GP007, on 17 July 2012 - 15:32, said:
I don't agree, sharepoint has a cloud server option but the local version isn't going to go away. If anything MS is taking lots of the new cloud services features from Azure and are adding them back into Windows Server. They know that people don't want to go all in on the cloud and have a local option, that's not going to change. I also don't see how Office 2013 isn't for the desktop, the UI is still the same just a different color scheme at this point (we could and probably will see some more themes for it like we have in 2007 and 2010). I don't get how it's changed so much that you think it's not for the desktop? You can say what you will about Windows 8 but I just don't get it with Office at this point.
I don't, either. While touch support is now available throughout Office 2013, you don't have to use it - even if you have hardware that supports it. (The same is, in fact, true with Windows 8 - just as it's true with - egad - *Android*. Remember my mentioning the Eee Transformer Prime? While it supports touch, even in docked mode, I still stick with the keyboard and mouse, though both are, in fact, optional.)
Here's a reality for you - I *loathe* virtual keyboards. All of them. Regardless of OS. (Windows has had one since 9x/NT4 - Accessibility Features. OS X has had one since Tiger. Android and iOS have always had them. And I despise them all equally.) Every smartphone I have ever recommended has featured a slide-out physical keyboard. (Coincidentally, all have been Android-based.)
Touch support has uses - I'm perfectly willing to admit that. However, given my druthers, would I use it, on a daily basis, *instead* of the keyboard and/or mouse? The answer to that is an absolute and emphatic *no*.
However, there are those that don't feel the same way I do when it comes to touch - I don't have a problem with that. Here's the thing with Windows 8 (and WindowsRT, and even Android 3.0 and later, for that matter) - none of these are biased one way or another. In Android's case, version 3.0 was the first version that specifically addressed non-touch interaction with the OS - 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybean) move further along that path - why would that be done, and on purpose, except that developers, hardware vendors, and via those same IHVs, users, not demanded it?
While Honeycomb was a shot across Microsoft's bow, 4.x is a torpedo (specifically a US Mark 46) - and it's aimed right at the portable Windows PC marketplace. Windows 8 is a multipronged response (and a bit of a hedge-bet), as is Office 2013/365 2.0.
Touch support is available for desktop PCs right now. It's not as inexpensive as it is in the netbook/Ultrabook/tablet space (for reasons of scaling to larger screen sizes), but it's there, and it is there today.
In the notebook space (and especially in the tablet and slate space) touch is pervasive - in fact, it's more pervasive in tablets and slates than notebooks (again, screen-size differences come into play). In the tablet and slate space, keyboards are an option - however, thanks to devices like the Fujitsu Lifebook and the aforementioned Transformer Prime and derivatives, they actually have uses.
There is crossover between the tablet/slate space and the notebook space right now - I specifically mentioned Fujitsu's Lifebooks, however, there are others, such as Lenovo's ThinkPad xt220. Unlike the Transformer, the Lifebooks and ThinkPad run Windows - specifically, Windows 7. Not everyone uses these neither-fish-nor-fowl-books the same way. However, thanks largely to the improved touch support compared to Windows 7 and Office 2010, touch-based users that upgrade to Windows 8 and Office 2013 have a Windows and Office that fits how they work. However, those that use traditional input methods - such as moi - aren't left out in the cold, as the same Windows 8 and Office 2013 support the traditional keyboard and mouse just as well as their predecessors.
No matter which way the market goes from Windows 8's release, Microsoft has your usage methods covered.
Lastly, some food for thought - Windows has *always* been a general-purpose/multipurpose operating environment, and later operating system - that general-purpose/multipurpose thinking has been, in fact, why it has been as successful as it has. Who would EVER have thought that Windows could, in reality, scale to mainframe-class computing, let alone truly high-performance computing? Yet that is exactly where Azure is - and is today. Yet a lot of that same power is portable enough to fit in your carry-on - or even in the palm of your hand (Windows Phone). "Follow the trend - the trend is your friend." The "trend" for Windows is to be general-purpose/multipurpose - hyperniche flavors of Windows (such as Windows Mobile and Windows CE) haven't worked very well compared to the general-purpose/multipurpose mainstream. Even the Azure-based technologies themselves are not staying in the server closet - both Hyper-V and PowerShell started with Azure; however, both are in Windows 8 today. Basically, the trend continues due to Microsoft staying the course.
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