Microsoft may be working hard on its next PC operating system, Windows 8, but an investor at the well known private-equity group Elevation Partners believes that the heyday of the Windows OS may be over. The Wall Street Journal reports that the group"s Roger McNamee believes that it is "too late to revive Windows". The reason is that he believes the PC market is moving over to the tablet and the smartphone. While he says that Microsoft will still have other successful businesses such as its upcoming acquisition of the Skype Internet phone business, he adds, "We are past the point where Windows can return to its former glory. The market has moved on."
Some people believe that one of the problems with the current version of Windows, Windows 7, is the lack of a unified app download store. iOS and Android devices both have easy-to-use app stores and even Apple"s Mac PCs and laptops have access to its own app store. The story says that Microsoft is planning to put in its own version of an app store in Windows 8. Officially, Microsoft says it is declining to talk about Windows 8 ahead of its BUILD developers conference which will be held in mid-September.
Windows has also traditionally been popular for business users, but even that is threatened with the rise in the tablet market, particularity Apple"s iPad. The article says that 86 percent of all Fortune 500 companies are either using or testing the iPad in their businesses. One company, Hospital Housekeeping Systems, recently bought 50 iPads for its employees to help track how it keeps hospital rooms clean.