Windows 8: Microsoft Makes 6 Big BetsWindows 8: Microsoft Makes 6 Big Bets

8 Free, Must-Have Windows 8 Apps

Windows 8.1 won't be officially revealed until Microsoft's Build Conference, which kicks off on June 26 in San Francisco. But that didn't stop the company from teasing the much-anticipated update at two major conferences last week: Microsoft's own TechEd in New Orleans, and Computex, the PC mega-expo in Taipei, Taiwan.

The extent to which Microsoft has taken the wraps off Windows 8.1 is anyone's guess, as much of what has been revealed aligns with rumors and leaks that have been circulating throughout the spring. Even so, several aspects of Microsoft's Windows 8 strategy have come into sharper focus over the last several days. Based on Microsoft's latest comments, here are six key strategies we expect to see.

1. Microsoft Will Embrace The Post-PC Era.

Traditional PCs clearly are not obsolete. That's the view of Microsoft and most anyone who recognizes how many essential business applications are suited neither for touch interfaces nor small screens. But whereas desktops and PCs were once the only personal computing vehicles available, tablets have usurped many common duties, while also enabling the kind of mobile uses older machines can't offer. This shift challenges how we define what counts as a computer and what doesn't, and Microsoft recognizes that the path forward demands a variety of device categories and sizes.

[ Just how hard is it to learn Windows 8? Read Windows 8 Learning Curve: Two Customers Speak. ]

In an interview at TechEd, Brad McCabe, senior product marketing manager of Windows Commercial, said it's "great" that some people prefer tablets, others laptops, and others convertibles. "That's the beauty of touch," he said.

Microsoft's acknowledgement of this choice is implicit in two of its recent actions: by bundling Microsoft Office with smaller tablets, the company is appealing to mobility-minded users, but by implementing a boot-to-desktop mode and expanding system controls such that desktop devotees need not deal with the new Modern UI any more than they want, Microsoft is also showing that traditional users remain an important demographic.

It remains to be seen, of course, if Microsoft's decisions -- such as a Start button that lacks a Start menu -- will strike a chord with users. But the company's dedication to diverse devices is clear.

2. Microsoft Will Commit To Touch.

Although OEMs have mostly accepted touchscreens, they continue to roll out non-touch options. But Nick Parker, corporate VP of Microsoft's OEM division, told PC World that "touch is going to be the new standard," and that he has observed a surge in the popularity of laptop-tablet hybrids popular because they offer "the best of both worlds." The attitude draws an important line between Windows and its nearest competitor, Apple's OS X.

Apple, the same company that started the touchscreen craze with the iPhone and iPad, has taken a more reserved approach to touch on desktops and laptops than Microsoft. True, OS X has gradually grown to look more like iOS, and its users can still use swipes, pinches and other gestures. But the touch controls are delivered via track pads, not touchscreens.

Apple could always surprise everyone by changing course, especially with new Mac models expected at next week's Apple developers' conference. But if the laptop-desktop hegemony has been disrupted by new form factors, Apple and Microsoft are posing another choice for users: not just between Windows and OS X, but between touch controls that function mostly as an extension of the user's keyboard-and-mouse experience, as in Apple's implementations, and those that require users to lift their hands from the keyboard to tap the screen. 3. Microsoft Will Pitch Windows 8's Usefulness As An Enterprise Tool.

At TechEd, McCabe predicted Windows 8 enterprise adoption could pick up substantially in 2014, noting that Microsoft's guidance to existing Windows XP customers is to simply "get off XP," and that the company advises Windows 7 customers to investigate Windows 8 "where it makes sense," while keeping touch-equipped models in mind for next year's hardware refreshes.

This viewpoint somewhat re-contextualizes Microsoft's meager enterprise market share. Many companies are far too invested in Windows 7 migrations to consider Windows 8, and most IT administrators wait until a service pack has been issued before deploying a new OS anyway. Moreover, Windows 7's lead over Windows 8 is somewhat inflated because whereas Win7 had the advantage of following the infamously panned Windows Vista, Win8 had to follow what is currently the most popular PC platform in the world. Windows 8 was never going to be an immediate enterprise smash, in other words, which is why so much of Microsoft's early efforts were dedicated to courting consumers.

