Enterprise Adoption of Windows 8/Devices
- Thread starter DOS
- Start date
It must have been MS and Intel subsidiaries nobody else would use that stuff. Ick
Nope...it was execs from number 465 and their IT Child....
mitchellvii
Well-Known Member
What the hell would a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company be doing with a Surface RT????? I can see the Surface Pro. These people are obviously technologists and have no problem learning the quirks of the new OS. I am willing to bet however that 95% of the SP's you observed had the Stardock Start 8 hack installed. This means they like the Surface Pro (so do I) but want the Start Button back.
Just because technologists have decided the Surface Pro with Windows 8 works for them doesn't mean they will be buying it for their non-technologist staff which are quite resistant to change (Based upon weak SP sales to this point apparently they are not). That is of course unless they install the Stardock hack on all systems (which many that have bought for their staff have done).
The fact that Enterprise Consumers are having to resort to 3rd party hacks to make a brand new OS usable should send a message to MS. Nevertheless it is good that these CEO's are using the Surface Pro. Maybe MS will take their feedback more seriously than the rest of us unwashed.
It seems clear from recent news releases that Windows Blue will address many of the desktop (non-touch) users concerns and the new version will in fact be more mouse friendly. Modern UI is a good idea (for touch users) poorly implemented for the vast amount of potential customers. Most of the people in this forum are big Modern UI fans. Well of course, you are using one of the most powerful touch Windows devices available. But for users without access to touch and resistant to change it has been a non-starter.
Windows 8 has sold 100 million licenses in the same period PC sales dropped by 70 million. Do the math - consumers are NOT buying Windows 8 products. There is A LOT of backed up inventory in the pipeline. Hopefully Windows Blue will come in just in time to save the day. If it gets some positive reviews from places like The Verge and CNET look for it to take off.
Just because technologists have decided the Surface Pro with Windows 8 works for them doesn't mean they will be buying it for their non-technologist staff which are quite resistant to change (Based upon weak SP sales to this point apparently they are not). That is of course unless they install the Stardock hack on all systems (which many that have bought for their staff have done).
The fact that Enterprise Consumers are having to resort to 3rd party hacks to make a brand new OS usable should send a message to MS. Nevertheless it is good that these CEO's are using the Surface Pro. Maybe MS will take their feedback more seriously than the rest of us unwashed.
It seems clear from recent news releases that Windows Blue will address many of the desktop (non-touch) users concerns and the new version will in fact be more mouse friendly. Modern UI is a good idea (for touch users) poorly implemented for the vast amount of potential customers. Most of the people in this forum are big Modern UI fans. Well of course, you are using one of the most powerful touch Windows devices available. But for users without access to touch and resistant to change it has been a non-starter.
Windows 8 has sold 100 million licenses in the same period PC sales dropped by 70 million. Do the math - consumers are NOT buying Windows 8 products. There is A LOT of backed up inventory in the pipeline. Hopefully Windows Blue will come in just in time to save the day. If it gets some positive reviews from places like The Verge and CNET look for it to take off.
Nope, no hacks, straight Windows 8 Enterprise with Office 2013. These were not the techy group, all were Sales and Marketing Execs. I was one of the only technology SMEs in the room. Surface RT has made traction with Senior Execs replacing iPad due to the fact that IT can manage Surface RT devices without adding 3rd party Solutions.
mitchellvii
Well-Known Member
So you went around to every CEO's tablet to check if they were using Start8 and not a single one was? Sorry, first of all why do all of the CEO's let you study their tablets and second, Start8 is pretty common, hard to imagine no one was using it.
Inadorel
Member
In my experience the scenario goes something like this.... Executives want shiny toys. IT want devices they can control and manage centrally. iPads and similar devices were largely imposed on unwilling IT departments (the corporate IT dept I worked for was more or less forced at gun point to abandon Blackberry in favour of iDevices). Now the Surface has come along and it is a lovely shiny toy for Execs to play with and show off, but also a business Windows device which IT can manage without having to jump through a whole load of hoops. And this doesn't even touch on the productivity side of the device. I can't see the Pro being anything but a huge hit in the Enterprise - the RT is perhaps a more dubious proposition.
