Windows 8: Ball of Confusion, Hey, Hey (Tech Republic)

by Gina Smith
2 min read

See the comparison chart from Microsoft’s announcement yesterday. Where’s the enterprise or Windows 8 Server data? Microsoft said in an addendum added later in the day what the Enterprise version would be – Windows 8 Pro plus management features — but this doesn’t clear up the Windows Server 8 confusion. This from my story on TechRepublic.com. Have a comment? Leave it below with your IT title and city, and full name, and I’ll work it into the story.

Source: Microsoft and Wikimedia Commons

I wrote a piece that just posted over at CNET’s Tech Republic on the amazingly confusing number of names, data sheets and other information on Windows 8 since the beta Windows 8 Consumer Preview launched February 29 at Mobile World Congress. And the confusion is getting worse, not better.

See the comparison chart from Microsoft’s announcement yesterday. Where’s the enterprise version? Why no mention of Windows Server 8? What about the eight other names it’s announced and for which some data sheets are up for on the Microsoft site? Hmm?


Source: Microsoft and Wikimedia Commons

Confusing names and a prolific amount of mysterious product data sheets with various names, specs and downloads began appearing just before Microsoft first rolled out its Windows 8 Consumer Preview (a beta) on February 29 in Barcelona.

In the registry and release notes surrounding the current Windows 8 Consumer Preview, there are references to other enterprise type products, including Windows 8 Enterprise Edition, Windows 8 Enterprise Eval edition, Windows 8 Professional edition, Windows 8 Professional Plus edition and Windows 8 Ultimate edition and more too boring too mention.

Dino Londis at aNewDomain.net says of his day job as an application management engineer at a Manhattan law firm, “We are still in the middle of our Win7 Office 2010 deployment. It’s complicated in law firms because much of the desktop takes place in Outlook. The learning curve is steep with a migration from Office 2003 to 2010 for the techs and for users. The users haven’t even seen the Win7 desktop and many of them have it at home, but they don’t have all integration at home so they think they have an easy ride. They will be surprised to see how things work. Many of our secretaries haven’t seen Office 2010, with ribbons and I’m guessing will have trouble adapting.

I don’t see us jumping to a Win8 environment for quite awhile. We might even miss it.”

What is up with this? Leave me a comment and I’ll put it in our stories if you identify yourself as IT with name, city.

MORE HERE AT TECHREPUBLIC …

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1 Comment

  • I totally agree with Dino Londis. It’s nice to try to innovate, but the standard “File” menu was so effective for normal users. I’ve been running Office 2007 from day one and I’m STILL not quite used to its interface.

    -RAP, II