Talking about Win8 system and Microsoft's future

Computer store news: Microsoft's latest Windows 8 operating system is a very unique and ambitious product in its mainstream products. At the beginning of the release, its target platform covered smartphones, tablets, laptops, servers and even supercomputers. In addition to some nuances, Windows 8 has a consistent user interface when running on different devices.

Windows 8 is optimized for touch operations, unlike any previous version of Windows, in order to further show users and manufacturers the potential of its new interface, Microsoft launched its first tablet — —Surface tablet. There was a reaction to this: some people welcomed Windows 8, and praised its gorgeous graphical interface and changes in style compared to the past, but there were also people who tried to provide the same user experience on different devices. Do not understand.

The following is an interview with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about Microsoft's latest operating system and the company's future:

The same user interface across platforms is wonderful, but there are also some unknowns. What is the purpose of doing this?

A: PCs, tablets and mobile phones under Windows, and even Xbox have the same interface appearance and iconic dynamic blocks, which is unprecedented. The same graphical interface makes sense, it can unify the user's experience when using different devices and services, and now users are increasingly using different devices to access the same resources, or multiple devices access the same resource at the same time.

The SmartGlass app makes this process awesome. You can play movies on a Windows tablet with a TV connected to the Xbox, or browse the website on a TV screen with a Windows phone. The same user interface and usage experience also shortens the user learning process and provides a more seamless user experience. In addition to the appearance, on the technical level, Microsoft has also achieved commonality between Windows devices and Xbox. They can all be connected to Microsoft's cloud storage solutions SkyDrive and IE, and Windows Phone is also the first to share the kernel with Windows PC and tablet. This approach is incredibly convenient for our users and developers.

Q: You still intend to adopt the same interface for Windows 8 system, but the strategy of multi-version development? In fact, Windows 8 already has multiple versions of Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 RT, and Windows Phone 8. Why not give some of the "professional" users some better features to meet their needs? For example, start multiple windows?

A: We deliberately let different versions of Windows 8 have the same interface and experience. This ensures similarity in design and usage and consistency between different versions of the system, both for new boot interfaces and for legacy x86 applications. Now, anyone using the system can open multiple windows, display different content in different areas of the screen, or use Windows 8's unique full-screen display. The choice is entirely personal, depending on what they want to do at a particular time.

Q: For such a computer operating system that can be called a civilized tool used by billions of people, is it reasonable to use the new version for personal and business users?

A: This is a complicated question. First of all, you need to accurately define the penetration rate. It is affected by three factors: Microsoft's sales volume, people's frequency of updating existing operating systems, consumer market and enterprise market. Similarities and differences.

In the 10 weeks of Windows 8 release, we sold 60 million operating systems, and now the new PCs are pre-installed with Windows 8. From this perspective, the popularity of Windows 8 is perfect.

Today's users are often upgrading their computers less frequently than they are upgrading their phones, but higher than the frequency of upgrading TVs, game consoles and other electronic devices. So there is no doubt that the PC consumer market is quite large, and this upgrade trend has begun, and the market demand is changing in the blink of an eye.

In the corporate world, penetration growth will be relatively slow, and some information companies may be at the forefront, such as mobile engineers and finance staff. Some companies are not slow or slow, and some companies have slow system updates. If you have a chance to go to the emergency room at the Harbour View Hospital in Seattle, I believe that you can even see the old machine 10 years ago. Because it has been running normally, computer engineers will not touch it.

Q: Are you satisfied with Microsoft's Surface sales?

A: I am very happy that we have launched the Surface tablet. This is important for Microsoft itself, and even for the entire Windows ecosystem, which enables the integration of software and hardware.

Q: Does that mean that Surface sales have real business implications? And is Microsoft planning to become a manufacturing company?

A: Surface has commercial significance. Despite the big environment, 350 million PCs pre-installed with Windows still dominate, but Surface is indeed our real business.

Q: PCs with Intel chips and Windows systems are an open platform, and device manufacturers are making the computers they want to sell within reasonable limits. But the iPad corresponds to a closed system, Apple implements review access for each third-party application, and Apple does not license iOS to any manufacturer. Although Google licenses the Android system to a range of manufacturers, it strictly controls the quality of the operating system. If similar to the Wintel Alliance, Microsoft created an ARM-based Windows 8 mobile device open system, how to avoid becoming a failure product like a netbook?

A: I think your question is actually two different questions, I will answer separately. Question: 1: Do users want to see different operating systems based on different business models and different prices? I think the answer is yes, users hope so. If you look at some of the Android tablets that are currently being sold, you will find that there are negative experiences with these tablets, such as binding apps. Although Microsoft is not competing with it, it is still selling at very low prices because users often choose because of price. What we want to do is to provide users with the best user experience and diversity they expect at different prices through our own efforts and the efforts of our manufacturers. It seems that everything is going well.

