Why would you throw away a brand that has built your fortune and supports the paychecks of more than 90,000 employees? Perhaps, because time has caught up and your old brand has too much baggage to take you into the future. If Windows 8 is just a code-name, and Microsoft leaves most of the idea of Windows 1 in the past, could or should Microsoft complete the reinvention circle and launch the new OS with a new name?
If you ask such a question and refer to an iconic brand such as Windows, you’d be called nuts and your other option in consideration may be business suicide, or rescue, depending on your view. Introducing a new brand is nothing that you do because you feel like it. Tinkering with the brand logo can be disastrous (remember the Gap logo redesign wreck?) and eliminating, redirecting and creating a new brand for something people are used to is something you may want to think about for a long, long, long time (longer than Netflix did).
However, if the brand has outlived itself, a new brand may hold more opportunity than the old. I wonder, if that is the case with Windows? And, as a side note, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sits on Microsoft’s board and could give some valuable advice how not to introduce a new brand.
Windows 8 Start Screen
Reinvention
Microsoft tends to overuse phrases when it introduces a new version of Windows. Reinvention would be that word for Windows 8. I won’t go into details about Windows 8 and its tiled interface. However, it is that interface that spearheads a range of “reinvention” that just isn’t Windows anymore. The original Windows introduced a windowed interface that has been controlled with the mouse as the main form of input.
Admitted, you can still have the legacy interface in Windows 8, but this new interfaces is tiled, not windowed. The mouse is not the primary approach for data input anymore. It is all about touch. Touch may not make sense on vertical screens and I somehow believe that Microsoft is a bit too optimistic about our willingness to switch from a very granular input method (mouse) to a rough and much less exact way (touch), but there is no denying that this new Windows version is a clear departure from the original Windows. There is no Start menu (which arrived in 1994 with Windows 95) anymore. Instead of folders, we will get screens. Windows open in full screen and it may be tough to call those full-screen displays windows.
There is a good chance that this departure is not enough and Microsoft will have to adjust the software to make it work on all devices that are targeted. However, considering that big departure and the fact that windows are largely gone, what is the purpose of calling this OS Windows?
Devices
This new operating system will not just run on PCs. It will run on tablets, ARM and x86. It will run on everything in a range that spans from very little processing power to enthusiast boxes. The anticipated system requirements are below those of Windows Vista in 2006; Microsoft is investing a lot of time and money to further bring down those (processor and memory) requirements in an effort to reach as many devices as possible – devices that we may describe as PC+ or post-PC devices. Whatever it is, it is prudent to anticipate both scenarios and Microsoft’s development certainly indicates that the company wants to be prepared for PC+ and Post PC.
There is a an entirely new range of devices that are targeted by this new operating system – a range of devices that has not worked well with Windows in the past. There is a subjective concern that hardware that depends on maximum battery efficiency and performs well with very little horsepower just does not work with Windows. Windows has been held down by its significant system requirements and even if Microsoft reduced the required horsepower, there still is perception baggage: A Designed for Windows sticker on a tablet does not invoke a lot of confidence in the buyer of such a product. In a space where iOS and Android are seen as lightweight platforms, Windows is still too clumsy, too chunky and not nimble enough to compete against this new class of rivals.
It may not be such a great idea that Microsoft will leverage the Windows brand to compete against multiple Google brands (Android, Chrome) and multiple Apple brands (iOS, Mac OS).
Windows 8 On-Screen keyboard
The Changing OS
Let’s be honest: the general idea of what an OS should be and what it should do is changing. We are not just dealing with new devices and new technologies how we input data on a screen. We are seeing platforms that are changing the way we are using computers and how we are accessing data and services. Cloud technologies are changing our computing experience as we are increasingly connected and we demand access to all information all the time.
Google’s Chrome OS may not have hit a homerun yet, and Chrome OS is surely far from perfect, but it is a sign of things to come. In Google’s case, there is a minimal interface that provides access to a backend that delivers access to data, software and services. It may need a few more evolutionary stages until the mainstream user could consider it an option for Windows, but Google is certainly working toward the goal of turning it into a mainstream platform. For example, we just heard that Chrome will get support for Mozilla’s Joystick API, which will effectively turn Chrome into a much more attractive gaming platform as it will support devices such as remote controls and gamepads. Mozilla, on the other hand, is expected to release Boot-to-Gecko as a mobile OS platform next year, which could drive the idea of a cloud OS much more aggressively.
The Windows platform has not changed and it is, subjectively, still the same local workspace it was first released in 1984. There is still a basic OS interface that provides access to locally installed applications that run on top of it. The OS Microsoft demonstrated at its Build 2011 conference is carefully heading toward cloud services via its app market place, the integration of Xbox Live and via the new device types it supports. If Windows has to change even more because of a changing platform environment that is fueled by connected services, the perception of that change will have to be strongly supported by product branding and there is the question if Microsoft could do this with the name Windows.
Steve Ballmer’s Legacy
Windows 8 is do or die time for Steve Ballmer. Period. There isn’t much Steve Ballmer has created at Microsoft, at least not as far as the consumer sees it. Ballmer is the operations manager who happened to be in the right place at the right time and was lucky enough to fill in for Bill Gates.
Of course, that description isn’t fair and if you look a bit closer, Microsoft has to thank Steve Ballmer for the cash it has right now. Where the average company thinks it can earn $1, Steve Ballmer knows how to make $2. Unfortunately, that talent is not enough and when Steve Ballmer leaves Microsoft, the company will still be emotionally tied to Bill Gates and Ballmer’s image is likely to fade quickly. What will Steve Ballmer be remembered for? His monkey dance? (As funny as this dance is, it shows one thing: This guy is one dedicated CEO!)
Ballmer has been attacked for several years because of Microsoft’s non-moving stock price (in a similar way, Intel has been complaining about its stagnant stock as well, but it seems that Paul Otellini is largely escaping those complaints). Those attacks will continue until the stock price changes or he is able to establish his own legacy. It won’t work with Windows, but with a product and brand that he is connected to. Windows 8 would be one of his last opportunities.
The Reality
As much as I would believe that Windows 8 should not be called Windows 8, we know that Windows 8 is more than just a code name. The blog that is promoting Windows 8 is called “Building Windows 8″ for a reason. Using the name as a successor for the successful Windows 7 makes also sense. It is rather unlikely that Microsoft would drop the Windows brand.
If it was me, however, I’d be considering a switch into a new era that is as significant as the user model that Windows 8 introduces. What about Tiles?
Wolfgang Gruener in Business on October 11
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