Windows 8 is likely to be a major improvement in a lot of technical fields. The Windows 8 news and rumours, however, are also generating a lot of issues for the IT sector and users. The trouble is that the 128 bit operations may be a bit too good. If you’re currently using a 64 bit system, you’ll already have seen some of the problems that can arise using that system in an environment which is geared to 32 bit systems. When “the cloud” gets itself functional on a large scale, it’s quite possible that there’ll be a range of issues arising for users.
The general idea of a 128 bit system is actually a very good idea. For the cloud range of functions, it will improve user efficiency and help manage data loads for servers. So far, so good, you’d think. The trouble is that user technology typically tends to lag well behind commercial platforms. People using 32 bit systems or even 16 bit systems (some people still do) may find themselves shut out of cloud operations.
Hardware and software on Windows 8
Time will eventually take care of the user upgrades, which are inevitable, but the obvious potential train wreck for users is the risk of levels of dysfunction in the meantime. The 128 bit approach really is a new ball game, like using a jet engine where you were using a skateboard. The “big bits” systems and their much slower predecessors really don’t have a lot in common.
If you’re using a 64 bit system, you’ll remember that some of your old 32 bit software started acting pretty peculiarly when you reloaded it. Even something as basic as game displays wouldn’t work properly. With 128 bit systems, that problem can be expected to repeat to the nth degree. Fortunately, Windows 8 beta is generating a lot of ideas and fixes for emerging issues.
Part of the problem is architecture. The 128 bit architecture is very different, requires different hardware, and the technical gap is likely to be huge for users on older operating systems. If you remember the howls of rage during the Vista debacle related to needing new hardware, that’s another problem that’s likely to emerge, and probably instantly, when Windows 8 hits the market.
Commercial issues
Cloud operations are likely to replace a lot of the old internet functions over time. The cloud will actually become an upper level of the internet as a natural default function of access possibilities. That means, of course, that apps connecting users to commercial functions are also likely to migrate to the cloud, probably quickly, which in turn means that the commercial operations will also be on the more efficient 128 bit systems.
You see where this is heading. A 32 bit user trying to do internet banking on a 128 bit system could be finding things a bit “interesting” when trying to perform functions designed for 128 bit systems. The result will be a need to maintain the old systems, which, of course, will have to have their data translated into the new 128 bit systems. Like an airliner keeping a few horses around, just in case. Inefficiencies created by new efficiency’s. These aren’t insoluble problems, but it’d be a good idea for someone to start looking at them before they become real problems.
