\u2026) it could be a very nice addition.<\/p>\n The other item of note was how Win8 will handle user profiles.\u00a0 It seems that Windows user accounts will be \u2018connected to the cloud\u2019 so that user settings, and presumably documents, will follow them from PC to PC.\u00a0 With Microsoft\u2019s Mesh<\/a> synchronisation technology now mature and forming part of Windows Live Wave 4, I suspect that this will also be the basis of continuously sync\u2019ing user profiles with a Live back-end service.<\/p>\n
Whilst this isn\u2019t exactly news, it\u2019s interesting see what MS sees as the trends that are shaping their development of Win8.\u00a0 Many of these are focused around the users interaction with computers.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>One slide that perhaps shows MS\u2019s overall approach to Windows 8 is actually all about Apple.\u00a0 MS have looked at Apple\u2019s appeal and described a cycle that flows from Brand Promise > User Experience > User Confidence > Realised Value > High Satisfaction and then back to Brand Promise.\u00a0 In other words if it just works, people like it, you look good and they\u2019ll will return for more of the same.<\/p>\n
For some time now I\u2019ve been quite critical of MS\u2019s late arrival into the \u2018app store\u2019 space.\u00a0 As far as I know only Windows Phone has an MS operated app delivery mechanism (and to a lesser extent XBox Live).\u00a0 To my mind both Windows and XBox would benefit hugely from an app store and the ecosystem of developers that it would spawn.\u00a0 Frankly the PC world is still pretty much in the age of having a choice between Freeware, Shareware or full retail software.\u00a0 Apple style app stores completely change this by providing users will a trusted source of apps and developers with a permanent market and a method of getting paid for their work.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>There a couple of slides around Win8\u2019s proposed methods of authentication and how it might handle user data.\u00a0 The obvious flashy thing here is the proposed use of facial recognition for logon, the idea being that a webcam connected to the computer would recognise that you have say down in front of the computer, determine that it\u2019s you and then log you on.<\/p>\n