Windows 8 Off to an Awkward Start, Analyst Says

[zakislam]

PC vendors have been slow to launch devices powered by Microsoft's latest operating system.

Windows 8 Off to an Awkward Start, Analyst Says : Read more

 

[Guest]

No way.

 

[fuzzion]

A portion of those licenses sold were due to consumers being heavy handed and forced to accept win8.

 

[halcyon]

Windows 8 isn't so bad. ...but certainly not worth a premium over 7. Didn't Vista receive a similar welcoming and look how successful it was. Oh wait...

 

[kcorp2003]

my company (prefer not to name) is making the switch to Windows 7 soon. Our team is in charge of making sure all of our proprietary software works when the switch happens. I think we can switch to 8 but the deals are shaky.

 

[Gundam288]

[citation][nom]halcyon[/nom]Windows 8 isn't so bad. ...but certainly not worth a premium over 7. Didn't Vista receive a similar welcoming and look how successful it was. Oh wait...[/citation]
Vista wasn't that bad after SP1. Even then Vista does not even compare to the changes to Windows that Windows 8 has done compared to Windows 7.

They Completely changed the way people have used Windows for almost if not over a decade.

Vista, ME, 98, 95, etc. are used the same way. You have a start menu, desktop, etc. The same can not be said about Windows 8 which has changed the even the basic ways the OS interacts with the user.

Yes, you can get a start menu thru a 3rd party program and desktop and etc.. But, people expect Windows 8 to be just like 7/Vista/XP/etc.. Also, not many people have touch screens with their desktops which adds another barrier to using it if you are just upgrading.

 

[chewy1963]

[citation][nom]Gundam288[/nom]Vista wasn't that bad after SP1. Even then Vista does not even compare to the changes to Windows that Windows 8 has done compared to Windows 7.They Completely changed the way people have used Windows for almost if not over a decade.Vista, ME, 98, 95, etc. are used the same way. You have a start menu, desktop, etc. The same can not be said about Windows 8 which has changed the even the basic ways the OS interacts with the user.Yes, you can get a start menu thru a 3rd party program and desktop and etc.. But, people expect Windows 8 to be just like 7/Vista/XP/etc.. Also, not many people have touch screens with their desktops which adds another barrier to using it if you are just upgrading.[/citation]

No matter how you feel about how good/bad Vista was, the marketplace spoke and deemed it crap. The same thing is currently happening with Win 8. Those 40 million copies of Win 8 'sold' since the release include the copies of the OS sitting on store shelves and the new model computers also sitting on the shelves. And this is with all the 'upgrade' specials that Microsoft is running now... It would be interesting to see what percentage of people took up MS on their $15 upgrades on recently sold Win 7 machines. I suspect that number is rather lower than MS expected.

 

[noreaster]

What are the real functional advantages to Windows 8 vs Windows 7? Greater native hardware support?
Obviously the UI is the big feature but I view that as more of a marketing gimmick than a practical function. What does Windows 8 allow me to do that I couldn't do on Windows 7? Since Xp, those have been fewer and fewer with each new release.
I understand the desire by Microsoft to cash in on some of what Apple is reaping with its semi-universal OS but if I am on a traditional desktop or traditional laptop, I really do want a desktop on my PC, I can live without a Start menu but what do I get in return that is so much better?
Those are the questions Microsoft needs to account for in those environments.

 

[internetlad]

fuck you guys, windows 8 is good.

The only people who bash it are people who either haven't used it or haven't figured it out yet.

 

[livebriand]

Fuck Windows 8. If they don't want to put a decent UI on it, no matter how good the kernel is, I am not upgrading.

 

[tomfreak]

[citation][nom]Gundam288[/nom]Vista wasn't that bad after SP1. Even then Vista does not even compare to the changes to Windows that Windows 8 has done compared to Windows 7.They Completely changed the way people have used Windows for almost if not over a decade.Vista, ME, 98, 95, etc. are used the same way. You have a start menu, desktop, etc. The same can not be said about Windows 8 which has changed the even the basic ways the OS interacts with the user.Yes, you can get a start menu thru a 3rd party program and desktop and etc.. But, people expect Windows 8 to be just like 7/Vista/XP/etc.. Also, not many people have touch screens with their desktops which adds another barrier to using it if you are just upgrading.[/citation]the performance problem in Vista is not fixable. But the Win8 missing startmenu is fixable.

Compared to win7, win8 does not offer much improvement, but if u are getting a new machine now, it is better to take the cheaper win8 + start8 route than buying the more expensive win7.

 

[Guest]

I wonder if those 40 million licenses happened to include all the licenses to PC vendors for their Win8 products. Maybe customers aren't really buying the actual licenses but rather PC vendors hoping customers will buy their new Win8 PCs. Interesting though.

 

[bison88]

Windows 8 has a learning curve, as well as the fact that it's faced "abundant bad press."

I have a problem with that because in the past year I've heard, read, and watched countless media outlets, journalists, and bloggers rant and rave about how "great" Windows 8 was and most of us who disagreed and pointed out the negative aspects were stuck in the comment sections of all the Pro Windows 8 stories. I definitely do not feel there was an "abundant" amount of negative articles, news pieces, and reviews of the OS throughout its Beta to RTM.

 

[velocityg4]

I imagine a large portion of those licenses sold where due to the heavy discounts for the upgrade. Mainly techy people trying it out. I bought it for that reason $40 why not. Also I need to know it so I can help people on support calls and teach them how to use it.

Frankly as an onsite technician. I think this is the greatest operating system Microsoft ever made. With how reliable and easy Windows was getting with Windows 7 I thought the support market would soon be dead. Now Windows 8 has breathed fresh hope. With how utterly complicated Windows 8 is I envision many more support calls and raising my rate.

Thank you Microsoft for breathing new life into the support and training market.

 

[jhansonxi]

M$ is increasing CAL prices 15% for most server products. I wonder how much of that is being used to subsidize Win8 discounts.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

Windows 8 makes me miss Windows Vista.

 

[darthvidor]

if regular monitors will have touch input, that's when win8 might sell more

 

[Bloob]

[citation][nom]chewy1963[/nom]No matter how you feel about how good/bad Vista was, the marketplace spoke and deemed it crap. The same thing is currently happening with Win 8. Those 40 million copies of Win 8 'sold' since the release include the copies of the OS sitting on store shelves and the new model computers also sitting on the shelves. And this is with all the 'upgrade' specials that Microsoft is running now... It would be interesting to see what percentage of people took up MS on their $15 upgrades on recently sold Win 7 machines. I suspect that number is rather lower than MS expected.[/citation]

There are basically no new models yet. Many of the OEMs have yet to ship any of their Win 8 models, even if there's been quite a bit of hype around them. Even the analyst in the article points that out.

 

[Guest]

As an apple hater, user of microsoft OS since win95 and IT-Admin, I should be first to try out Win8 and do the switch.. but I'm not gonna touch it, since i'm a PC user above all. Good job microsoft....

 

[john15v16]

No thank you MS...I'll wait for the release of windows 9...