Microsoft’s mobile moves: Still your father’s technology company

Microsoft created a virtual assistant, made Windows free on small devices, and brought back the Start button – but it’s still playing catch-up

This has been a big week for Microsoft, with a flood of new announcements and changes of direction. Along with its Build conference, new CEO Satya Nadella has made a number of moves designed to reverse the public perception that the company is an aging also ran in the technology races.

The changes include
Rolling out its new Cortana digital voice assistant
Announcing that Windows would be free to manufacturers of devices with small screens
Coming out with "universal" Windows technology that helps developers build apps that run on multiple versions of Microsoft's operating system
Reviving the popular "Start" menu for Windows 8.1

Though some of those moves are more important than others, they're all good things. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be enough to solve Microsoft's problem of being seen as your father's technology vendor. Here's why:

Consumers vs. IT
As noted above, Microsoft's issues right now revolve around how the company is perceived by consumers, and it's unlikely that these initiatives will be enough to change those perceptions. While all useful, none of them are truly new. Instead, they're playing catch-up to existing products and services from Microsoft's competitors, perhaps with incremental improvements, or acknowledgements that previous Microsoft strategies simply weren't working out.

Technology professionals will welcome these changes, but the IT community isn't where Microsoft's problems lie. In my experience,, enterprise IT generally likes and trusts the company. Microsoft's challenges lie in convincing fickle consumers that it's as cool and innovative as Apple and Google. I can't imagine these moves being exciting enough to do that.

Better, but not better enough
While initial reports suggest that Cortana is a credible or even superior alternative to Apple's Siri and Google Now, the fact remains that other companies pioneered the voice assistant idea. Cortana would have to be light-years better than its already-in-place rivals to truly give Microsoft a significant advantage.

Similarly, making Windows free for mobile devices may help spark more device makers to adopt the platform, but it's not like it will make an immediate difference to consumers. Besides, Android is already free to license. Once again, Microsoft is playing catch up.

Universal Windows app development may pay off with more app choices in the long run, but it's a pretty geeky concept for most end users. Finally, bringing back the Start menu will ease the transition to Windows 8 for some holdouts, but let's face it, the cool kids aren't really interested in desktop Windows at this point.

Put it all together and you've got a collection of tweaks and that could change the substance of what Microsoft does, but won't dent the way most people think of the company.

More, please!
Still, there's a big ray of hope here. The fact that Microsoft was willing and able to make these changes could signal that more are on the way. If Microsoft can keep shaking things up and continue to show that things really are different now, eventually people will begin to notice and perhaps change their minds about the company. And then it truly won't be your father's Microsoft any more.

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PC satisfaction scores dip as customers drift to tablets

'Misalignment of expectations' caused by Windows 8 disconnect with traditional computing devices, says pollster

The jarring combination of Microsoft's radical reinvention of Windows with old-style hardware caused the average satisfaction score of PC makers to slip in the last year, a pollster said today.

Meanwhile, Apple again took top honors by tying its own 2011 record in computing device customer satisfaction as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a consumer survey that's tracked opinions on technology for 18 years.

Apple's score of 87 -- out of a possible 100 -- was up one point from 2012 and seven points higher than its closest competitor.

The ACSI survey polled more than 2,700 Americans in April and May, asking them to rate their experiences with recently purchased devices -- desktop and notebook personal computers, as well as tablets -- sold by Apple, Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba. The rest of the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) were lumped into a secondary "All Others" category in ACSI's results.

With a score of 80, HP was Apple's nearest rival; other OEMs collected scores between 76 and 79.

Although both HP and Toshiba increased their ACSI ratings by a point compared to 2012's poll, Dell and Acer dropped two points and All Others fell four points. The average of all those, other than Apple, fell by a point, a decline of 1.3% over the prior year.

David VanAmburg, the managing director of ACSI, did not point a finger at Microsoft's Windows 8 for the slip in PC satisfaction -- as have some industry analysts -- but acknowledged it was a contributor.

"It's not so much Windows 8 itself as the incongruity between the operating system and most of the devices it's sold with," said VanAmburg. "There's a disconnect between what Windows 8 is touting and the desktop and laptop environment. I'd call it a misalignment of expectations."

VanAmburg was referring to Microsoft's pitch that Windows 8 is a "touch-first" OS that works best on touch- and gesture-enabled hardware, like tablets, and the inability of hardware makers to capitalize on that either on tablets or touch-ready notebooks.

Choices in the latter have been relatively skimpy, and prices have been considerably higher than for laptops that rely on a mouse -- or a touchpad -- and a keyboard. "If [OEMs] could get to lower prices on touch, it could be a whole different ball game," said VanAmburg, echoing Microsoft's own belief.

The lower scores overall for traditional PC makers, and the slip in ratings for the likes of Dell and Acer, neither of which has scored in tablets, are expressions of consumers' search for something more than PCs can provide, said VanAmburg.

"What we're seeing in our data is the same as what we're seeing in PC sales, that the trend toward greater mobility continues to gather steam," VanAmburg said. "Mobility is so attractive [it's] driving people away from PCs."

To tablets, specifically. On average, tablets recorded a satisfaction score of 81, two points higher than traditional PC form factors. "Tablets are just a more satisfying computing device," said VanAmburg, citing the data. Smartphones, too, have scored higher than PCs in ACSI's recent surveys.

