“Microsoft Corp is bringing back the Windows ‘start’ button, offering a stripped-down version among a slew of improvements aimed at winning over tablet users and placating PC customers alienated by Windows 8,” Bill Rigby reports for Reuters. “The world’s largest software company is looking to re-energize sales of its latest Windows version, which has not made the splash with computer users it was hoping for.”
MacDailyNews Take: What makes Microsoft “the world’s largest software company,” exactly? Apple is worth more than Microsoft, makes more money than Microsoft, and Apple makes software. Add up Apple’s iTunes software alone on OS X, Windows, and iOS devices and its install base is larger than any piece of software (POS) that Microsoft has ever excreted.
Rigby reports, “Shipments of traditional PCs – the most reliable gauge of Windows’ popularity – are expected to fall almost 8 percent this year, while Microsoft’s Surface has taken less than 2 percent of the tablet market… Confirming speculation, Microsoft said the Windows 8.1 update will have a button in the bottom left corner of the screen that acts like the ‘start’ button in previous versions of Windows. Although it will not be labelled ‘start,’ it features the Windows logo and takes the user straight to a grid of applications.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft. Mired in the past, with no idea how to move forward.