Will Windows 8 be the operating system to ease our burden on having multiple devices? By now, it is a known fact that many of us in IT and many IT consumers rely on a ridiculous amount of computing devices to get through a day of personal and professional computing. For many of us, we have a PC/Mac at home as a community workstation; a PC as a business desktop for content creation; a laptop for travel and business content creation; and a tablet/smartphone for content consumption. Does this sound familiar? This amounts to five (5) devices for the average IT consumer!
What is the reason for multiple devices? Sure, there are some that just want the next gadget on the market to seem cool. However, for many, the center of the issue is around “content consumption” versus “content creation.” Many consumers use smartphones and tablets to consume content such as email, Facebook, web access, and scheduling. Each of these device form factors are good for a quick look or quick response in order to get the job done. I know many of us have transformed our tablets into mini laptops by adding keyboards and cases; however, the limitation still exists. Hammering out a document, building a presentation, or simply interacting with multiple applications for “content creation” is more productive on a laptop or desktop.
Moreover, in order to increase productivity and provide better communication, how can owning so many devices possibly be productive and more importantly, secure? When accessing data across multiple devices that are typically shared in a cloud that may not meet the corporate world compliancy laws, we are not more productive and we are less secure.
In my opinion, this is the market where Microsoft Windows 8 will shine. With the right form factor (i.e. Surface Pro or a new Windows 8 laptop), the ability for a single device to switch from consumption to creation by utilizing its dual-user interfaces is the first of its kind on the market. Is it a laptop or a tablet? With Microsoft Windows 8, it’s mutually beneficial in both market segments with growth expected as application support continues to grow. And, do we seriously think that application support for “Angry Birds” in eleven languages is more important than business applications on Windows 7/8? I would think not. Not only that, the small inclusion of the Windows 8 device lineup has continued with the use of the mouse…..which many of us have missed with our existing tablet devices.
Personally, I’m looking forward to embracing one device to consume and create my personal and professional compute environments. Sure, I’ll still have a phone to contend with; however, at least I won’t need an extra laptop bag to carry it around!
How many devices do you currently use? Are you looking to embrace one device to meet all your needs?