Windows 8 and Expectations

Will 90 percent of users always hate Windows 8?

 

I am torn by this post.  I found it intelligent and well thought out, and I found the points to be cogent and thought provoking.

But, I think it is all wrong, but now I understand why.

iOS was totally different from anything that came before it, yet millions of users have adopted it and learned it.  Some will say that is because it is intuitive, but I do not really buy that.  What it was, was internally consistent...mostly.  You had to learn new skills to use iOS, and you did, and once you did, it was easy.

So, why doesn't this work with Windows 8.  The Modern UI is as radical as iOS, and like iOS, it requires new skills, but no one seems willing to learn those skills.

We learned new skills when Windows 95 replaced Windows 3.1.

The problem is expectations.  Now, let's look at those three groups.

Experts...were willing to put in the time to learn the new skills.

Willing Adopters...this is where I would put a lot of the naysayers, as well as those who are enjoying Windows 8.  Willing Adopters are usually willing to learn new skills, but they are also the ones who get frustrated first.

Mainstreamers...they buy Windows, they expect Windows, and honestly, the Modern UI is not really Windows.  To me the idea of Windows sort of implies the functionality which both MacOS and Windows have used, where you open a small box, a window, and the app runs inside the window.  The modern UI doesn't do that, and I really think that MS would have been better served with a new name for the OS...sometimes.

But, most people have become used to the way Windows works, and the Experts and Willing Adopters will know that Windows 8 doesn't work like Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7, whether they like it or not, they will know.  This cannot be said for Mainstreamers.  Mainstreamers will expect Windows.

Microsoft has done a terrible job with managing expectations.  They have shown off the fancy new UI start screen, but given little information about how it actually works.

Windows 8 is following in Vista's footsteps in one way, and that is that Microsoft seems to be doing nothing to manage expectations.  Vista's only real failure was that it required up to date hardware to run properly.  People upgraded old machines and the experience was bad.  People bought underpowered Netbooks with the new OS and the experience was bad.

Windows 7 was nothing but Windows Vista fixed.  The problem is that there is nothing to fix on Windows 8.  The Modern UI is not broken, it is just different.  Many people may not want it, but that does not mean it is broken.  iOS wasn't broken because it did not work like MacOS, and Windows 8 is not broken because it does not work like Windows 7.

But, there is a real problem with people's expectations, and if they want Windows 8 to be a Windows 7 style success, they need to deal with those expectations.  One big part of dealing with those expectations will be convincing people that once they learn the new UI things will be simpler and easier.  That may be a very tough sell after 17 years on the same UI.