Microsoft Metro is not their PS/2 -- its worse

Microsoft is releasing more information about Windows 8 and its "Metro" interface. Metro is very different from the "traditional" Windows interface. It is more like a cell phone or tablet interface, displaying one application at a time (no tiled windows) and built to handle touch screen gestures.

IBM introduced the PS/2 (and OS/2) in 1987, six years after the introduction of the original IBM PC. The PS/2 was a step up from the PC/XT/AT product line, addressing multiple problems with that line. The PS/2 had a different floppy drive, a smarter buss, better video, a smaller keyboard connector, and a built-in mouse port, to name the big improvements.

The problem was, no one followed IBM. This was in part due to IBM's licensing arrangements. The original PC was "open", at least to hardware. It took a while for Compaq and other manufacturers to develop a compatible BIOS which allowed them to build computers with sufficient compatible behavior to run popular software.

Instead of following IBM, people followed Compaq, which introduced their "Deskpro" line. The Deskpros were fast PCs that used the traditional connectors and busses, with faster processors and more memory. Compaq also beat IBM with the first 80386-based PC, the "Deskpro 386".

IBM found that it was not the market leader. (You're not a leader when you say, "Let's go this way" and no one follows.)

Now Microsoft is introducing Windows 8 and Metro. Are they pulling a "PS/2"? The answer seems to be "no".

Metro is a big change. Metro is certainly different from the Windows interface introduced in Windows 1.0 and enhanced in Windows 95. The shift from tiled windows to single-app visibility is a large one. This change is as big as the PC-to-PS/2 change.

Microsoft is committing to Metro. Windows 8 and Metro include a "Legacy Windows" app, in which one can run old-style Windows applications. The Microsoft propaganda says that legacy apps will be supported in Windows 8, and I am sure that they will. But let's not fool ourselves: The new stuff will be in Metro.

Metro is not a bold new paradigm. Microsoft is shifting to the new paradigm introduced by iOS and Android. In this way, Microsoft is not leading the market, but following it.

The Microsoft App Store is not a bold new paradigm. An app store is, again, following the market. Yet it also alienates the software distribution channel. When software is sold on-line and not in boxes, the retailers (Best Buy, etc.) have nothing to sell.

The market will not revert to older designs. The market rejected IBM's PS/2 and selected Compaq (with its old-style designs) as their new leader. With Windows 8 and Metro, Microsoft is validating the existing markets for iOS and Android apps. The only old-style provider would be Linux, which offers multi-tiled desktop applications, and I see few people (and even fewer companies) abandoning Windows for Linux.

The PC did, eventually, mutate to something quite similar to the PS/2 design. The new keyboard and mouse connectors were adopted. The PS/2 Micro-channel bus was not adopted, but the PCI bus was. The VGA standard was adopted and quickly surpassed with Super VGA, WVGA, XVGA, and UVGA and a host of others. Everyone used the new 1.44MB 3.5" floppy disk standard. The only thing lacking from the PS/2 was the orange switch for power.

Will something similar happen with operating systems and software? I think that the answer is "yes". Will Microsoft be the company to lead us? I'm not so sure. Apple and Android have a commanding presence.

So I don't know that "Metro" is Microsoft's "PS/2 event". But I do think that it is a significant change.