Windows 8 will soon become Windows 8.1 with hundreds of tweaks and changes that improve the controversial Microsoft operating system.
The same thing is happening with Windows Phone 8 where system and application updates come on an irregular but continuous basis.
My initial irritation and frustration with Windows 8 has evaporated with time and the constant improvements.
The Japanese call this process Kaizen, “Kaizen (改善?), Japanese for “improvement”, or “change for the better” refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and business management.” Wikipedia
Kaizen is the process used by many successful Japanese manufacturers like Toyota, who used Kaizen to build the Prius, the most popular hybrid automobile. I know this because we own a third generation Prius and it is an almost perfect car.
It is obvious Windows 8 did not arrive last fall as a complete and perfect operating system to replace the popular Windows 7.
Windows 8 is a bold new direction for computers – a single interface across the old desktop/laptop paradigm to the new world of everything mobile. But the user interface failed to click with users for many reasons.
Despite the critics, or perhaps because of their criticisms, Microsoft seems to be moving in the right direction. I did find a paper that suggest they have incorporated Kaizen into their Lean Software Development Cycle.
Windows blogger Preston Gralla at Computerworld sees Windows 8.1 positively Five reasons Windows 8.1 is a winner.
“Windows 8.1 has gone a long way towards fixing some but certainly not all of Windows 8’s woes. Here are five ways Windows 8.1 improves upon Windows 8.”
- Boot to the desktop
- Improved Modern-style Internet Explorer
- Better search
- Better Modern apps
- Better access to settings
“Windows 8.1 ships with Internet Explorer 11, and it does the seemingly impossible: It actually makes the Modern-style IE useful. The Windows 8 Modern-style Internet Explorer was by far the worst browser I’ve ever used. How bad? It didn’t have a Favorites manager. How bad? You could only have 10 sites open at once in it. How bad? Well, no need to pile on, but it was pretty awful. The new version includes a Favorites manager and lets you open as many sites simultaneously as you want. I actually use it now.”
Kaizen is perhaps The Microsoft Way, but they always did take two or three tries to make new operating systems popular.
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