Why Microsoft Can't Change the Windows Interface; Too Much

Microsoft has long been the operating system of choice for many to write software.  Though not all industries count on it they way they once did, most still do.  And here lies the problem.

With lots of software come lots of responsibility.  This is one of the many places where Linux and it's variants have troubled enterprise and residential clients in the past.  If your software worked yesterday, you would expect it to work tomorrow. 

Since most people aren't very fluent in computer, even the least little change can cause great confusion.  To expect one thing and get another is a frustrating thing even if you are used to speaking digital.  This is why enterprise IT departments don't like untested software, changes or devices.  

So you can surely understand the reasons for people being unhappy with Microsoft's changes to the desktop and it's function in the Windows 8 release.  

Well we can look forward to similar changes with the Window's 10 release.   This insistence to make such major interface changes seems short sighted and possibly led to the decision to make the release free for valid, current users.  The possibility also exist that Microsoft was simply concerned about the market share that other OS's have been gaining, though it's still a small portion, the numbers are significant enough to warrant paying closer attention. 

The heart of the interface change is with regards to current software.  Windows is far larger in size than it would otherwise be based on the backwards compatibility it offers.  Far more so than Linux, Mac or other choices offer.  Macintosh forces this issue far more than other operating systems and it works for them.  The difference being that Mac customers want the latest and greatest.  Where there are far more people on the Microsoft and Linux side that tend to run older software.  This is especially prevalent in large companies, where software changes are not looked upon favorably.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

Though they have back tracked from the travesty that was Windows 8, I imagine there will still be a fairly, large segment of Windows users that will want to wait as long as possible to make the change.  

There are many more reasons to be confident in Microsoft's products than skeptical, but that doesn't mean that people will be accepting enough to take the chance with their personal data.  

People tend to feel lost and uncomfortable when things don't look familiar.  The advantage of change it that you can introduce new features, implemented in a unique way.  The downside: people will be confused at first and may not adopt the changes.  

Apple seems to think that people will like whatever they will do, which they tend to.  There is an overall advantage to forcing upgrades, mainly that you don't have to continue to support your mistakes.  There are always going to be bugs, I guess that question is then, old bugs or new bugs.  

New bugs may be mysterious, but this option gives you the ability to fix the old nagging bugs that you don't like.   Continuing to support the previous system means that more of the bugs are known and you tend to have better security.  So like everything else, you must decided what your priorities are. 

It is obvious that Microsoft has wrestled with these things and we shall see if Windows 10 is a better mixture of form and function than Windows 8 was.  Taking money off the table was, I feel, a good move, and may lead to a bit more adoption than if people were expected to be paying for what seems to mostly be an upgrade and ultimately a revision of the Windows 8 fiasco.