Thank you to Noom for sponsoring this video! A little while back, I made a
video on the release of Windows 8, which to no one’s surprise ended up becoming one
of Microsoft’s most hated products to date. Given all the things that went wrong with Windows 8,
it would have been safe to assume that Microsoft would have just discontinued working on it right
away, but the story doesn’t end there. There is a lot to unpack with Windows 8, because unlike other
versions of Windows, Windows 8 arguably has the most moving parts to it, so much so that I decided
to divide it into two separate videos. Not only does it tell the tale of an extremely misguided
corporation, but also one that was actually able to somewhat correct its course. In 2013, Microsoft
came out with Windows 8.1, the OS that acted as a form of retribution for Microsoft. “We’re sorry
for making Windows 8. Here is something better.” and it…actually worked. At least, it worked in
the best way it possibly could. Despite all the problems that arose before it, Windows 8.1 was
actually quite well received among consumers, even to the point where people were comfortable
with now making the switch, deciding to update to it from 7 or XP, well at least at a much more
successful scale than the original Windows 8. But not just that; with Windows 8.1 came
a bit of division within the PC community, many critics describing the software as
just a continuation of Microsoft’s confusion of trying to abandon traditional PCs and make
tablets the future, while others were saying that it was better than Windows 7, which
had majority market share at the time. But at face value, Windows 8.1 doesn’t look all
that different from Windows 8…not at all. So then…what was different about it? How exactly did
Windows 8 go from something deemed unspeakable by everyday computer users, to becoming “better”
than what is widely considered the greatest operating system of all time? What went right?
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Now it is important to keep in mind that Windows 8.1 was by no means a silver bullet solution
to all of Microsoft’s problems at the time, but it was a release of Windows that significantly
remediated the company’s direction with their products, and in that regard was successful,
both statistically and with how well it was received among its users. But how was Microsoft
able to do this? So effectively turn a wrong into a right? Like with many product launches
there isn’t just one straightforward answer. But upon observation, the root causes do become
apparent. Windows 8.1’s success can be attributed to Microsoft acknowledging their mistakes
and therefore improving the OS’s features, creating a smoother software ecosystem,
performing effective damage control of the original Windows 8, and as you’d probably expect,
the OS just coming out at the right time.
As you probably remember, people’s hatred
for Windows 8 was by no means embellished. Microsoft really did make some bad decisions, and
the only way for them to make this next operating system better was to own up to that. We really
need to make better sense of just how Microsoft even made these bad decisions in the first place
and how those series of events would ultimately benefit 8.1, and doing so requires going into
the original Windows 8’s development history. It dates back farther than you might think: 2009,
even before Windows 7 was released. And this is not exactly unheard of with Microsoft, Vista’s
production began before XP was released and XP began before 2000, they do like getting ahead
of the game. But it was going to be different this time, because Windows 8’s development was arguably
much more time sensitive than the other releases, and that’s of course because of tablets.
The Apple iPad hasn’t been released yet, but it is apparent that this tablet market is a
growing one that will very soon start to boom, and Microsoft was keen on getting into it.
Windows tablets had existed for a while before, even dating to the Windows 95 days, but these
weren’t exactly good, and because Windows was optimized for keyboard and mouse PCs, it just
introduced more complications than it was worth. The new Windows was going to combat this, make
the tablet and PC systems indistinguishable, and Microsoft announced that this upcoming Windows
version was going to support ARM based computers, in other words, things like smartphones and
tablets. A decision like this would make the new Windows more universal, easier to distribute on
all kinds of tablet-like devices, rather than ones that had to be specifically crafted to support
the hardware demands of older versions of Windows, which took much more time and money to pull off.
Being able to run just as easily on a huge range of devices, with very little to no learning curve
for the user, would create something known as an ecosystem. This would mean that Windows’ main
functionality would be no longer just limited to laptops and desktop PCs. There have only been a
handful of Windows 8 builds that were leaked prior to its official release. The first one appeared
in 2010, and seeing that it was so early on, it was virtually identical to Windows 7, except
for a different wallpaper, but as the years went on, this would quickly. Rumors were quickly
going around in January of 2011 that Windows 8 would include a new application model known as
“Jupiter,” that would introduce a newer design for the already new Windows 7 design. It would
more or less bring in more fluid animations and smoother transitioning from other programs. It
was basically taking Windows 7 and making it more friendly for things like tablets. But it didn’t
stop there. As you’re probably familiar with, Windows 8 would introduce what would become one
of the most hated features Microsoft ever created: Tiles. Because it is much more difficult operating
something like Windows 7 on a tablet without a stylus, tiles were meant to combat that. Big
ole’ buttons that took you to programs and other things. On tablet, it was great, just like
what most people we’re already familiar with. On computer, it was obnoxious and excessive.
