The Windows 8 user interface will be foreign to a number of users when it arrives on consumer desktops at the end of October.
But it's not just the look and feel that will require some getting used to.
The integration of super-precise touch-based input will be the real evolutionary - and in some regards revolutionary - step the market will have to adapt to with the introduction of the new operating system.
"It's somewhat of an understated change," says Drikus van der Walt, Acer business unit manager at Tarsus Technologies.
"After all," he continues, "Windows 8 can be driven fairly effectively using a mouse and keyboard."
Because touch blends the input mechanism users have become used to when using a tablet PC or smartphone with traditional input mechanisms such as a hardware keyboard and mouse, it offers the best of both worlds.
"It's been fascinating to watch some of the video footage Microsoft shot during the user focus groups it employed when designing Windows 8, since you'd think that some users would favour touch with others preferring to use a keyboard and mouse," Van der Walt says.
"In reality, in the same way Windows 8 blends these two input mechanisms into a single coherent interface, so users are switching between touch and more manual input mechanisms, depending on the task they're trying to complete.
"It's such an interesting new paradigm, that I believe it will have a huge impact on the designs, form factors and overall value proposition offered by devices coming to market in the latter part of 2012 and most of 2013," Van der Walt explains.
Van der Walt says touch is likely to become pervasive across all devices, starting next year.
"While we already know that Windows 8 will be an integral part of new tablet and smartphone devices expected in 2013, the larger impact will be across notebooks, desktops and All-in-One devices," he says.
Van der Walt predicts that many vendors will take the safe, middle ground and launch some traditional computing devices without touch.
"But I do believe the moment users have had a taste of what touch can offer in addition to the keyboard and mouse, they will vote with their wallets and make dual-purpose devices the real success.
"And if you extrapolate this out a year or two, it's safe to assume that most devices will be touch-capable.
"So, while touch might not be 100% pervasive in the next year, I do believe it will be the champion technology in the retail sector over the coming year. We really can't wait to get our hands on the devices that have been hinted at so far.
"And we're sure that the users will feel the same," he concludes.
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Tarsus Technologies
With more than 27 years' of experience in the ICT industry, Tarsus is the leading value-added distributor in South Africa, specialising in the supply of the world's foremost PC and peripheral hardware brands to the local reseller channel.
Tarsus strives to meet the channel's needs for credit funding, stock availability and efficient logistics, ensuring that resellers are able to deliver the highest quality service to their customers, focus on support and compile the best overall solutions for their end-user customer base at the lowest possible cost.
The company prides itself on its flexibility, adaptability, knowledge, skills and successful track record combined with an industry-leading ability to manage large rollouts. These are the reasons Tarsus has consistently been rated as the top distributor in the country by international vendors, resellers and the IT media alike.
With its strong commitment to the South African channel, Tarsus is able to not only make the reseller channel more efficient, but more importantly, it plays a vital role in dramatically reducing the costs of doing business in the local ICT market.
Tarsus distributes a range of products from the world's leading manufacturers, including Acer, AOC, APC, Asus, Cisco, Dell, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Meissner, Microsoft, OKI Printing Solutions and Samsung.
Tarsus' head office is situated in Johannesburg with branches in Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Nelspruit. Tarsus has also extended its footprint into Africa with branches in Namibia, Botswana and Mauritius.
More information about Tarsus is available at: http://www.tarsus.co.za.
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