Microsoft is quietly reinventing itself. Just over the past year, the company has launched a slew of products and services, with more to come in the near future. The common theme running through these products is the new design language recently rechristened “Modern UI” (formerly Metro).

1. 94 GlobeAsia January 2013
Technology
icrosoft is quietly
reinventing itself.
Just over the past
year, the company
has launched a slew
of products and services, with more to
come in the near future. The common
theme running through these products
is the new design language recently
rechristened “Modern UI” (formerly
Metro).
The new design continues to
be uniformly implemented across
Microsoft’s myriad of hardware and
software product lines. This is no flash
in the pan. To prove their dedication to
a cleaner simpler approach, Microsoft
has even changed its logo for the first
time in 25 years.
While many may see this as just
a branding exercise, the extension of
a common design language across all
its products enables users to switch
between Microsoft’s hardware and
software products, while still feeling
they are on familiar ground. The
company realizes that if it is to gain
a significant share in new markets,
it can only do so by using its already
successful products as a springboard.
Lately, Microsoft has been making
a serious effort to compete in the
hardware, software, mobile and web
services industry. The transition into
these new areas has not been easy
for a company of Microsoft’s size and
culture.
Many industry analysts make the
mistake of comparing Microsoft’s new
offerings on a one-to-one basis with
its already established competitors.
This sort of analysis is myopic because
APphoto
Why design, innovate and leverage
is Microsoft’s new mantra

2. January 2013 GlobeAsia 95
By Jason Fernandes
while this is an accurate snapshot of the
present, it does not take into account
the long-term perspective.
Microsoft’s ultimate goals do
not require it to build products that
are individually competitive in their
respective space. What Microsoft is
trying to achieve is a visually coherent
and expansive ecosystem spanning
all its products. The hope is that each
will work so well with the others that
people will choose Microsoft simply
because it’s the path of least resistance
and they are already familiar with the
brand’s aesthetic.
The new unified design is a key
component of this strategy as it
helps Microsoft leverage its absolute
dominance in the desktop and game
console market, and parlay that success
into its other properties. With very
capable products in almost every field
and an ample bank balance, Microsoft
looks like it is well on the road to
success.
Microsoft’s desktop dominance
Windows 8 is the most visible and
controversial part of this new unified
strategy. Its interface is both visually
appealing and coherent with the
company’s major online properties.
Microsoft’s Live Tile interface
allows access to information at a glance
with very little interaction and almost
no learning curve. The main criticism
of Windows 8 is that many of its users
feel like they are using two completely
different operating systems.
The fact is Microsoft’s new
“Windows 8 UI” doesn’t quite play well
with the standard view of the OS most
people are familiar with. The majority
of users choose Windows because of
familiarity and these users don’t take
kindly to jarring unfamiliar changes.
While this may be a valid criticism,
it creates a potential no-win situation
for Microsoft because by that standard
they should never innovate. If they
were to stay stagnant, on the other
hand, people would complain that
Windows 8 was merely incremental.
In order to counter this criticism,
Microsoft has tried to both innovate
and stay familiar at the same time.
It has given users the option to
disable the new look and go back to
the standard interface if that’s what
they prefer. This allows Microsoft to
compete with Apple on design and
simplicity for novices while allowing
power users to get their hands dirty
should they choose to do so.
Microsoft’s other blockbuster
property, Office, is expected to receive
a design facelift with the upcoming
2013 edition sporting the new Modern
interface. Office has dominated the
word processing industry for years and
with the release of the subscription-
based Office 365 last year, things are
only getting better.
Microsoft has again used its market
acceptance in the word processing
industry to push its enterprise-focused
web apps. According to TheVerge.
com, sources close to Microsoft have
revealed that Microsoft Office apps
for Android and iOS are slated to be
released in early 2013. To further the
strategy, it is expected that viewing
documents will be free but editing
them will require an Office 365
subscription.
Mobile offerings
While Android and iOS have to wait
for their versions of Office, the new
Microsoft tablet “Surface RT” has
Office built in. Since many enterprise
customers are reluctant to use the
Office substitute apps that have
cropped up, Office alone could well
make Surface the preferred tablet for
enterprise customers.
The tablet runs a stripped-
down version of the new OS titled
Windows 8 RT. Microsoft is unique
in its ability to use its desktop OS and
word processing suite to sell tablets.
Anybody who has used ChromeOS or
Google Docs for any extended period
of time knows that Google’s products
in this space are nowhere near
competitive with Microsoft’s.
While observers have rightly
pointed out that the tablet market is
terribly crowded, there is no company
that can provide the kind of synergy
that Microsoft can bring to the table.
By far the greatest criticism of the
Surface RT is its lack of a significant
App ecosystem. Many point out
that several popular apps including
Facebook are currently unavailable
on Windows 8. Again these criticisms
fail to take into consideration that
when the iPhone and the Android app
market first started they both lacked
widespread support from developers.
Once the Surface moves to retail
stores and becomes more accessible
and widely adopted, there will be a
greater incentive for developers to
focus on Windows 8. Certainly in time
the Windows 8 app store will include
if not exceed the content available in
other stores.
The app criticism is completely
muted however, when one considers
The company realizes that if it is to gain a significant
share in new markets, it can only do so by using its
already successful products as a springboard.

