Win Mobile 8 - "Plug-In Free" (HA!)

From time-to-time I have a gander at the Windows 8 blog - just to see what's happening in the world of "me-too." In one of the recent posts - Dean Hachamovitch (IE Team Leader) wrote about the fact that IE 10 will come in two flavors - one for mobile and one for desktop.

Why?

Seems that Microsoft has decided that Steve Jobs truly is an oracle of the future - and that HTML5 is awesome and the way to go:

For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free. The experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match with Metro style browsing and the modern HTML5 web.

Ummmm... what the? Huh. But it gets even better:

On Windows 8, consumer sites and “line of business” applications that require legacy ActiveX controls will continue to run in the desktop browser, and people can tap “Use Desktop View” in Metro style IE for these sites. For what these sites do, the power of HTML5 makes more sense, especially in Windows 8 apps.

I'm sorry - did I miss the part where he basically says that Silverlight (a browser plug-in) will NOT run on their own mobile operating system? And what about all those legacy Active-X controls? What are the thousands of Corporate American companies going to do when all their vendors who wrote their web-based intranet applications specifically for IE suddenly don't work on their CEO's new Windows 8 tablet?

I get the part about not wanting to run Flash (no one does - apparently) - but there is something even more subtle thrown in to the text:

 In Windows 8, IE 10 is available as a Metro style app and as a desktop app. The desktop app continues to fully support all plug-ins and extensions. The HTML5 and script engines are identical and you can easily switch between the different frame windows if you’d like.

Did you notice the word "extensions" in there? So, apparently, IE 10 Metro will not even support browser extensions!

Wow.

That's really, really good news for Apple. Because if you can't run Flash, and you can't run Silverlight, and you can't run Active-X controls - then you might as well get the tablet all the "cool kids" have - the iPad.

Windows 8: Gimme Some Ribbons! (Oh, and an App Store!)

Microsoft is due to release Windows 8 sometime in 2012. Wait - what?

Yes, yes, I know. It's been only a scant two years (July 22, 2009) since they came out with Windows 7... but Windows 7 was really a response to the horrible, detestable, unusable, P.O.S called "Vista" that debuted in November of 2006.

I mean, come on - they had to do SOMETHING. Even they knew Vista was crap - and, more importantly, businesses were not paying them their ransom licensing fees for the new operating system. They were just fine with Windows XP - and most of them had finally got all their drivers working and all their users on to a unified version of Internet Exploder so that all their expensive ERP software would run.

This worked well for corporate America - not so much for Microsoft. They had to do something...

Now, personally, I actually like Windows 7. It's a huge improvement over Vista (actually a typewriter would be a huge improvement over Vista) - and, in general, it's very well-behaved. So, why would Microsoft spend so much time and money trying to come out with yet another new version of the operating system so "soon" after Windows 7?

One word: Apple.

They are jealous (along with the rest of the Fortune 500) of Apple's success in the phone market, the tablet market and the mobile operating system space. Oh yeah, and their new, all-digital application delivery marketplace. And their market capitalization. And their developer mindshare. And... well, you get the idea.

It's sort of like when the whole "Internet thing" appeared - and they got caught with their pants down by not having a web browser. They scrambled around, licensed Spyglass Mosaic source code (for a quarterly fee plus a percentage of Microsoft's non-Windows revenues) and unleashed Internet Explorer into the marketplace. Eventually, because of their huge installed base, IE became the defacto browser... 

Enter 2011 - and the i-everything. Apple surprisingly ate everyone's lunch in terms of mobile operating systems - and that really goes up Microsoft's backside - sideways. I mean, after all - they are the "inventors" of the modern operating system. They should be the #1 mobile operating system. They deserve the continued love of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) who bundle their operating system on their devices and on their computers.

Right?

Nope.

So, they are now doing what they always do - ripoff and copy "embrace and extend." Only the world is a much different place than it was years ago. People are more sophisticated and can spot the fact that they are playing catch-up and struggling to remain relevant... and they don't want to look stupid by blatantly ripping off Apple's paradigms (again!) - so they are "innovating."

According to a post on Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog - they have come up with just the right thing to ensure that everyone with XP or Windows 7 will just drop everything and upgrade to Windows 8. Wait for it... YES! You're right! They're adding that stupid ribbon to the file explorer! YES! FINALLY!

Oh, and they're not going to give you the option of turning it off - and going back to the current, non-ribbon interface.

Really.

You think I'm kidding?

I mean, I get that Microsoft is in love with the whole Ribbon thing. They have scads of information on usage patterns based on the fact that most people don't uncheck the "send anonymous useage to the mothership" checkbox on install. They can justify it all they want - but I think it BLOWS. Here's some images from their blog that shows the evolution of the File Manager - from DOS to Windows 7:

Now, here's what the new Windows 8 File Manager will look like:

I know, right?!? Sheesh.

Oh yeah, and they'll have an App Store... and it will run on a wider range of devices - including those with ARM processors (read: almost all non-Apple mobile devices)... AND one MORE killer feature - they're completely re-thinking the... wait for it... the file collision dialog(!) YES! HOORAY! I can see how spending millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of man hours going from this:

To this...

... is totally going to make everyone in the universe toss out all their tested, verified, digitally signed, secure installs of Windows XP and Windows 7 to upgrade!

NOT.