Windows 8 Adoption Poor

[Tute]

Perhaps an unfair interpretation of your ealier post, in which case I apologise

As well as that, I've seen a couple of these articles denouncing Windows 8 as both a success and a failure. I've refrained from posting any on here as in all truth, only Microsoft know the true performance of Windows 8, and they're always going to paint a happy picture to drum up support.

Plus, you've surely heard about lies, damn lies, and statistics...?

 

[Phil2008]

Well Ive always updated to the latest version of windows, but this time, I dont see any need to and if I did it would only mean learning new things that I dont actually need todo as win 7 is all I need in a OS for a few more years yet.

From winxp to vista you had the directx10 plus winxp was getting a tad old
From vista to win7 a major improvement on vista and worth the upgrade.
But from win7/vista to win8, Yeah it boots faster, but what else makes it worthy of upgrading???

 

[lsg1r]

Business users are always slowest to adapt,I thought Vista was great(used it from day one) as to Win8 well it can do things Win7 can't do ie comes with built in AV,Refresh and Reset,snap view,Microsoft store,DX11.1 etc....

you're talking about stuff that hardcore users would know about, not what the normal consumer would know about
- from a normal user perspective both win 8 and win 7 do games.... apart from the hardcore gamers most haven't got a clue what dx9,10,11 etc are
- av... hi would you like to buy norton with that new pc...
- refresh and reset... when was the last time you saw a non techy person do anything to their pc to improve it's performance...
- snap view, lol seriously...
- windows store... doubt many will notice that missing as windows has always been buy disk in store install it

So if you look at it as an average consumer (and to be fair many techy ones too) there isn't any reason to upgrade because windows 7 can do everything windows 8 can do...

oh and you missed spaces... that virtual raid which doesn't work with anything but windows 8

 

[kitch9]

The very strong focus on touchscreens was a mistake in my mind. I know that MS want to compete more in the tablet market but designing the UI for desktop PCs around touch is quite a strange decision. I've got Windows 8 running on my laptop (it needed a reformat so I thought I'd try it out) and I like the speed improvements even if they're not huge but I feel like I spend more time fighting the interface than I do enjoying it. Perhaps if all I did was play music, look at photos and browse the net it would be okay but trying to actually work on it is a pain and if I were running an IT department I wouldn't want to touch it because the time/money lost in confusion and training staff would be immense. I know you can revert to a Windows 7 look via third party software but no sane IT manager is going to want to do that when Windows 7 works just fine.

The touchscreen market is growing exponentially and the desktop market is shrinking. More and more hybrid devices are hitting the market too.

Yes MS are wrong.

Anybody who thought businesses would flock to this OS are crazy. Windows 7 was the last large scale corporate migration, why would the industry migrate again so soon, even if it was the best OS ever? The best MS can hope for is for those still clinging onto XP when the support runs out move to 8 when they HAVE to.

I have rolled out 8 in my office and to be fair its been pretty painless. I set the Start screen up so its relevant to the business and the staff just seem to be getting on with it, to be fair I'm finding those who aren't particularly PC literate tend to use Start by default to launch their programs whereas I use it very little same as I used the old Start.

 

[Macro]

But if you dont want or need it then you should be able to stick with W7 and not be belittled by the W8 fanboy brigade for doing so.

But no one is saying they shouldn't stick with W7, it's a fine OS.

Let me take the counter to your point. The thread is about W8 and it's poor adoption which is clearly going to attract people both pro and against W8. The anti W8 brigade pitch up and then try to argue that any positive comments about W8 are wrong and that anyone who actually likes W8 is characterised as some kind of irrational "W8 lover". Your comments about "fanboy brigade" are indicative of that kind of ad hominem argument trying to belittle anyone who puts a positive argument for Windows 8 forward.

Really, this is a discussion forum, if all people want to do is post "w8 sux lol" and have everyone agree with them I'm sure they'd be better off doing it elsewhere. If you post here putting forward a point others will disagree and put their own point. Why is it that people that have decided that Windows 8 is a failure and only for touch screens feel the need to go into every Windows 8 thread and try to persuade anyone who quite likes it that they are somehow wrong? If you don't like it stick with W7, if you don't like people arguing the good points of W8 or disagreeing with you then don't post in the thread or if you do be prepared for people to have a different view. No one is being forced to use 8 or participate in a thread trashing it. /shrug

 

[TwsT]

You're not exactly a standard computer user though. The majority of people commenting in this forum aren't. You have the knowledge and confidence to make changes from the default roll out to make the environment better suit your preference. The fact you've mostly disabled Metro is exactly my point.

