Should Microsoft Rush Windows 8?

Today I was getting curious as to when Microsoft would release Windows 8. I was wishing they would just hurry up and get on with it. Microsoft employ nearly 100,000 worldwide,surely it can’t take them too long to put together a new OS? Microsoft proved that they can get a good OS together in no time with Windows 7. They released that several months earlier than they had previously scheduled it. There’s plenty of people out there who are wishing that Microsoft would release Windows 8 tomorrow, so why don’t they just hurry up already and get Windows 8 out there?

Of course we know that that isn’t going to happen, but it also won’t happen this year, and probably not until well into next year. Many people want Windows 8 because they just want to play with something new, however the majority of consumers and certainly businesses are more than happy with Windows 7. They don’t want to go through all the hassle of updating their operating systems again. There’s no need to either. Windows 7 is doing pretty much everything it says on the tin and more. The vast majority of users are more than happy with it, and you know the old saying “if it ain’t broke,don’t fix it”

And that’s exactly what Microsoft are thinking as well. Let’s face it, it’s only the limited tech minority who are eager to get their hands on Windows 8 so soon. There’s always going to be a group of hardcore enthusiasts looking to get their hands on the next edition of something as soon as the current one is released. But I’m sure Microsoft have identified that their largest market is the general consumer and corporate enterprises. They know that these people aren’t shouting out looking for something new. This wasn’t the case with Vista. Everyone was complaining about it so Microsoft had to get their act together quickly and get Windows 7 out there. Now that people have it they are more than content, and so are Microsoft. It’s got constant steady growth and good stable sales figures and is closing in on finally putting Windows XP to bed. At the moment there is no real reason that Microsoft need to rush and get a new OS out there to put things right.

Or is there?

If you look at the other side of the coin there’s a different story. While Windows 7 sales figures are going strong, some enterprises are going to put off upgrading to Windows 7 in anticipation of Windows 8. It takes nearly a year for large organisations to roll out a new operating system so they might as well just wait for Windows 8 before updating all their systems. Even some consumers are thinking like this as well.

But the other main reason is because of the rapidly evolving tablet market. Apple, even with Steve Jobs gone from the helm of their ship, are still the dominant player in this market and will be for quite some time unless somebody big like Microsoft comes up with a viable option for consumers. The one thing lacking from Windows 7 is it’s tablet support – while it is there, it just isn’t good enough. A whole host of manufacturers have got plans to release Windows 8 tablets, but what’s the point in promising releases for late 2012 when we all want tablets now?

If Microsoft want to get a foothold in the tablet market before it’s too late, they need to get onto to it now. This is really the only reason why Microsoft would need to rush along Windows 8. Apple have a much higher refresh rate with their iOS operating system and it’s letting them increase their lead a bit more every day.

Personally I’d just be happy with a beta edition of Windows 8 for the moment to play around with as I’m not really into owning tablets myself. However I know plenty of you guys are itching to get Windows 8 now.

So tell me, should Microsoft rush Windows 8? If so, why? Is it not better that they take their time and do it properly to avoid another Vista disaster?

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