Windows 8 still has a chance in enterprise

Chris Lim says all is not lost for the new OS even if Windows 7 will remain the primary platform of choice in the near term

There has been a lot of criticism directed at Windows 8, with a design U-turn supposedly arriving later this year.

To be fair to its detractors, the OS is a radically different creature to what most people are used to, with a default launch screen aimed primarily at touch-centric users.

This has not been helped by a lack of hardware designed to work well with Windows 8. Touchscreens are still installed in only a minority of devices.

When this is combined with lacklustre end-user education about the potential benefits of the OS, it is perhaps unsurprising that it has not been as popular as might have been hoped.

For Microsoft, a bigger concern is that the end of XP support is in just 11 months, with many enterprises yet to upgrade. Unfortunately, it does not look as if Windows 8 is going to be the popular choice.

I predict the majority of upcoming XP migrations will be to Windows 7, rather than Microsoft's latest OS.

With an update around the corner, we can expect a number of refinements and improvements to smooth the transition to the new OS – but this will, however, be too late for mass enterprise adoption.

There is a latent and growing market for the flexibility that a mobile OS brings to the table where the choice is essentially between iOS, Android and Windows 8.

Fundamentally, flexibility and access to applications is more important for businesses than the OS itself and Windows 8 devices can have a fully functional desktop architecture available on a touch-centric device – something that Apple and Google simply cannot offer at the moment.

We will be seeing a new range of sleeker devices running Windows 8 entering the enterprise, but these will be a niche addition and not a like-for-like replacement for the desktop.

Businesses will introduce Windows 8 devices as part of a hybrid OS deployment to support flexible and agile working. I do not think this will be a problem for users as people are becoming used to interfaces that are tied to devices, rather than expecting to encounter the same one on each device they use.

Microsoft is attempting to address this with the Windows Phone 8. Also, when people realise how powerful and flexible Windows 8 can be, we will see something of an uptick in its use in enterprise.

All-in-one Windows 8 devices are changing users' expectations of being able to change between a handheld touch device and a desktop OS rich with apps when docked – a powerful combination for the mobile worker.

Windows 7 is still the migration platform of choice, but the impending withdrawal of support for XP is just one part of this. More important is the fact that most business-critical applications are tried and tested in a Windows 7 environment and businesses know it is stable and reliable.

That is one of the most important things when planning a complex migration.

Chris Lim is practice manager for Microsoft technology services at Trustmarque