For you're average person, the departure from a familiar environment is a poor decision by Microsoft. One that will cost them a lot of money.

whist you are right I find it so short sighted. The change is a logical one and an excellent one. The metro UI makes perfect sense and the unification across platform is one that people will enjoy. Like it or not Ultra books and Tablets are the future of the home PC. We are a dying breed sure coders designers and gamers will continue but "the average person" as you refer to them buy what they are told and get on with it. The easier that is the better and this change makes it easier. The start menu was clunky and dis-functional for most people even experienced users used shortcuts and pinned important programs rather than fiddle. The UI has just enhanced this process. Live Tiles are an excellent concept. Rainmeter prospers becuase people didn't like the windows layout Same with rocket dock.

I get windows 7 people not seeing the point in upgrading but I don't get this disdain for the product. Sure their is no need to upgrade 7 is a fantastic OS and works just fine but sooner or later like it or not Metro UI and windows 9/10/11 will be in your life and 7 will be a thing of the past not supported by manufacturers. So enjoy 7 while you can by all means but don't write off a excellent concept and wonderful functionality just because it's taking you away from a 18 year old routine.

 

[mmj_uk]

The touchscreen market is growing exponentially and the desktop market is shrinking.

This may be true but Microsoft are nothing but a bit part player in the touchscreen market, not only have MS helped to accelerate the decline of the desktop by releasing Windows 8 in the state it is in but anyone seeing the direction MS are going and deciding to transition to a touchscreen device are likely to buy an Apple/Google/Samsung device.

 

[Macro]

whist you are right I find it so short sighted. The change is a logical one and an excellent one. The metro UI makes perfect sense and the unification across platform is one that people will enjoy. Like it or not Ultra books and Tablets are the future of the home PC. We are a dying breed sure coders designers and gamers will continue but "the average person" as you refer to them buy what they are told and get on with it. The easier that is the better and this change makes it easier. The start menu was clunky and dis-functional for most people even experienced users used shortcuts and pinned important programs rather than fiddle. The UI has just enhanced this process. Live Tiles are an excellent concept. Rainmeter prospers becuase people didn't like the windows layout Same with rocket dock.

I get windows 7 people not seeing the point in upgrading but I don't get this disdain for the product. Sure their is no need to upgrade 7 is a fantastic OS and works just fine but sooner or later like it or not Metro UI and windows 9/10/11 will be in your life and 7 will be a thing of the past not supported by manufacturers. So enjoy 7 while you can by all means but don't write off a excellent concept and wonderful functionality just because it's taking you away from a 18 year old routine.

Couldn't have put it better...

 

[Elevon]

you're talking about stuff that hardcore users would know about, not what the normal consumer would know about
- from a normal user perspective both win 8 and win 7 do games.... apart from the hardcore gamers most haven't got a clue what dx9,10,11 etc are
- av... hi would you like to buy norton with that new pc...
- refresh and reset... when was the last time you saw a non techy person do anything to their pc to improve it's performance...
- snap view, lol seriously...
- windows store... doubt many will notice that missing as windows has always been buy disk in store install it

So if you look at it as an average consumer (and to be fair many techy ones too) there isn't any reason to upgrade because windows 7 can do everything windows 8 can do...

oh and you missed spaces... that virtual raid which doesn't work with anything but windows 8

If you are talking about average consumer then they would just buy whatever is in their local PC retail store so that rules out Win7 as well to be fair,they don't care really(which OS) as long as the price is right and it does what they want, easy to use.

I could also argue Win7 offers very little over Vista apart from slight speed increase and less UAC nagging,at least Win8 offers more(ie Win7 to Win8 upgrade offers more on price and features then Vista to Win7 upgrade ever did) and better value for money.


Btw in my previous post I was not talking about average consumer but business industry and tech savy people ,ie cost companies money and time to upgrade etc so in that way I was referring slow to adapt/upgrade etc..I can understand since it opens up can of worms as well ie compatibility,cost which I meantioned .

 

[div0]

Windows 8 gained 0.4% of the desktop market

Will Microsoft admit Windows 8 is a failure or will they just plough on and pretend it never existed?

It would be interesting to see numbers for other devices (laptops, tablets, etc).

I've not used Win8, but from what I've read, it's very 'tablet' focussed.

If that's the case, then you may find that these stats don't actually reflect a long-term problem for Microsoft, but instead indicate that Microsoft see the desktop market as a dead end.