Even so, Windows 8's enterprise adoption rate is unusually low. And despite the attention Microsoft paid to consumers and BYOD, the OS's overall adoption rate also has been lackluster. Clearly, tricky timing isn't the only reason Win8 has struggled.

Nevertheless, as long as Microsoft has an attractive Windows offering ready by the time enterprises are ready for mass deployments of a new OS, its big share of the enterprise market should remain intact. Google, Apple, Samsung or some other challenger could always release something disruptive, so Microsoft can't wait forever -- but redirecting its Win8 messaging was one of Microsoft's goals at TechEd, where the company made its most substantive pitch yet for Windows 8.1 as a useful tool in the enterprise. At the conference, the company previewed Win8.1 additions that range from automatic VPNs to NFC-enabled wireless printing to user-friendly but powerful cloud connections, and it's likely that other IT-centric tweaks are being withheld until Build.

4. Microsoft Will Push Affordability.

The first touch-equipped Windows 8 devices were off-puttingly expensive, but as Windows CFO/CMO Tami Reller noted at Computex, the next range of devices will span the entire cost spectrum, from entry-level models that will presumably challenge the iPad Mini's price to premium models that will run over $1,000.

At TechEd, the potential impact of lower prices was on full display. Throughout the conference, attendees waited by the hundreds in two-hour lines to buy $99 Surface RTs and $399 Surface Pros, which were discounted by about 80% and 60%, respectively. In stark contrast to the relatively modest crowds that turned out when the Surface RT hit stores last December, the TechEd crowds looked like those that normally queue up for an iPhone launch.

Of course, TechEd might not be the best example of growing enthusiasm for Windows 8 devices. For one thing, it's a Microsoft conference, where the people in attendance are naturally biased toward Microsoft products. For another, it appears that not everyone in that line planned to use the devices they bought. By last Friday, eBay had about 10 times as many Surface listings as it did before the conference. 5. Microsoft Hopes To Lure Consumers With Office.

At Computex, Microsoft announced it will bundle Office software with certain x86-based Windows 8 tablets and include a version of Outlook on future Windows RT models. Given that the company is refusing, despite the promise of billions in additional revenue, to extend Office to iOS or Android, the writing is on the wall: if Win8's Modern UI can't draw buyers, theability to run Office on a low-cost, ultraportable tablet might do the trick.

Slates that run Office, the crème de la crème of all legacy apps, fill an undeniable market need. Given that Microsoft is positioning Windows 8 as the only platform that can fill that need, it's clear the company expects pre-installed versions of Office to drive adoption, especially since the software will arrive primarily on devices with lower, consumer-friendly price points.

6. Microsoft's RT Strategy? Still Nonexistent.

Windows RT has struggled so much that it actually makes Windows 8's slow adoption look like a rousing success.

Part of the problem is that Microsoft has failed to explain the appeal of the light version of the OS, which features the new Modern UI but can't run x86 apps. When Surface RT was released, it included versions of several Microsoft Office products but was otherwise confined to Windows Store apps, which were lacking in both quantity and quality at the time.

Even without addressing consumers' divisive reaction to the Modern UI, it's easy to see why Win RT sales were so poor; at almost twice the cost of the base iPad Mini, the Surface RT's unique features didn't justify its huge price premium. Since then, most OEMs have ramped down or terminated their plans for RT models.

Future RT devices will be less expensive, but so will tablets that run the full Windows 8 OS, including Atom-based models that could fall in the $300-$400 range. Unless the next round of Windows RT devices are incredibly cheap -- less than $250, say -- there's no reason why buyers shouldn't skip RT and go straight to devices with the full OS.

Parker, in his conversation with PC World, didn't help matters. On one hand, he defended RT's struggles as "the incremental growth of a new platform." On the other, he admitted Microsoft "could maybe have inspired people a bit more with some of the RT devices and some of our marketing," although he didn't elaborate. Recent rumors suggest a new RT-based Surface model could appear later this month at Build, so time will tell if Microsoft, after essentially striking out at its first at-bat, manages to inspire consumers with its newest attempt.