The latest version of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows platform, Windows 8, represents a rethinking of the traditional PC operating system. This new OS, expected to ship this year, with a beta version coming this month, incorporates many of the “touch” features found on tablet computers. Some of these features, developed in an apparent effort to make Windows 8 compatible with the next generation of devices, will be of interest to financial advisors.
At the heart of the system is Metro, a feature that is based on a selection of tiles that represent software applications and data feeds. One tile representing an open website in Internet Explorer, for example, might sit alongside another showing you a draft of a newsletter article on an open Word document, next to a photo feed from your top client. The position and type of tiles are customizable, and you can swipe through pages of them if you have many open.
All of this represents a big departure for Microsoft, which for the first time in years is abandoning the Windows Start menu as its primary access mechanism for applications.
Microsoft is also launching the Windows 8 App Store, a marketplace for third-party applications, designed in a dynamic catalogue format, which makes them easy to purchase and install with a couple of mouse strokes — or taps of the finger. This move is clearly designed to bring the Windows experience more in line with tablet computing — a market dominated by Apple Inc., and in which Microsoft lags. Microsoft, has re-engineered Windows to run on the ARM chip, a processor architecture designed to power small, thin devices such as tablets.
“Ideal” for advisors
“For the financial advisor who will be on the road a lot, and who doesn’t want to lug around a laptop, a tablet would be ideal,” says Mark Tauschek, lead research analyst at London, Ont.-based Info-Tech Research. “But there are Windows apps they need, and they’d rather have them running natively on a tablet that turns into a netbook with a keyboard and a dock. That’s where it starts to become compelling.”
That’s certainly where Elaine Mah thinks things are headed. The country manager for Intel Canada is touting the Ultrabook (Intel’s trade name) as the next high-end device for professionals such as financial advisors. This new class of notebook uses Intel’s Core processors for high performance, but are ultra-thin and light. They combine the best elements of a tablet and a netbook.
Mah predicts touch screens will be standard on Ultrabooks by the end of 2012, making them perfect vehicles for Windows 8.
Furthermore, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has outlined a version of Windows 8 for phones — a clear sign that the company is trying to redefine its operating system experience across all devices.
Protecting data
There are several features supported in the Windows 8 developer preview that will be of interest to professionals such as financial advisors, who need to protect their data.
One of them is picture password. Many people have problems remembering strong passwords that are difficult for hackers to crack. The picture password system features a picture of your choosing, which you can tap and swipe on in unique patterns instead of keying in a password.
Windows 8 also features support for unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI), a protocol designed to allow computers to check that all of their software is secure, from the moment they are turned on.
Microsoft has one other trick up its sleeve: a Windows version of Kinect, the popular face- and body-recognition system that now works with its XBox gaming console. Kinect will be available in a version designed to recognize faces, voices and gestures on a Windows PC. Not only will you soon be able to touch and swipe your way around your PC; you will be able to control it by smiling, frowning, shouting and waving your arms around, too. IE