If you’re a CIO, IT Director or Manager that’s considering introducing Windows 8 Tablets into your enterprise, I do not want you to think that making this move requires you to rewrite your corporate apps.  I repeat, the apps you currently use to run your business that are written in .NET, C++, Java, Delphi, VB6, PowerBuilder or other Win32 compatible languages are all welcome.  There’s a reason we included a desktop persona in addition to our Tiled interface and Modern UI apps. 

Don’t create an artificial blocker that delays the productivity gains your employees will enjoy by moving to a Tablet built for the enterprise.  There are great Windows 8 Tablets on the market that are thin, light, and provide 10 hours of battery life, Win32 compatibility, with amazing touch capabilities.  I challenge you to test out the apps you’re currently running on Windows 7 and XP.  While your existing apps may not be touch friendly at first, Tablets with digitizer pens allow your employees to tap on the small UI elements that were originally designed for a mouse.  The next baby step you can choose to make is modify the UI of your existing apps to have the forms run full-screen while increasing the size of text boxes, buttons, list boxes, fonts and other UI elements as necessary.  All this can be done visually and quickly without touching a line of code.  Giving your existing apps a touch-first treatment will breathe new life into them and your employees will be delighted. 

As you can probably tell, I’m a pragmatic technologist.  I realize that you’ve invested millions over the last couple of decades in the Win32 apps and systems that help make your business a success.  Even in the face of the tablet revolution that’s taking place all around us, rip and replace isn’t something that IT budgets can afford and the downtime is unacceptable.

The good news is that Windows runs on a new generation of Tablets that are secure, manageable and built for business.  Unlike other Tablets and operating systems on the market, Windows 8 Tablets run the apps that matter most.

-Rob