Windows 8 surpasses Vista's uptake rate -- 10 months after launch

Microsoft got some good news Sunday as metrics company Net Applications said Windows 8's user share in August is now larger than Vista's at the same point in the latter's post-launch timeline.

Windows 8's user share of all PCs running Windows, a tally that included Windows 8.1, the update slated to ship next month, jumped to 8.4 percent in August, Net Applications said Sunday. The 2.5-point gain was a single-month record for the struggling OS, and more than double the previous record set in June.

[ A first, jaundiced look at Windows 8.1 RTM. | Windows 8 left you blue? Then check out Windows Red, InfoWorld's plan to fix Microsoft's contested OS. | Microsoft's new direction, the touch interface for tablet and desktop apps, the transition from Windows 7 -- InfoWorld covers all this and more in the Windows 8 Deep Dive PDF special report. ]

Ten months after its January 2007 retail debut, Windows Vista -- the operating system widely dubbed a flub and a flop -- accounted for 7.3 percent of all Windows PCs.

November 2007, the 10th month after Vista's debut, was the first month that Net Applications used a new methodology that weighted data by countries, an attempt to come up with more accurate estimates for markets, such as China, for which it had relatively little data.

Net Applications measures operating system user share by counting unique visitors to some 40,000 websites run by its customers.

In May, Vince Vizzaccaro, Net Applications' head of marketing, argued that it was futile to compare Windows 8's uptake with Vista's prior to the latter's November 2007 numbers because of the methodology change.

Computerworld had been comparing Windows 8 and Vista adoption using pre-November 2007 data for Vista -- comparisons that regularly put Windows 8 at the short end of the stick -- and offered its last update using Net Applications' figures on May 1.

Although Windows 8's 10-month user share is larger than Vista's, it remains far behind Windows 7's at the same point in the latter's roll-out. Ten months after Windows 7's October 2009 launch, the OS had accumulated a 17.3 percent share of all Windows PCs -- more than double Windows 8's.

Rival analytics firm StatCounter did not mark the same dramatic increase in Windows 8's share as did Net Applications. The Irish company, which measures operating system usage by counting the total page views of a much larger number of websites than does Net Applications, said Windows 8 gained about four-tenths of a percentage point to end August with a 7 percent share of all personal computers.

It was unclear what drove the massive increase in Net Applications' accounting of Windows 8's user share, although a small portion of the gain, about one-tenth, was due to the counting of Windows 8.1. According to Net Applications, Windows 8.1's share of all machines running Windows was about 0.3 percent.

Windows 8's 2.5-point increase was the second-largest one-month gain by a Microsoft operating system since late 2006, when Computerworld began recording Net Applications' data. It was especially impressive after a slow-down in Windows 8's adoption during July.

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Windows 8 surpasses Vista's uptake rate -- 10 months after launch

Computerworld - Microsoft got some good news Sunday as metrics company Net Applications said Windows 8's user share in August is now larger than Vista's at the same point in the latter's post-launch timeline.

Windows 8's user share of all PCs running Windows, a tally that included Windows 8.1, the update slated to ship next month, jumped to 8.4% in August, Net Applications said Sunday. The 2.5-point gain was a single-month record for the struggling OS, and more than double the previous record set in June.

Ten months after its January 2007 retail debut, Windows Vista -- the operating system widely dubbed a flub and a flop -- accounted for 7.3% of all Windows PCs.

November 2007, the 10th month after Vista's debut, was the first month that Net Applications used a new methodology that weighted data by countries, an attempt to come up with more accurate estimates for markets, such as China, for which it had relatively little data.

Net Applications measures operating system user share by counting unique visitors to some 40,000 websites run by its customers.

In May, Vince Vizzaccaro, Net Applications' head of marketing, argued that it was futile to compare Windows 8's uptake with Vista's prior to the latter's November 2007 numbers because of the methodology change.

Computerworld had been comparing Windows 8 and Vista adoption using pre-November 2007 data for Vista -- comparisons that regularly put Windows 8 at the short end of the stick -- and offered its last update using Net Applications' figures on May 1.

Although Windows 8's 10-month user share is larger than Vista's, it remains far behind Windows 7's at the same point in the latter's roll-out. Ten months after Windows 7's October 2009 launch, the OS had accumulated a 17.3% share of all Windows PCs -- more than double Windows 8's.

Rival analytics firm StatCounter did not mark the same dramatic increase in Windows 8's share as did Net Applications. The Irish company, which measures operating system usage by counting the total page views of a much larger number of websites than does Net Applications, said Windows 8 gained about four-tenths of a percentage point to end August with a 7% share of all personal computers.

