gressive marketing campaign — launched as we speak — that attempts to drastically shift all things mobile in its favor. A bevy of new devices and form factors is due to be released fourth quarter 2012 into first quarter 2013 by hardware manufacturers featuring the new Windows 8 OS or subsets thereof — some of that hardware, surprisingly, directly from Microsoft. Among the notables: • business-ready Microsoft Surface tablets with built-in physical keyboards • Windows mobile phones by most smartphone manufacturers on most phone carriers • ultrathin laptops that wirelessly extend video signal to secondary monitors nearby • all-in-one desk or wall-mounted monitors with built-in computers with touch • sync functionality for the entire line of Ford cars and trucks that feature navigation • Xbox and Kinect functionality built-in and redesigned for touch And that is just the start: Later in 2013 we will see the advent of very large touch presentation plasma screens, retail kiosks, projection systems, airline reservations,
financial dashboards, gaming applications, industrial controls, embedded logic systems, medical devices, paper-thin Mylar displays, etc. — all loaded with Windows 8 or subsets thereof. All in an attempt to once again regain the market share that Microsoft used to enjoy in the mobile space before the arrival in 2010 of Apple iPhones, iPads, and, subsequently, Google Android devices. The new tiled interface and user interaction across all devices will make dissimilar hardware look and feel consistent. Navigating a standard graphical user interface across laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets will accelerate adoption of Windows 8 and reduce the learning curve to use them. Strategically, Microsoft views Windows 8 and the ensuing Windows-based ecosystem as strengthening its position in the OS market for desktops and laptops — already a robust 70% share according to WikiMedia. Combining the desktop OS segment with the huge potential gains in the mobile and tablet markets will, if the company’s tactics pan out, place Microsoft back at the top of overall OS markets for a
decade or more. For Microsoft, this is a game changer and a huge risk for a company that has had previous dominance in the desktop, laptop, server OSs and Office productivity suites — hence the massive marketing campaign to tap into all your senses. In addition, Windows 8 is optimized to work seamlessly with cloud services on any device. Microsoft, and for that matter Apple, Google, et al, want consumers and businesses to work and play in the cloud. The convergence of local hardware devices with cloud services represents the holygrail for Microsoft — and the technology world overall — for continued growth of their revenue stream based on cloud-based perpetual subscription licensing models. So what does Windows 8 do, and why should your medical practice follow its release? For the purposes of this article, it would be impossible to delve deeply into all the new features of Windows 8. So, besides the aforementioned items, we list
Half of American adults have mobile Internet access via a tablet or smartphone.
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