Ushering in a new era in personal computing is how Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik terms Windows 8, the latest version of the Windows operating system (OS).
Microsoft expects the OS, which is designed to work across form factors and platforms (such as tablets), to see a high degree of adoption in India with both new and existing users boarding the bandwagon. In a tête-à-tête with Business Line , Pramanik talks about the new Internet Explorer 10, Android, the emerging era of personal computing and efforts taken to prevent piracy. Excerpts:
How can an existing user with previous Windows versions upgrade to Windows 8?
The only difference with using Windows XP is that you may have a device which is only four or five years old, therefore it may not have the horsepower to run Windows 8 the way it has been devised to. But if you’re a Windows 7 user, you already have a system that has the horsepower, whether it is in the memory, performance or disk which will seamlessly allow you to move up. It would be a function of when you bought it and how old the device is. We would expect that a lot of people, especially with very old computers, would buy a brand new device.
The days of people using a laptop for five or six years is over.
Now people are refreshing their devices every two to three years. Phones are being refreshed every six months now.
Updating is an ongoing process. How frequently will be Windows 8 updated?
In the past, we have genuinely upgraded between releases - in six months or a year. We have decided to be more organic in our updates, we are not going to have any major updates, but it would be ongoing updates that we will keep publishing.
You have also launched the Internet Explorer 10 (browser), which has touch-screen and flip features, with Windows 8. How is this going to change the browsing experience?
The Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) is part of Windows 8. It’s a lot more immersive than the previous versions. The videos come out much richer and it’s a better experience, as it provides full screen viewing. We’ve done simple things to help touch-based devices also adjust to the browser.
Windows has been launched keeping up with emerging technologies like cloud and help synchronise the multiple devices a person uses today?
The biggest challenge today is to sync (synchronise) all of them. Cloud allows me to do that. With the Windows Live ID, all my devices can be synchronised. For instance, if I have photos, documents, all I need to do is access them on a sky drive. The ID also allows me to sync browser settings. Without the cloud you can’t get synchronisation and the seamless experience. We’ve built a lot of flexibility and that is the key thing. The icons are personalised. If you look at the benefits from a consumer perspective, you have multiple devices running on the same operating system and cloud services.
Piracy has been the biggest bane of the software industry. What are the measures taken to prevent copying and illegal trading of Widows 8?
With Windows 8, we have also introduced a new technology. The technology OA3.0 checks the authenticity and genuineness of the Windows certificate. It uniquely identifies a machine with the Windows serial number. You can’t use the same Windows product code with any other device. Earlier, we used to do it at a broad level but now with OA3.0 we are bringing it down to the device level. This will help prevent misuse of the Windows key. The moment you connect to the Internet, the technology checks whether you’re genuine or not. This keeps piracy mode in check.
What are Microsoft’s plans ahead?
There are a couple of things. We will grow faster than the market. We continue to see huge opportunity in our traditional commercial space, which is our enterprise, and corporate accounts, and small and medium businesses. In the SMB segment, the opportunity is humongous as we have very low penetration. I see a lot of opportunities in the government, especially in the public sector for cloud and cloud-based technology. There are opportunities for growth purely in the consumer space as well. I think we have touched the tip of the potential, whether it’s with PC, laptops and other convertibles. There is a huge opportunity with a growing middle class in the country too.