As the Windows Builds would progress over time they would slowly start to adopt these
new features, and then in October of 2012, Windows 8 would be released to the public,
and as expected, it did not go well, at all.
But now that we have a general idea
of how Windows 8 was developed, Microsoft’s urge to make big corrections and the
reason for even creating Windows 8.1 in the first place becomes much more apparent. In early 2013,
rumors started going around about a new version of Windows called Windows “Blue” after a Microsoft
developer put the project’s name on his LinkedIn, separate from Windows 8. And this project would
eventually become Windows 8.1, and it wouldn’t be treated as just an incremental update to
8, but as its very own version of Windows. It probably seems a bit shocking that Microsoft
would already announce a brand new Windows barely three months after a brand new one already came
out, but this was because Microsoft announced that they were changing their whole strategy, and that
there would now be a whole new Windows upgrade, every year, instead of once every couple years.
This was done so that they could keep up with the everchanging computer market, but more on that
later. This decision alone showed a lot of growth on Microsoft’s end. The one thing that helped
Windows 8.1 do so much better than its predecessor was Microsoft’s attitude about it, which is
strongly reflected in the OS’s design. One of the most praised features that was seen in 8.1 was the
return of the Start Menu. Trying to run Windows on a PC with a keyboard and mouse or trackpad was
an awful experience, borderline impossible to use. Microsoft admitted that they screwed up, which was
quite a big move for a company its size. Anyone else would have either ignored it altogether or
just solved the problem while pretending that it was a new innovative feature. Microsoft saw
the criticism, owned up to it, and brought the Start Menu back to make amends with its users.
Users even had the option to automatically boot to the desktop at startup, so people didn’t even
have to see the old start screen most of the time. Although the Start screen was pretty much the same
as Windows 8’s and not the one from Windows 7 that people loved, it was a start (no pun intended).
At least people now had somewhere to go, they weren’t just totally lost on this screen wondering
how to access their programs. And not only that, installing a program like Classic Shell was an
easy workaround for this. Having this and being able to boot at the desktop essentially turned
8.1 into a more refined, polished version of Windows 7. And that is what it essentially
became, so it makes sense why some people would think that it was nearly just as good. At
that point, users had virtually no complaints. This new bootup setting wasn’t just convenient
for traditional PC users, it was convenient for tablet users too. Microsoft had made a compromise
with its users. This Start Menu was more appealing to tablet users, so they kept it, the desktop
was more appealing to traditional PC users, so they kept *that*. They now had a choice.
It wasn’t shoved down their throat like it was in Windows 8. Now, Microsoft didn't totally
abandon the idea of tablets being the future they still committed to it, but they decided to
take baby steps with it. They could still take Windows into the direction of tablets, but
had to be smarter and more gradual about it. Right now, it was the time to focus on making
reparations with the PC market, and 8.1 would introduce other little features to help with this
as well, such as more multitasking capabilities, disabling hot corners, which was the big problem
with finding the Start Menu in Windows 8, just to name a few. Microsoft’s ability to reflect
and negotiate did wonders for 8.1’s reputation, and actually helped with sales, both
for the OS and Microsoft devices.
These features sort of create a domino effect
for 8.1’s success, as these things are what helped establish the Microsoft Ecosystem. This was
what Microsoft wanted to create with Windows 8, but ultimately failed: an ecosystem, an operating
system that is so versatile and universally supported, that its use remains the same across
multiple platforms with very little to nothing needing to be changed. Whether you’re on a phone
or a computer, the OS remains the same. Apple has accomplished this pretty well, the iMac, iPhone,
and Apple Watch use sister operating systems that work together so harmoniously, that it all
feels like the same thing, and that is exactly what an ecosystem does. While Windows 8 may have
appeared to have gotten closer because Microsoft had finally created Windows to be tablet-based,
they did so at the expense of having the computer be usable. They didn’t really make an ecosystem
at all. All they did was shift their priorities. But with Windows 8.1 however, those compromises
that we talked about put Microsoft back on track. Now that computer users had the choice of making
their system look like the Windows they always knew and tablet users could also keep the
OS looking like a tablet without having to change the inner workings of the entire operating
system, things were much more interchangeable. Not to mention that 8.1 also had the opportunity to
further tweak Windows’ implementation of apps, so now tablets and computers more or less spoke
the same language: the true Microsoft Ecosystem is born. Windows 8.1 on desktop PCs and Surface Pros
had nearly identical interfaces with Windows RT on the Windows Phone, and since communication was
so smooth, it felt like the same operating system on all these devices. Now of course things weren’t
perfect, there were even some instances where apps flat out didn’t work on 8.1, but it was much
better than before and people took note of that, and were finally more open to
welcoming the Microsoft Ecosystem with open arms. Microsoft would ultimately master
the ecosystem with Windows 10, which can be used exactly the same on the computer and on a surface
with no learning curve at all, but Windows 8.1 is to be thanked for that, because it got Windows
10 in that right direction in the first place.
