Windows 8 Consumer Preview

I was one of the million curious who downloaded the consumer preview for Windows 8. Honestly I was expecting a more functional ‘alpha’ version, but the consumer preview is really more a GUI demo.
The anticipated halo effect of metro across all form factors is an obvious goal, but what else does metro add to the PC form factor? Live tiles are an evolution in the saga of widgets. Live tiles makes the user more aware of changes and updates in their solution landscape. Having this more holistic view bridges into a discussion about what that holistic landscape is for different audience categories. What are the core services we all use? Internet, email, social networking services, Skype, Zune, news feeds, marketplaces, Office (Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint), SkyDrive, etc? I also use CRM, Project, Visio, Mind Manager and M-Files. Additionally I use weather, stock price and exchange rate streams. These are all individual service subscriptions, but the data has cross service application.The same way that BizTalk connected enterprise applications, developers need a connector framework that facilitates data sharing between services. This should be made RIDIGULOUSLY simple. We need to break the mold of silo applications once and for all!
ISVs need to have the choice to share data with other services… an a standardized way to do so. They also need to be able make data sharing billable for high value data streams… Azure Data Marketplace. None are in my experience, which is really a shame. If I had invested in a software company, my first question to the CEO would be what is your data market play? Users also need to be able to enable/disable data sharing for services for privacy reasons. These are plumbing needs that need be standardized across the ecosystem.
EXAMPLE: I’d like to link a weather feed with my events calendar. If there is an inclement weather warning, I’d like to get calendar notification about it.
EXAMPLE: I’d like to subscribe to benchmark on funnel size, close rates, etc. in CRM for my industry and size across online CRM users.
EXAMPLE: I’d like to see all email and social exchanges aggregated chronologically in my Skype chat window.
EXAMPLE: I’d like my Suunto dive log and Polar excursive log integrated with my calendar. I’d like a holistic health management service and smart tile that tracks everything from eating habits, stress, exercise and medical health records. Why can’t I join all this data? I’ve even used a nutritional coaching service from Wellness Foundry… why could that not be integrated?
I’ve personally always been fairly good at mental data joins and seeing the big picture in my minds eye. It frustrates me to no end, knowing how much we generate data on a daily basis and being technologically handicapped in fully utilizing that data.
I say it again… Windows 8 may be a GUI evolution and Azure may be IaaS upgrade, but they are both facets of a data and service integration revolution! And that is the WORD!