It was unclear what drove the massive increase in Net Applications' accounting of Windows 8's user share, although a small portion of the gain, about one-tenth, was due to the counting of Windows 8.1. According to Net Applications, Windows 8.1's share of all machines running Windows was about 0.3%.

Windows 8's 2.5-point increase was the second-largest one-month gain by a Microsoft operating system since late 2006, when Computerworld began recording Net Applications' data. It was especially impressive after a slow-down in Windows 8's adoption during July.

Windows 8 faces a much different environment than did either Vista or Windows 7, as those predecessors were released as PC shipments were on the rise, not in a historic slump. Nor did they have to contend with tablets as rivals for consumer and corporate attention and spending.

Microsoft will release Windows 8.1 on Oct. 17 to current Windows 8 customers, then follow with a retail debut -- and with systems running the update -- on Oct. 18. Windows 8.1 is essentially a redo meant to answer customer complaints about the radical changes in Windows 8, which split workspaces between two wildly-different user interfaces.

Windows 8's user share of 8.4% was ahead of Vista's but far behind Windows 7's at the same point in their post-release adoption cycles. (Data: Net Applications.)

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at  @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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Google Glass for bespectacled coming in a 'few months'

A version of Google Glass for people who already wear glasses will arrive in a few months, the head of the Google project said Monday.

"In the next few months we will release a version that will integrate into glasses. So if you are wearing glasses, you'd be able to use this," said Babak Parviz, founder and head of the Google Glass project at Google, during a speech at the Hot Chips conference in Stanford, California, on Tuesday.

If the Google Glass platform is successful, "you'll see different optics," Parviz said.

But will there be Google Glass contact lenses? That is possible, but perhaps in the distant future, Parviz said. "In principle that's a doable thing, someday actually in the future contact lenses may arrive. It's not immediate."

As a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, Parviz worked on putting displays in contact lenses.

"It was fun, we went all the way to 1-pixel on a contact lens that worked wirelessly, but even that was quite difficult," Parviz said.

In his speech, Parviz talked about the promise of Google Glass as a possible successor to smartphones for communications and information. It provides immediate and hands-free access to information, and can overlay the data on what may seem like a large screen.

"The cell phones screens... are limited for the most part to what the cell phone is. It would be very difficult to get a cinema-size display if you don't have a form factor like this," Parviz said.

Google ships its own smartphones and provides the OS for hundreds of millions of Android phones, but Glass has its own advantages. Smartphones, tablets and Google Glass will be able to co-exist, but ultimately the cutting-edge technology will take over, Parviz said. Google Glass could take over from smartphones the way mobile devices took over from computers and telephones as communications tools.

"It's not to say the smartphones aren't good, but there are certain things definitely unique to this platform that smartphones will not be able to do," Parviz said.

There are privacy concerns as well, and Parviz said it will take some time for society to figure out Google Glass. He likened the Google Glass to the first time the camera came out in the late 1800s, which caused an uproar because people were scared that someone would violate their privacy by randomly taking their picture on a street. Now cameras are part of our daily lives, Parviz said.

Google is trying to improve the hardware.

The company wants Google Glass to last all day on a single charge, while delivering the performance to handle the vast amount of information it collects. It also needs to interact better with the human body and environment through optics and photonics. Another challenge is video processing, as the device may capture a lot of video, and also be used for augmented reality.

"What we have today is a good solid first step, but not enough especially for video processing. Because the more this platform is successful, we're going to be collecting more video," Parviz said.

Another goal is to keep the device stylish, while reducing the size of components and keeping power consumption down.

"We're very excited about this platform," Parviz said. "We've made some really solid progress in the right direction and hopefully we can accelerate that."

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

Agam Shah is a reporter for the IDG News Service in New York. He covers hardware including PCs, servers, tablets, chips, semiconductors, consumer electronics and peripherals.
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

Call it the end of an era. Friday, Microsoft announced that Steve Ballmer will be retiring within the next 12 months, bringing his 13-year run as CEO of the company to an end.

“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said in a Microsoft press release. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.”

Ballmer, of course, recently refocused Microsoft in order to drag the PC stalwart into the faster-moving mobile age, initiating drastic sea changes such as the device-spanning Windows 8 operating system, a push towards rapid-fire releases rather than 3-year development cycles, "One Microsoft, all the time," an increased focus on services and the cloud, and the launch of the Surface brand—Microsoft's first foray into competing with its manufacturing partners.

Any of those could be considered a major shakeup. All of those combined constitute a near-complete reimagining of Microsoft.

Those monumental changes may be the reason for Ballmer's retirement, according to Patrick Moorhead, the principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy and an industry veteran who held senior leadership roles at AMD and Compaq. He finds the 12 month search for a successor suspicious.

