Microsoft Windows Desktop Is Dead

It’s hard to think of any technology sphere that won’t feel an impact from this, so web design customers may as well know. This Computer World article makes no bones about declaring that Microsoft will no longer be focusing on Windows on the desktop. The declaration comes from Gartner analysts, who cite that the technology paradigm is shifting rapidly away from desktop computing altogether.

Instead, they’re looking to more of the mobile and pad market, with WinRT and Metro. They’ve also already made a jump to this with their design decisions on Windows 8, such as killing the ‘start’ button. Not since the shift from DOS to Windows has Microsoft undergone such a massive user-interface overhaul.

What does this mean for website owners? It means that now more than ever, you cannot count on the standard platform of Internet Explorer running on Windows desktops. The desktop market, already fragmented the past few years, is going to experience a huge fragmentation as a plethora of devices are used to navigate the web.