J515OP
Super Moderator
Exactly. And how many of those IT guys are saying hey let's buy a $5 app and install it separately on each corporate device we deploy?
No one ever said CEOs...anyway I was in the back of the conference room and could see everyone's screen from where I was sitting...clearly as it was a stock build that had the Windows 8 Enterprise on the lock screen with the default Space Needle/Seattle Artwork and they all navigated via the Modern UI Start Screen and Outlook 2013 is unmistakable. I do love the fact if something doesn't jell with your curmudgeon world view you discount and doubt it
In many ways RT is better for Execs and Sales as it is much more locked down and apps can be served up via App-V or VDI Gateways...
Believe it or not, people use all kinds of devices, iPhones, Android phones and tablets, iPads, and such that dont have a start button. Its an amazing new world out there.
I fully expect that we will be buying many Windows 8 tablets (without Start8). They rejected the Dell we were evaluating - said it was too slow opening outlook (I think he has a lot of junk hooked into outlook) and doing more advanced tasks. Not sure how that's possible considering it has an i7, but that's what our main evaluator told us. I'm thinking it just needs an SSD. If we can find a configuration that performs satisfactorily, we will be getting them in. The demand is definitely there. Lots of people asking for tablets out there in the corporate world. Once they learn Windows 8 on their tablet, the desktop issues will go away - especially as MS contiues to tweak things with blue and beyond.
I fully expect that we will be buying many Windows 8 tablets (without Start8). They rejected the Dell we were evaluating - said it was too slow opening outlook (I think he has a lot of junk hooked into outlook) and doing more advanced tasks. Not sure how that's possible considering it has an i7, but that's what our main evaluator told us. I'm thinking it just needs an SSD. If we can find a configuration that performs satisfactorily, we will be getting them in. The demand is definitely there. Lots of people asking for tablets out there in the corporate world. Once they learn Windows 8 on their tablet, the desktop issues will go away - especially as MS contiues to tweak things with blue and beyond.
Last edited:
john.calixte
New Member
1. After a lengthy, expensive, and successful Enterprise upgrade to Win7 my company is not even considering an upgrade to Win8. No incentive (yet) and a billion higher priority things to deal with.
2. We're happy with productivity gains from rolling out tablets to management, and are currently changing our strategy to roll out Surfaces instead of iPads.
Seems like common sense to me, but I realize different companies have different requirements.
2. We're happy with productivity gains from rolling out tablets to management, and are currently changing our strategy to roll out Surfaces instead of iPads.
Seems like common sense to me, but I realize different companies have different requirements.
Yes, we are in the same position. We are still rolling out Windows 7 - XP is not completely gone yet here. The UAC changes and other software compatibility issues in the corporate world have made it difficult. I think UAC in Windows 7 is actually a much bigger hurdle to upgrading OSes in the corporate world than anything Windows 8 will bring. If you have lazy in-house developers, or devs not following standards of where to put user working data and such, or old, outdated software, it can cause headaches. UAC was a good thing though. Windows 8 coming to the corporate world is going to be s l o w. Like you said, a lot of companies are just now getting on 7. I think the tablets will eventually be what drives it though. That's what I'm seeing at my company. A lot of folks with iPads, or people who wanted iPads are now asking about Windows tablets. IT prefers Windows tablets to iPads because they can be centrally managed better. Once the back end to manage the tablets is in place and enough people have learned the new interface, we can begin to think about rolling out Windows 8. I give it at least another full year, if not 2 before corporate adoption starts happening on a large scale. There will probably be a lot of hybrid Win7/Win8 environment out there for a while.
Similar threads
