Microsoft's Future is not Windows

Many Windows users are hostile to Windows 8 and the Modern interface. They want Windows to remain what it is.

I think most people have defined Windows as "the thing that runs Microsoft Office". Graphic artists have defined Windows as "the thing that runs Photoshop". Developers have defined Windows as "the thing that runs Visual Studio". A few shops build turnkey scheduling and billing systems for doctors offices, a few others build turnkey point-of-sale systems. Those are the bounds of Windows.

Microsoft, on the other hand, views Windows as a product, a source of revenue.

A bounded market is limited. Microsoft knows this, and I suspect that the limited nature of Windows was a motivation for the Surface RT and Windows RT.

This difference between Microsoft and Windows users is the problem: Microsoft wants a growing market, and users want the existing technology. The two are not compatible.

As I see it, Microsoft's path forward is Windows RT, the new operating system that does not run existing Windows applications. Windows 8, with its support of classic Windows apps and its ability to run "Modern" Windows apps is a transition, a step from the old Windows to the new.

Abandoning the classic Windows API with its collection of applications is not a simple task. Many people rely on various applications. Users are unhappy with the idea of changing to a new platform.

But from Microsoft's view, the revenues (and profits) of classic Windows are limited. The sales of PCs are declining, as consumers switch from desktops to tablets. Businesses have PCs and may replace existing units, but they can also hang on to PCs and buy new ones only when necessary. And keeping the classic Windows product line (Windows, Office, Visual Studio, etc.) alive is expensive. The competition of products like Linux, LibreOffice, and Eclipse puts further limits on revenue. Classic Windows has declining revenue and constant (or growing) expenses.

Microsoft is moving its products to mobile/cloud not because it wants to, not because it delights in the torment of its customers, but because it must. The economics of the market are forcing this change.