Microsoft ready to admit defeat with Windows 8MURAD AHMED

MICROSOFT plans to cut itslosses on Windows 8, the latestversion of software that runs mostof the world’s computers, jettison-ing the brand in a bid to appeasemillions of disgruntled users.

Industry sources say theworld’s biggest software companywill announce a new operatingsystem, codenamed Threshold, inApril. It is understood that ult-imately Microsoft will call the sys-tem Windows 9 — a move,

nonetheless, away from the Win-dows 8 brand that executives be-lieve has become irreparablydamaged by poor sales and scath-ing customer reviews.

The company will also make anumber of changes to the system’sdesign and functionality. It will goon sale in 2015, far earlier thanmany anticipated.

It is only 15 months since thelaunch of Windows 8, described asa bold reinvention of the bestsell-ing software. Instead of invitingusers toclick on icons andboxes, itfeatures big, colourful on-screen

tiles that are meant to be touched.It was intended to transformMicrosoft into a player on mobilephones and tablets.

Yet the company’s changeshave alienated many who hadbecome familiar with the originalsoftware.

Last year Microsoft offered afree upgrade, called Windows 8.1,in a response to the criticism.

Analysts said Windows 8 wasalso struggling because it offeredfar fewer apps than rivals such asAndroid, Google’s software formobiles, and Apple devices.

According to NetMarket-Share, the overall share of Win-dows 8 is 10 per cent. Sales of Win-dows 7, its predecessor, however,continue to rise.

Company sources insisted theywere encouraged by the range ofnew devices being released thisyear that run Windows 8. Butexecutives are understood to beincreasingly concerned about thelack of uptake for Windows 8 onmobile devices. They believe afailure to break into this marketcould be disastrous.

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S A T U R D A Y

Founderof TwoDogs diesin BaliMARK SCHLIEBS

Duncan MacGillivray

ALCOPOP entrepreneurDuncan MacGillivray, who ledthe clean-food marketing move-ment on Kangaroo Island, hasdied of a suspected heart attackin Bali. He was aged 66.

The respected South Austra-lianbusinessman washolidayingwith his family on the Indo-nesian tourist island when hedied on Monday.

Mr MacGillivray has left be-hind a string of successful busi-nesses, the most famous ofwhichwas the popular Two Dogsalcoholic lemonade he beganselling in 1993. He sold the busi-ness two years later.

He also established LongviewWines, along with an associatedvineyard and function centrenear his Adelaide Hills home,but later sold the business.

Most recently, he has beenmanaging director of KI PureGrain, which stores and exportspremium cereals grown by Kan-garoo Island farmers.

A family spokesman said hisdeath was a loss to the state.

‘‘Duncan worked tirelessly topromoteall thingsSouthAustra-lian and was generous with histime and expertise in charitablepursuits, most notably as chair-man and patron of Adelaide’sHutt St Centre, supporting thehomeless,’’ the spokesman said.

Premier Jay Weatherill saidhe last spoke to the businessmanshortly before he flew to Bali.

‘‘I’m utterly shocked anddeeply saddened,’’ Mr Weather-ill said. ‘‘We’ve lost a greatpioneer for the food industry.’’

Opposition Leader StevenMarshall said Mr MacGillivraywas extremely generous in giv-ing back to the community.

‘‘Duncan’s passion and en-thusiasm for all things SouthAustralian was second to noneand he will be greatly missed bymany,’’ Mr Marshall said.

Mr MacGillivray is survivedby his wife, Oopy, adult childrenAlice and Hugh, and youngersons Angus and Max.

Payout win for disabled on $1 an hourEXCLUSIVE

RICK MORTONSOCIAL AFFAIRS WRITER

THOUSANDS of intellectuallydisabled employees who werepaid as little as $1 an hour whileworking for sheltered workshopsunder a faulty government wage-assessment scheme will soon haveaccess to a one-off payment.

Assistant Social Services Min-

ister Mitch Fifield will today an-nounce a fund for more than10,000 people with intellectualdisabilities who were working, orare working, for government-subsidised businesses called Aus-tralian Disability Enterprises ondiscriminatory wages.

But there’s a catch. No em-ployee or former employee whocurrently has an action before thecourts will be able to access thefund.

Although details of the pay-ments won’t be available immedi-

ately, The Australian understandsthe fund will be worth tens of mil-lions of dollars.

The full Federal Court found inDecember 2012 the government-designed wage assessment tool,called the Business Services WageAssessment Tool, was ‘‘artificialand theoretical’’ in that it bore noresemblance to productivitybenchmarks in the private sector.

‘‘In my view, the criticism ofBSWAT is compelling,’’ judgeJohn Buchanan said at the time.

The former Labor government

subsequently asked the Austra-lian Human Rights Commissionduring the caretaker period aheadof the September election for athree-year exemption on finding abetter wage tool, a request whichhas yet to be considered.