PC shipments have contracted for five consecutive quarters, research firm IDC has said, and the slump shows no sign of ending before 2015. The decline in traditional PC sales -- from which Microsoft has always generated the bulk of its Windows revenue -- has put the Redmond, Wash., developer in a tough spot, and spurred it to aim for a "devices-and-services" strategy, revamp its corporate structure and look for a new CEO.

That the cause of those seismic shifts -- consumers' preference for more smartphones and tablets over PCs -- caused desktop and notebook makers' scores to drop didn't surprise VanAmburg.

"We would have been surprised if Apple had dropped, or PC makers suddenly surged to the top," said VanAmburg. "But this is a revolution like what happens to the industry every few years. A while ago, it was laptops. 'You mean I can pick up my computer and take it somewhere?' This is the next generation of that. People are increasingly adopting tablets and smartphones and buying fewer desktops and laptops."

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Ultimate guide to Windows 8 ultrabooks

Testing of eight Windows 8 ultrabooks reveals that users looking for the slimmest, lightest devices will have to accept tradeoffs

While finding a touchscreen for a desktop computer is nearly impossible, and finding a touchscreen notebook computer takes some searching, touchscreen ultrabooks are readily available. These thin, light and relatively compact computers are intended to be portable and to be used at a moment’s notice. Adding touch seems a natural thing to do.

Nearly every maker of an ultrabook offers a touchscreen, and nearly all of them offer Windows 8 as the default OS. While most Windows users aren’t accustomed to a touchscreen on their computers, the rise of smartphones and tablets has introduced most users to the idea. In fact, by the time I was finished with this review, my non-touchscreen Windows 7 laptop had become frustrating because I kept touching the screen and expecting something to happen.

Intel created and defined the ultrabook market, but we didn’t exclude products simply because they didn’t meet all of Intel’s specs. If the vendor called their product an ultrabook, we reviewed it. (Watch the slideshow version of this story.)

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Microsoft: What are people really asking for when they ask for a Start button?

Windows Blue can be previewed in June, but Microsoft said it heard our cries for a Windows 8 Start button. A Start button "might be helpful," but Microsoft is trying to understand "what people are really asking for when they're asking for that."

Microsoft sold more than 100 million licenses for Windows 8, keeping up with Windows 7 sales at the six-month mark. In June, people who have Windows 8 will be able to preview Windows Blue.

"We recently surpassed the 100 million licenses sold mark for Windows 8," stated Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller. "This number includes Windows licenses that ship on a new tablet or PC, as well as upgrades to Windows 8. This is up from the 60 million license number we provided in January." She admitted that "Windows 8 is a big, ambitious change," and "change takes time" to accept, but Microsoft believes "the Windows Blue update is also an opportunity for us to respond to the customer feedback that we've been closely listening to since the launch of Windows 8 and Windows RT."

Microsoft heard our outcries for a Windows 8 Start button but is trying to understand what people are really asking for when they're asking for thatLack of a Start button is the biggest Windows 8 criticism for users on non-touch devices. Reller told The Verge, "We have heard that, we definitely have heard that and taken that into account. We've really also tried to understand what people are really asking for when they're asking for that."

Seriously? Hmm, it seems pretty obvious that the outcries for Windows 8 to include a Start button really mean that customers are asking for the Start button. That would lead to a Start menu. Windows 8 is not user-friendly on a PC or laptop. The lack of a Start button, Start menu and the ability to boot straight to Windows are the "loudest" complaints.

"We knew there would be a learning curve with Windows 8," admitted Microsoft VP for Windows Julie Larson-Green at the Wired Business Conference. She is in charge of bringing Windows to the "mobile age" and may even be a candidate to eventually follow Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft. She hasn't ruled it out and said to ask her again in a year.

For now, Larson-Green is the head of Windows Engineering and is "tweaking the design and layout of Windows to free it from the desktop and allow people to better incorporate it into their lives through mobile devices." She explained that Windows 8 was designed for mobile, compared to Windows 7, which was "optimized for the laptop." She insisted that people want to be mobile, yet added that Microsoft is "not going to be stubborn" when it comes to Blue.

ZDNet suggested that "New Coke, like Windows 8 for Microsoft, was total market failure." Coca-Cola was wise enough to switch back and give people what they wanted, Classic Coke. Steven Vaughan-Nichols asked, "Does Ballmer have the guts to admit he made a mistake and give users what they clearly want?"

Neither Larson-Green, nor Reller, would confirm that the Start button is coming back. Larson-Green stated, "The Start Button might be helpful," yet she pointed out that the Start Button is there now, but "basically hidden. Some would like it showing up on the screen all the time." Although there have been "meaningful discussions" about bringing it back, that doesn't imply that Microsoft will bring back the "old Start Menu."

Mary Jo Foley pointed out that the Windows Blue preview, which will be made available in June, happens to coincide with Microsoft's Build 2013 Conference; it will be held June 26 - 28 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Microsoft planned to "share updates and talk about what's next for Windows" at Build. Blue is expected to be named Windows 8.1.

Reller told The Verge that Microsoft is interested in 7- and 8-inch form factors for Blue. "We've made sure from the product to our pricing and offerings we are supporting 7- and 8-inch devices specifically." Yet Blue, according to Reller, "does a nice job of optimizing for those small screen form factor sizes."

Yeah, well, don't forget that we aren't all using those small screens at all times. Some of us will continue to work from a non-touch device and we flipping want Windows 8 to stop being so unfriendly to PC and laptop users. It's not about accepting change; it's about usability.

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