But how was Microsoft able to pull this off so
well and convince people to switch over to Windows 8.1 in the first place? I mean, the first one
was so bad, why should they trust the next one, that looks like nothing more than just a small
update? Well, because Microsoft was good at damage control. From all this turmoil, they learned
pretty quickly to make it up to their audience, but it did come at a price, literally. If
you were already an active Windows 8 user, upgrading to Windows 8.1, was FREE! Just go
to the Windows store, download the update and have it install while you’re sleeping,
and now you have 8.1 the next morning. There was no way that Microsoft was going to
charge them, and that their users would think that they would have the audacity to sell Windows 8
twice because THEY screwed up! Just keep it free, fix their problems, water under the bridge. And
when Windows 8 users made this free upgrade and saw how much better it was, they would then start
to recommend the update to non-Windows 8 users, “Oh no, it’s really good. It’s nothing like
Windows 8.” “Oh okay, I’ll give it a try. I’ll go to the store and buy 8.1.” And before you
know it, its market share would now grow faster. Microsoft was also able to keep things moderately
under control with how they marked Windows 8.1, and that was because of the name. Microsoft
made it no secret that 8.1 was going to be its own big version of Windows, but they
still kept the Windows 8 association. While changing the name altogether might
have worked better a few years after release (like with Vista and 7), making a new Windows OS
with a new name just a year after another new one looks too indecisive and untrustworthy. So while
it was a big update, they chose to keep the name, but make one incremental change, to make
it appear like a big update for the same version. This was actually a very smart decision:
they made the OS different, but also the same. So this left users knowing that there was going to
be a new update to Windows 8, but rather than just disregarding it as one of the typical updates,
they were now expecting something big, and this marketing tactic was able to open the minds
of otherwise very unmoving people. Microsoft, through brilliant marketing and well managed
PR, minimized the chaos that Windows 8 caused.
And lastly, arguably one of the biggest
components for Windows 8.1’s success was that it was finally released at the right
time. As we both know, Windows 8 wasn’t, because it predicted an upcoming phenomenon a little
too early, the Era of the Tablet (2009-2014). At the turn of the 2000s, people were aware
that tablets were about to become a thing, but it wasn’t quite there yet. They didn’t realize
that the popularity of tablets would snowball, start out small and then start to grow
exponentially (show graph?) In 2011, 3% of American adults owned a tablet,
by 2012 it was 18% and then in 2013, it was 33% (washingtonpost). That is astronomical
growth, and Windows 8 was very smart on picking up on this trend early on, but there’s something
to keep in mind. Considering that the majority of Windows users in 2012 used a computer and
that tablet usage was still pretty small, Windows 8 was just too foreign and people were not
as open-minded to it, it was such a culture-shock. As we just mentioned, this would all change
entirely in just a year. In 2013, there’s more tablet users, meaning more Windows tablet users,
meaning more demand for something like Windows 8, and now that nearly all of its problems were
taken care of with the new update, Windows 8.1 was now the way to go. Windows 8 was right in
predicting that tablets would be the future, but wrong in assuming that it was the only
future. Traditional computers would not go out of fashion by any means, and 8.1 made
sure to acknowledge this with its changes. You could argue that Windows 8 was kind of ahead
of its time, while also focusing on all the wrong areas. Now this next one is a personal theory of
mine, but I do think it holds some water. Another factor of the times not related to tablets
that helped Windows 8.1 was the obsolescence of Windows XP. This seems pretty small but arguably
did a bigger difference than we might think. By 2014, XP wasn’t supported anymore,
and as we’ve mentioned in the past, XP had a pretty nice market share for quite a
while, but those people finally needed to update. For many of them, there wasn’t a whole lot of
reason to update to 7 since a newer Windows was already out, but those using 7 already were
happy with it and saw no reason to change. So a lot of people joining the 8.1 route were coming
from XP for a newer more up to date experience, and all of these things coming together, from
Microsoft’s decision making, all the way to people needing to update their machines, would
improve Windows 8’s market share significantly. It was by no means ever the majority, but 8.1 was
able to take the market share to great strides that wouldn’t have been possible with Windows
8 alone. Microsoft took a problem and made it into a solution. Now Windows 8.1 still had its
fair share of critics and did leave some issues of its predecessor unresolved, but it helped take
us into the era of computing that we are in today. Windows 8.1 was the transitioning point between
what we got with Windows 8 and what we have with Windows 10. It serves as a valuable lesson for
not only learning how to form good from bad, but also learning to properly
take criticism to correct course, and thus enriching the relationship you have
with your audience and using that to continue empowering the quality of your hard work
as well as the passion of your community.
Thank you so much for watching. If you
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