Senator Fifield said the fundwould make payments to thosewith intellectual disabilities whohave had their wages assessedusing BSWAT and claim to haveexperienced economic loss as aresult. ‘‘The scheme will delivercertainty for these employees,

their families and carers, as well astheir employers, while the impli-cations of the BSWAT court deci-sions are worked through,’’ he toldThe Australian.

‘‘The Australian government’spriority is to ensure minimal dis-ruption to the employment ofthese supported employees.’’

The first round of court actionwasbrought byMichael NojinandGordon Prior. Mr Nojin, who hascerebral palsy and an intellectualdisability, was earning $1.85 anhour doing tasks such as docu-

ment shredding while Mr Prior,who is legally blind and has a mildintellectual disability, was earningless than $3 an hour doing garden-ing work at the time.

There are about 190 not-for-profit ADEs — formerly known assheltered workshops — acrossAustralia, typically employing amixture of people with disabilitiesin gardening, cleaning, laundryand packaging work.

The Coalition fund to beannounced today won’t beavailable to anybody who

currently has proceedings in thecourts for back-pay.

A representative action cover-ing almost all intellectually dis-abled employees who wereBSWAT-assessed was filed in theFederal Court in December and isdue for a directions hearing nextmonth.

Any one of the approximately10,000 people covered in thataction would need to opt out inwriting if they wished to access apayment under Senator Fifield’sscheme, which begins in July.

Little birdy chirps question: the answer’s in the dancer

JAMES CROUCHER

Broome dancer Dalisa Pigram sought the counsel of her grandfather, Patrick Dodson, to find inspiration for her solo piece, Gudirr Gudirr, which opens tomorrow at the Sydney Festival

TIM DOUGLAS

WHEN Broome dancer DalisaPigram was scouring for inspi-ration for her latest work, shesought the counsel of a familiarsource: her grandfather.

That her 65-year-old Pop hap-pens to be Patrick Dodson, one ofthe country’s most respected indi-

genous leaders, goes some way toexplaining the issues with whichPigram grapples in Gudirr Gudirr,a solo dance work opening thisweek at the Sydney Festival.

‘‘ I knew what I wanted to say inmaking a piece about change inindigenous Australia,’’ she said.‘‘So my pop suggested I start withthe little shore bird, who callswhen the tide changes, as a seed of

an idea. He’s a philosopher,really.’’

The dance work, on which sheand dance studio Marrugekuhave collaborated with artistVernon Ah Kee, takes its namefrom the sound made by the snipeshore bird; its ‘‘gudirr gudirr’’ is aknown feature of the northernWest Australian coast.

‘‘Gudirr Gudirr is a warning cry

to a people facing the complexityof cultural change. I am not inter-ested in making work that doesn’thave some kind of meaning,’’Pigram said of the piece that alsocharts the issues of suicide and re-tention of indigenous languages.

The latter is something close toher heart. Pigram is the Yawurulanguage teacher at the publicschool in Broome. ‘‘I’ve spent the

last 10 or 11 years learning from anelder, who recently passed. But tohave spent time learning fromhim is a great privilege becausemy father’s and mother’s gener-ation never had the opportunityto speak language,’’ she said.‘‘There’s a great knowledge gapbetween them and, say, my chil-dren’s generation.

‘‘I teach150primaryschool stu-

dents language, and I feel it’s im-portant they learn it, and not justindigenous kids.’’

Dodson attended Gudirr Gud-irr’s opening performance inBroome last year. ‘‘He was veryproud,’’ says Pigram.

The work opens at Carriage-works tomorrow.

ARTS P14

Handy remedy for checkout fumbleTHE days of rooting around forcash or cards at the checkout maysoon be over, with the invention ofa ‘‘vein-reading’’ system thatallows customers to make pay-ments with the palm of their hand.

PulseWallet takes a scan of acustomer’s palm using technologydeveloped by Japanese manufac-turer Fujitsu called Palm Secure.At first instance, customers mustswipe their credit card into thedevice. It will then ask them toplace their hand over a sensor thattakes a scan of veins in their palm.From then on, the scan will be as-

sociated with their credit cards, soto purchase an item people placetheir hand on a PulseWalletreader and the payment is made.

The service fits a trend to usebiometric information — identify-ing people through individualphysical traits — as a way for themto use their gadgets.

‘‘What we aim to do is makepayments easy and secure foreveryone,’’ said Aimann Rasheed,chief executive of PulseWallet.‘‘By adding biometrics, we’re tak-ing a step that is more inclusive, aswell as easier and faster, so we be-

lieve people will want to adopt it.’’Experts expect the system to

take off, with consumers welcom-ing any service that reduces thetime they spend at tills, while alsoproviding added security. It isthought to be almost impossible toforge a vein scan.

Other companies are also look-ing at ways of using biometrictechnology. Apple has released asystem called ‘‘Touch ID’’ on itslatest iPhone that recognisesfingerprints to authenticate theowner’s identity.

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