I got a bunch of flak for condemning the new Windows 8 Metro interface, but now that we've see what Microsoft is scheming at its Build conference, I feel vindicated.
First of all, the interface should be renamed Microsoft "Kiosk," because that seems to be the source of its inspiration. Then again, it reminds me of the Nintendo Wii, only with higher resolution. It also looks like it wants to blast ads at you.
I have mixed feelings about this because, for years, I have been bitching and moaning about the "desktop metaphor" user interface. I begged for something new. Well, be careful what you wish for. Of course, I didn't expect to see a smart phone interface on a desktop computer. Remember that this is the Phone 7 UI.
It's possible that I can warm up to this idea, but the relationship between the computer and the human only grows closer and closer. Microsoft has created a distance with the Metro interface that may actually be a step backward, as the company seems intent on taking the "personal" out of personal computing.
I hope Microsoft doesn't shoot itself in the foot with its new ideas—heck, I hope it doesn't shoot itself in the head.
I say this after reading a couple of interesting headlines from clueless observers, as well as a Steve Ballmer quote. Ballmer said, "We haven't sold quite as many as I would have liked in the first year." In other words, it's not moving. The fact is, it has no traction with or without the help of Nokia.
Nokia, now run by an ex-Microsoft executive, is supposedly banking on a turnaround for the Phone 7 platform. We have to ask ourselves the simple question: How? And why would things change? Nobody has ever even suggested that Phone 7 is some radical new departure that is building momentum among the cognoscenti. If anything, it seems to be building a negative buzz. How does it turn that around? I actually hope it manages to do it, so I can bear witness.
With this in mind, the Metro interface is now coming to a desktop near you. It will also be on a belated Microsoft tablet. We get a headline from ComputerWorld.com that asks, "Will tablet developers rush to Windows 8?". At the Build conference, the company is giving away 5,000 Samsung tablets that will sport Microsoft software.
I have not gotten to the bottom of why exactly Microsoft decided to radically depart from the trend line with Metro. Let me just say, I was excited when it was discussing the idea of creating a new file structure that would make it possible to instantly search for anything structured for rediscovery.
There were other initiatives that Microsoft failed to implement. So, I guess this is a way of pretending that nobody will notice. Microsoft is like a little boy who just broke the vase. You begin to scold him, and suddenly, he presents a bouquet of fake flowers from behind his back and says, "look, magic!"
I, for one, am not amused.
Ask yourself one simple question: Does this advance computing in any way?
At the moment, it seems nothing can throw Microsoft off this track. I can only reason that the company jumped to put the Phone 7 interface on the desktop because Steve Jobs hinted that he was going to put the iOS interface on the Mac—a bluff to confuse Microsoft. Ford once did this when it pre-announced a six-door SUV that it never produced, hoping to catch GM off guard. At some point it's a suckers game.
Microsoft appears to be the sucker.