海角大神

Dave Wolf is walking around Anaheim a bit starry-eyed 鈥� and it鈥檚 not because he鈥檚 headed to Disneyland. The software application executive is in town for the Microsoft BUILD conference for software developers, where he was one of the 5,000 in attendance who had an 鈥�Oprah moment鈥� on Monday.

鈥淭hey gave us all tablets with the new Windows 8 installed,鈥� he says, referring to the latest update of the firm鈥檚 familiar operating system, which came out in a professional preview version on Tuesday. 鈥淭his is something we鈥檝e all been waiting for,鈥� says Mr. Wolf, vice president of strategy for Cynergy, a software firm.

Indeed, while it may have become the norm for Apple to capture the cultural spotlight for its latest release, it鈥檚 been a while since Microsoft has garnered that kind of buzz.

But the blogosphere is alive with interest 鈥� and the first of these beta-tablets is already for sale on eBay, notes Wolf with a laugh. The big question on everyone鈥檚 mind is whether this will give the software giant the jump it needs to compete in the consumer marketplace so dominated by Apple products.

Software developers are enthusiastic 鈥� good news for Microsoft, which is looking for them to write the applications for the new operating system due out in 2012 鈥� but many analysts are shaking their heads, pointing to Apple鈥檚 overwhelming lead.

鈥淒espite the early buzz about Windows 8, Microsoft will never do anything that will kill the iPad or any other Apple product,鈥� says Mike Manzo, chief marketing officer of Openet. At this point, he adds via email, the Apple OS has too much momentum and its usability has become too important to users.

鈥淚鈥檓 sure that Microsoft has been crafty in the feature set, but nothing will get them past the 鈥渃ool鈥� factor that Apple has. At least not for some time,鈥� he adds.

Microsoft seems set on winning battles of the past rather than creating a new future, says Steve Wunker, author of 鈥淐apturing New Markets.鈥�

[Editor's note: The original version of this story misstated that Mr. Wunker was the author of 鈥淗ow Smart Companies Create Opportunities Others Don鈥檛," which is the subtitle of the book.]

鈥淲indows 8 would have been an effective platform had it been introduced two years ago,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut Apple has won the tablet game,鈥� adding that even Google鈥檚 Android, 鈥渨hich is a slick system, is a distant second, and few of Microsoft鈥檚 strengths in the enterprise translate into the tablet realm.鈥�

Rather than try to win a war it has already forfeited, Microsoft should be building new ways of expanding the computing market, he says.

鈥淎fter all, Apple didn鈥檛 try to beat Microsoft where that company was strong, but instead it created its own market with the iPad,鈥� he notes, adding, 鈥淢icrosoft should try to do the same.鈥�

But some who have actually worked with the new system say they are pleasantly surprised.

鈥淚t really is like no other OS I鈥檝e seen,鈥� says Mr. Wolf, 鈥渋t鈥檚 pretty unique.鈥�

He points for example to the Metro user interface, with its 鈥渓ive tiles,鈥� which provide live data right on the interface. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to click into them to get the weather update or your Twitter feed,鈥� he says.

Fellow software developer Jason Katz, founder and CEO of Paltalk, an Internet chat company, says he downloaded the new software preview Tuesday night onto an Acer tablet.

鈥淚t is extremely impressive,鈥� he says. He cautions against writing Microsoft out of the tablet game, noting that while there may be 25 million iPads sold to date, he points to the half billion or so Windows users.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a pretty healthy installed base of people familiar with and ready to transition into the next operating system,鈥� he says. He suggests that the exclusiveness and closed system of software and hardware that has given Apple such success may work in the short term, but in the long run, people want more flexibility.

Simon Buckingham, founder of Appitalism, the largest app store on the Internet, says the field is open.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not too late at all,鈥� he says, noting that Apple may have taken a good lead, but he points at the many competitors who are still struggling, from Google鈥檚 Android to Blackberry鈥檚 Playbook. 鈥淭here鈥檚 plenty of room for another tablet option,鈥� he says.

The market will benefit from another serious competitor, points out Bryan Gonzalez, of the Social & Digital Media Technology Labs Entertainment Technology Center at USC.

鈥淎pple reinvented itself with pressure from the marketplace,鈥� he points out, adding, 鈥渆veryone benefits when these major companies have competitors nipping at their heels.鈥