3. 96 GlobeAsia January 2013
Technology
the soon-to-be released Surface Pro.
The Surface Pro is slated to run a
full-featured version of Windows 8.
A cursory glance at its specifications
reveals its hardware is more
comparable to an Ultrabook than a
tablet.
While many expected that there
would eventually be an overlap
between mobile and desktop OS’s, most
expected that it would be Apple which
finally made an iPad that ran a full-
blown OS.
The fact that users will have the
ability to launch legacy desktop
software from within the Surface is just
completely revolutionary. Once more,
Microsoft is able to tap into its desktop
strengths and extend them into the
tablet space.
Microsoft’s new modern design
aesthetic is also a core component of
its Windows Phone software. The new
Mobile OS features the same Live Tile
interface common to Microsoft Surface
and Windows 8.
The increased focus on design
appears to be working. While Windows
Phone currently ranks a distant fourth
in the smartphone market, research
firm IDC has predicted a growth of
8.8% in its market share just over the
next four years. Interestingly, over half
this growth is expected to come at the
expense of Android.
Microsoft’s acquisition and
subsequent integration of Skype
into Windows Phone could also be a
game changer. While Skype already
featured somewhat in its earlier
release, Windows Phone 8 completely
integrates Skype and its calling features
into the dialer itself. Skype’s massive
user base along with a very capable
mobile offering from Microsoft will
surely be a compelling combination.
Lately HTC also appears to be sidling
up to Microsoft. Its two newest
smartphones, the 8X and 8S, both run
Windows Phone 8. Certainly Microsoft
has a long road ahead of it if it is to
compete with the established players
in the smartphone industry, but the
numbers from IDC and the recent deal
with HTC suggest that it’s on the right
track.
Unified design for online
services, hardware
Microsoft has taken pains to ensure
that its online properties also integrate
visually with the software and
hardware. In the past few months
Microsoft has revamped its web
services - Bing, Outlook and SkyDrive
- to sport the same design experience
as the new Windows mobile and
desktop products.
While Outlook’s features do seem
somewhat limited when compared
to Gmail, its SkyDrive and Facebook
integration make for a very attractive
service. These products are well made
and provide a more unified experience
than users are accustomed to.
Microsoft has also just launched a
new social network - So.cl (pronounced
Social). It’s too soon to know what
Microsoft’s goal is in entering this
arena, but the fact that one can login
to So.cl using a Facebook account
seems to indicate that Microsoft views
So.cl as an enhancement rather than
a competitor to Facebook. It will be
interesting to watch what Microsoft
makes of So.cl and the role its new
design language will play in its overall
strategy.
An often overlooked component
in Microsoft’s long-term goals is
the enormously successful gaming
console, the Xbox. The Xbox 360
has been the highest-selling console
for 23 consecutive months running
now, moving over 1.2 million units
in November. Its latest update finally
brought the interface of the Xbox in
line visually with Microsoft’s other
products.
Neither Apple nor Google sell
game consoles, leaving this market
virtually Microsoft’s sole domain.
This advantage allows it to push the
unified ecosystem to several million
young people who are interacting and
growing comfortable with a design
language that will seem very familiar
should those gamers at some point be
in the market for a cell phone, tablet or
a PC.
Microsoft has finally learnt that
design and aesthetics are important.
Consumers are no longer happy with
something that merely works well or
is generously featured. They want a
beautiful product.
Microsoft’s new logo and Modern
design aesthetic is indicative of its
understanding of this new empowered
consumer. For the first time in several
years Microsoft is building a suite of
products that work so well together
that people are sitting up and starting
to take notice.
Microsoft’s synergy across their
product and service universe could well
lead many to buy into its ecosystem as
a whole simply for the convenience.
Microsoft’s competitors would do well
to look around, because the sleeping
giant has awoken and nobody’s seemed
to have noticed.
Jason Fernandes is a tech commentator
and the founder of SmartKlock.
The fact that users
will have the ability to
launch legacy desktop
software from within the
Surface is just completely
revolutionary.