"Somebody pissed somebody off," Moorhead says. "Potentially it was this $900 million write down [for Surface RT tablets]. If I had to bet money, I'd say that that was the straw that broke the camel's back."

No matter what the reason for Ballmer's departure, the newly molded Microsoft will have a new CEO to lead it—sometime.The exact date of Ballmer's retirement is unknown, as he plans to step down once his successor is determined.

Who, exactly, will carry the torch forward is up in the air. Plenty of potent leaders still call Microsoft home, but the short list of possible CEOs has certainly shortened in recent years, as high-profile Microsoft executives like Ray Ozzie, Stephen Elop, and former Windows president Stephen Sinofsky have all left the company.

Whoever takes over the reins will have some mighty big shoes to fill. Ballmer was Microsoft's 30th employee and its first business manager, and for all the grief tossed Ballmer's way in the wake of Windows 8, there's no denying that the company accomplished some amazing things under his stead.

Like what, you ask? Here are Ballmer's accomplishments in Ballmer's own words, via a farewell letter sent to all Microsoft employees.

I am proud of what we have achieved. We have grown from $7.5 million to nearly $78 billion since I joined Microsoft, and we have grown from employing just over 30 people to almost 100,000. I feel good about playing a role in that success and having committed 100 percent emotionally all the way. We have more than 1 billion users and earn a great profit for our shareholders. We have delivered more profit and cash return to shareholders than virtually any other company in history.

And he's continued that trend of profitability even with his retirement notice. Microsoft's stock is up more than 7 percent on news of his leaving.

Thanks for the memories, Steve—and for Windows XP, Windows 7, the continued awesomeness that is Office, the Xbox, and heck, even the Ribbon interface. (I love it!) I'll give Ballmer the last word, via his goodbye note.

This is an emotional and difficult thing for me to do. I take this step in the best interests of the company I love; it is the thing outside of my family and closest friends that matters to me most.

Updated 10:50 A.M. E.T. with quote from Patrick Moorhead.

Brad Chacos spends the days jamming to Spotify, digging through desktop PCs and covering everything from BYOD tablets to DIY tesla coils.
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State dumping IBM after IT project runs 42 months late, $60 million over budget

The state of Pennsylvania will not renew its services contract with IBM regarding the development of a modernized unemployment compensation system, after the project reportedly has gone 42 months behind schedule and $60 million over budget.

In August, state officials commissioned a study from Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, seeking “to determine the best course of action moving forward,” according to a statement released this week by Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway’s office.

“The bottom line is that the problems we’ve identified cannot be solved and we will not renew our contract with IBM,” Hearthway said in the statement. “The level of risk, combined with the critical nature of the system, demands that the Department of Labor & Industry has a system that produces timely decisions reliably and accurately.”

IBM landed the contract in June 2006. The project was originally budgeted at $106.9 million but the state has so far “dedicated funds approaching $170M,” according to the Carnegie Mellon study.

By early 2011, “a number of program risks and issues were identified” but the project had already experienced significant cost overruns “without any measurable solutions,” Hearthway’s office said.

“We are surprised by today’s announcement,” IBM spokesman Scott Cook said via email Thursday. “This decision is based on a third-party report that we had not seen at the time of the Commonwealth’s announcement, despite repeated requests to the Department of Labor and Industry to review it together.”

“In complex information technology implementations, there is accountability on both sides for system performance and service delivery,” Cook added.

Indeed, the Carnegie Mellon study singled out state officials for criticism on a number of fronts. For example, the original solicitation for the project had “major weaknesses,” including a “lack of detailed and object source selection criteria” and “unprioritized and often ambiguous requirements,” according to the study.

State officials also failed to delegate project roles, leading to a situation “in which no one in [the Department of Labor and Industry] was accountable and responsible for the administration of the program.”

There may be political overtones to the situation. Hearthway’s announcement noted that she took office in April 2011 and her office “began to aggressively manage the system and work with IBM to take corrective actions.”

The Carnegie Mellon report also praises DLI’s current senior leadership for taking a “hands-on and aggressive” approach to managing the project.

Meanwhile, IBM contributed to the project’s problems as well, according to the report. “Another concern has been instability in [IBM’s] workforce,” it states.

After some design documents were finished in 2008, IBM took a large number of business analysts that had become the “memory” of the state’s business requirements, off of the project: “This decision created a significant knowledge gap as the program entered the critical application design and development phases.

Staffing changes weren’t confined to the business analysts. In fact, since the project’s start 638 IBM contractors have worked on it, “with the majority of the workforce having less than one year on the project and 75 percent having less than two years,” the report states.

Carnegie Mellon’s study recommends that state officials build an improved governance structure for the project, and also that work on the third release of the software be halted in favor of stabilizing previous releases.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for the IDG News Service.
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