Interview with Win8's new female head: iPad is just a legend when developing Win8

The father of Windows Steven Sinofsky, after he left, was replaced by a woman named Julie Larson-Green. She not only took over his position, but also took on the burden of developing products for 1.3 billion users. Can her thin shoulders be taken up? Foreign technology media Technologyreview reporter recently gave her an exclusive interview to see how she views Windows.

Why is it necessary to make such a big change on Windows 8?

When Windows was created 25 years ago, Microsoft never thought of the current usage scenarios. It was just a table at the time, with a display on the table. Open a window on the screen to start a task. If you want to open a window, you must close the current window. However, Windows 8 has changed things. All the programs or tasks can be wiped out on the screen with dynamic tiles. You will see everything you care about. Windows 8 takes you a step further from what you want to do.

Touch is a major feature of Windows 8. Many new Win 8 PCs come with a touch screen. Why is touch so important?

It is a very natural way of interacting. When the notebook is touched, the click operation only needs to happen in the brain, and then directly on the screen by hand, which is much faster. The mouse and keyboard operation seems to be manipulating the puppet, and there is no direct touch operation.

Which PCs will be equipped with touch screens in the future?

Because of cost reasons, there will still be some PCs without touch screens, but most of them will definitely bring them. PCs with touch screens are now the hottest to sell. I can't even imagine what to do if there is no touch screen on the PC. Once you have experienced it, it is very difficult to turn back.

Does this strategy for Windows 8 be for mobile iOS and Android?

The initial development of Windows 8 began in June 2009. Before the release of Win7, the iPad was just a legend. When the iPad appeared, the part of the Window 8 design was actually completed. We were very excited at the time. They do almost the same thing on mobile and touch screens as we think. But we also have differences. We want the icons on the desktop not to be static, but to present those dynamic tiles that are relevant to your life. We hope that you will have contextual support when doing things above, allowing you to share content between different apps. We believe that multitasking is very important and people can be single-minded.

Can the mouse and the touch screen exist at the same time? Some people complain that the new touch interface should not exist with the old Windows desktop.

The two exist at the same time, this is a must. Fingers can never replace the precision of the mouse. It is also more convenient to use the keyboard when typing. But the benefits of touch are straightforward. When using the browser, it is ok to touch with your finger, and when you type on the Excel form, it is more convenient for the mouse and keyboard. Both are indispensable. We don't want to force users to choose between the two. Some people think that the two are a kind of conflict, but after a long time, we have not heard such complaints. All that people need is an adaptation period.

Does this kind of user response for Windows 8 look like Office? At that time, the interface of Office also made a huge adjustment. People didn't get used to it at the beginning, but they fell in love with it.

Yes, it’s very similar. WIndows 8 is hard to find its benefits in a short time, but after a long time you will fall in love with it. What we are pursuing is not the user's 20-minute freshness, but the desire to bring long-term quality experience to the user. We found that the more users familiar with the old Windows system, the longer the transition period will be. But unfortunately, what we hear in the media can only be the comments of these people. They just commented on it after simply using it.

How long does it take for people to adjust?

Office's user adaptation period was two days to two weeks, I think Win8 should be the same. We did a project that “lives with Windows”. This project took a few months to observe how people use Windows at home. We found that many people will be able to adapt completely soon.

Can you share some Windows 8 user usage data?

When a user registers on the Window PC, they are generally asked if they would like to join the user experience program. If they wish, the user's data will be automatically uploaded to us. We collect a lot of data like TB every day. We have some happy discoveries at the moment. 90% of users will find a new interface in the first round and gradually start using it. Even heavy users of some old desktops will start trying new interfaces after 6 weeks.

Microsoft created Surface, the first to enter the hardware. Why not give this kind of thing to the hardware vendor, just like before?

We need to test this new way in person. Users need time to adapt to our new system, as do hardware vendors. Surface is an example we gave, telling everyone that Windows 8 is long, telling users and hardware vendors that a near-perfect hardware should be like this. We believe that Surface is a long-term product, but we also believe that our partners will also produce a lot of great inspiration and innovation. One of the biggest benefits that Window provides to users is to choose multiple —— you can choose different sizes, shapes, colors, and versions.

Your predecessor, Steven Sinofsky, has always been considered dictatorial, is it true?

Steven has a clever brain, a good leader, a great person, but one can't do everything. What really matters is the entire team and the culture we create to innovate.

What changes will be made during your term of office?

Not too much. I have been under Steven's leadership for 7 years and I have known him for 20 years. Many of our ideas are very similar, such as what role Microsoft should play in society and what the future of computing is.

Now that Windows 8 has been released, what are you and your team doing?

We didn't stop. There are always a lot of new technologies that we need to think about, and these technologies can help people.