Windows Blue – For some it’s a phonetic prophecy that well-describes the last several months of what was Windows 8.  Obviously that is changing now that Windows 8 becomes Windows 8.1 and “Windows Blue” is no more.  The pundits have had their day with criticisms of Windows 8.  Some have gone so far as calling for Ballmer’s head, but even that has been going on for as long as he’s been running the show, really.

Here’s the thing that hopefully some people get – Windows is getting better and that should scare some people.  In fact, a post on Microsoft’s Blogging Windows is titled just that – “Windows Keeps Getting Better”.  That’s the underlying notion of the day.  Yes, a lot of chips were ante’d up on Windows 8 – and yes, there was much to criticize.  It seems some people didn’t want to part with their start button, so perhaps it was a bit too much.  So much hinged on a growing and successful app ecosystem – and that is something that is still growing in numbers, options, and significant titles.

Success despite the naysayers

The list of grievances goes on and on, and some are quite legitimate.  Given all those things and all the naysayers who have been on the side of Windows 8 failing – there have been indicators of actual success.  One quick example is how Windows 8 has somehow kept pace with Windows 7 in terms of general sales numbers.

We now have more than 70,000 apps in the Windows Store (the online app store for Windows) – apps such as Twitter, eBay, Netflix, CNN and games like Temple Run: Brave, Bejeweled LIVE and Angry Birds Star Wars and many others.

If you go back far enough, it has even kept pace with historical numbers that Windows XP had once upon a time.  I vividly recall the pundits who said Windows XP was too radical, unnecessary, an over-reach – and a long list of complaints, until Service Pack 1 hit.  Then the constant bundling of Windows XP into consumer-purchased hardware – hardware refreshes and so on – those things all steamrolled and Windows XP became the success we all know.

Of course, now the game has changed some, right? We hear daily how the PC is dying, the PC is dying.  People – the PC will always be around.  Without a doubt, tablets, touchscreens, game consoles – all those things are taking off and they represent markets that didn’t factor into this years ago, but they certainly do now.

Windows 8 keeps getting better

But guess what, I can’t do my work on a touchscreen, I can’t do it on a tablet, and I certainly can’t do it on a smartphone.  If you look at those things honestly, across the board, not everything will be in the cloud, not everything works better on a tablet, not everything works by voice activation well, not yet anyway – so for the foreseeable future, the personal computer is here to stay in some way, shape or form.   In one of those forms, of course touchscreens factor into the next-generation PC, of course there are convertibles and new devices emerging all the time.  That’s just the thing, Windows 8 is getting better.

Today, there are more devices – and choice – allowing you to pick the right Windows 8 device that meets your needs. Windows 8 provides a great experience for consuming and creating content, for both work and play and on the go. And you’ll immediately benefit from continual updates – whether it’s from app updates through the Windows Store, performance updates through Windows Update or the Windows 8.1 update later this year.

Revolutionizing Windows the way Windows 8 did was a very large task.  There is little doubt that Microsoft went to great lengths to test, design, and develop the look and feel – but nothing is perfect, especially when the reach is so big.  Even still, 100 million licenses sold and a number of other metrics has confused some people. Windows 8: was it successful or a bust?  Was it the new Coke of this generation?   Well, no that’s just plain silly.   Coca-Cola didn’t have to change new Coke, they consciously made that decision themselves.  Microsoft has been appropriately responding to this evolution of PC.  That’s what’s really going on here, an evolution.  Exactly what would one expect Microsoft to do in that position, rollover?

With touchscreens, tablets, and new devices on the horizon, Windows 8 had to happen, how it happened is another thing, but it did have to happen.  Back to the narrative here – those of you that wanted to pick at Windows 8, and proclaim Apple will be around to dominate forever – you have actually helped Microsoft improve its product.  Windows 8.1 is essentially what a lot of the enterprise has been waiting for – the first update of Windows 8, a service pack in essence.  With added features, functionality, fixes there will be many that have been waiting on the sidelines making their moves and you can bet the partners are ready for this.  The PC as you know it is transforming and Windows will be there to help make that all happen.