We are working hard to do better, but the point is that we want to ensure that we support different business models, price points and the diversity of user experiences. Today, we give manufacturers more flexibility when they use Intel processors, and even in this case, we have taken many steps to ensure more careful management.

Q: How will Microsoft be cautious? In other words, what is the difference between Win8's ecological environment and Win95?

A: First, the APIs designed for Windows 8 applications use a better behavior, and we specify how manufacturers add customization. I think there is still a long way to go to ensure that these devices are still of high quality in the face of different business models and prices. So we have taken a lot of measures and are very cautious about the limitations of operating processors.

Do you think Microsoft is doing a better job of understanding user needs? You will not deny that Microsoft has encountered challenges in the field of consumer electronics manufacturing.

I am not very clear about this, our primary goal is to provide products for users. This is what we are doing. Previously, 65% of personal computers, 70% of Office software and 100% of Xbox consoles were sold to individuals rather than businesses. Now, we have turned our focus to the business, and there is no doubt that we have made some improvements, both for business and for individuals. However, we are not in a hurry, just want to emphasize that we are doing our best to participate in both aspects. We are building new features that consumers want, such as pen computing: Objectively speaking, Microsoft began thinking about pen computing a few years ago, but because of the different incentive mechanisms for manufacturers, this idea is difficult to implement. Now, we are trying to make some changes on Surface Pro and have established mechanisms to keep manufacturers in sync with Microsoft.

So is there a lack of understanding of customer needs, or is it better to expect ideas to perform better in some cases? I prefer the latter. In many cases we have really understood the user's ideas and implemented them, like Microsoft's Kinect and Xbox, we have done quite a great job with our manufacturers.

Q: If I ask you “Is it important for the personal market or the corporate market”, you will definitely not hesitate to deny this comparison and then say “they are very important”, right?

A: I will deny this comparison, but the reasons are different. I admit that this is a bit self-speaking, but it is true: the two markets are inseparable, but whoever pays is of course distinguishable. Just like email and real-time communication tools, they are the same whether we work or at home. People need to use these core functions whether they are professional or personal. Whether it is public or private, it is clear that people want to do as much as possible with the same equipment. Therefore, if you return to a device connected to a software service, it is difficult to distinguish whether the phone is an enterprise device or a personal device.

Are we using personal computers or corporate devices to watch movies and check emails? I don't think it would be wise to separate it. We integrate our equipment, production, communications and entertainment services in our own way and add extra value. There must be a slight difference between individuals and businesses, but 80% of the cases are similar, so such separation does not make sense.

(doubt) Yes, I understand the focus of the debate ……

I am not expecting you to agree with me, I just want to make it clear.

Q: Clearly, we are very respectful of Microsoft Research, but we also often jok that Microsoft Research is the grave of good ideas. Are you satisfied with the contribution of the institute? Or do you think that you think the existing product's "strategic tax" is destroying innovation?

A: I love Microsoft Research. I value the value we get from the Institute. I really like the talents in the Institute. I also hope that the Institute will play a bigger role in our products. . We are always looking for new and improved ways to integrate the wisdom and ideas of the Institute with our products. We can do better. Photosynth, Bing, Kinect, and machine learning are the first to appear at Microsoft Research and have a huge impact on our products.

Q: Can you talk more about machine learning? If you say it exists in Office, can it be applied to other Microsoft platforms and products?

A: Everything we do in speech recognition, handwriting recognition, vision, recommendation engines, mobile phones and Xbox consoles is trying to understand the world and users, and then using machine learning to find patterns. Machine learning connects the user's interests with the possibilities of the world. This idea is reflected in most of our products, and of course we have the hope that the same technology can be used to help our customers' corporate customers. An entertainment venue in Las Vegas talks about machine learning with us. They have been learning what they are doing in their hotel so they can provide advice in real time, knowing when they want to gamble and when they want to watch. Sing, to enhance the guests' experience and stay with the guests.

Q: I understand Google's vision for future computing and understand Apple's position. I used to understand Microsoft's position, but now I don't understand. What is your vision for Microsoft?

A: This is a typical level problem. Under this premise, I need to know what you mean by Google and Apple. Then I will give you the same level of answers from Microsoft.

Google represents a useful way to search the world, and Jobs said that Apple represents a great device for consumers, on this level.

At this height, I can also give you a slogan and then explain it specifically. “We let individuals and business users realize their potential”. In terms of expansion, we define the way of production, entertainment and communication in the future. In the new world, software will evolve into an integrated approach, at least a good model of cloud services and devices.

Q: This is why Windows 8 is so important?

A: Because Microsoft has implemented the first software through the cloud to let users have a new experience of information integration on all important devices.

If you want to do production, communication and entertainment, you have to use multiple devices, and you must also provide users with a consistent approach. You must support different input forms. Living room is different from mobile phone, and productivity is not the same on desktop and mobile devices. So, in general, Win8 systems and Win8 series devices are important support for our future vision.