Damned if you do…

Damned if you do…What do you do when you respond positively to feedback? Take even more flak, if you’re Microsoft

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Paul Hearns Blogs | PAUL HEARNS:  There is much speculation as to the content of Windows Blue, the codename for the major update of Windows 8 that has been dubbed 8.1.

One of the things expected in it is the return of the start button to the desktop, as well as a boot to desktop option that bypasses the Modern UI.

These moves have been called Microsoft's "New Coke" moment as it embarrassingly climbs down from its earlier assertions of this approach being the future.

To be honest, I think this is a little harsh. There is no doubt at all that in many cases, innovation has been hit or miss. Henry Ford famously said that if he had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a better horse. The point is that user feedback and input can be useful, nay (pardon the pun) indispensable, in refining a product, but it can often be inhibitive in the face of true innovation.

However, the fact remains that the majority of feedback on Windows 8 seems to be that users want an option to have their start button back and to be able to boot directly to the desktop. But now that Microsoft appears to be acknowledging this, instead of receiving praise for responding to user demands, it is getting fla...

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