Looks to me like they're 'jumping ship' to focus their software in the direction they see the hardware market going. If this is the case, it will only speed up the demise of the 'desktop'.

 

[Elevon]

it will only speed up the demise of the 'desktop'.

Reminds me of the demise of DOS,could be the old desktop is next to go down the road.

 

[anything I don't mind]

I have been quite annoyed at work as we can't get new hp laptops through partners without Windows 7 preinstalled on them. You can downgrade, but i have read that downgrade website many times and i still don't understand how to do it. I think it says just install windows 7 and when it comes to activate you have to phone microsoft? We tried giving windows 8 to one firm as guest/meeting room laptops and we just got calls all the time from people not able to open the browser or open word or use citrix.

 

[Bubo]

Reminds me of the demise of DOS,could be the old desktop is next to go down the road.

I cannot imagine anything replacing mouse and keyboard for normal office based work, which is what I define as a "desktop" situation. Even something as daft as voice dictating will never take off, let alone touch screen for everything. If you tried to do any office work with a touchscreen at arms length, you would be getting industrial injury claims left right and centre. People have laptops at work and what do they do? Plug them into a docking station as soon as they can so they can use a proper screen, keyboard and mouse, the same would happen with tablets if they were used for office work. Desktop will never disappear, which means mouse/keybooard will never go.

 

[Elevon]

I cannot imagine anything replacing mouse and keyboard for normal office based work, which is what I define as a "desktop" situation. Even something as daft as voice dictating will never take off, let alone touch screen for everything. If you tried to do any office work with a touchscreen at arms length, you would be getting industrial injury claims left right and centre. People have laptops at work and what do they do? Plug them into a docking station as soon as they can so they can use a proper screen, keyboard and mouse, the same would happen with tablets if they were used for office work. Desktop will never disappear, which means mouse/keybooard will never go.

I was thinking of the old Desktop UI rather then mouse and keyboard.

 

[khodos]

I cannot imagine anything replacing mouse and keyboard for normal office based work, which is what I define as a "desktop" situation. Even something as daft as voice dictating will never take off, let alone touch screen for everything. If you tried to do any office work with a touchscreen at arms length, you would be getting industrial injury claims left right and centre. People have laptops at work and what do they do? Plug them into a docking station as soon as they can so they can use a proper screen, keyboard and mouse, the same would happen with tablets if they were used for office work. Desktop will never disappear, which means mouse/keybooard will never go.

I couldn't live without using the middle mouse button to open tabs, honestly.

 

[gareth170]

tbh. it clearly shows MS won't be going back to the old UI style, because it would be in windows blue or MS would have released a package via windows updates to add the old UI style. so people will need to either get used to the new UI style or stick with the os you already have.

 

[kitch9]

This may be true but Microsoft are nothing but a bit part player in the touchscreen market, not only have MS helped to accelerate the decline of the desktop by releasing Windows 8 in the state it is in but anyone seeing the direction MS are going and deciding to transition to a touchscreen device are likely to buy an Apple/Google/Samsung device.

There's a reason Ms was a bit player in the touchscreen market.....

Their main os didn't suit it.

Windows 8 has already sold more than their competitors desktop OS's....

Fun fact.

 

[kitch9]

Well Ive always updated to the latest version of windows, but this time, I dont see any need to and if I did it would only mean learning new things that I dont actually need todo as win 7 is all I need in a OS for a few more years yet.

From winxp to vista you had the directx10 plus winxp was getting a tad old
From vista to win7 a major improvement on vista and worth the upgrade.
But from win7/vista to win8, Yeah it boots faster, but what else makes it worthy of upgrading???

I'd argue the Upgrade from Vista to 7 was relatively minor in the end.

 

[deuse]

Looks to me like they're 'jumping ship' to focus their software in the direction they see the hardware market going. If this is the case, it will only speed up the demise of the 'desktop'.

What MS are doing for some reason is following apple. A new desktop\phone OS every year.

Now this will be great news for Steam as they are making their games work on Linux.
If Steam do this I will drop windows in a heart beat.

 

[Minstadave]

tbh. it clearly shows MS won't be going back to the old UI style, because it would be in windows blue or MS would have released a package via windows updates to add the old UI style. so people will need to either get used to the new UI style or stick with the os you already have.

Or if enough people voice the fact that the new UI is retarded and either don't upgrade to windows 8 or splash their cash on software to fix said retarded UI - MS may take the hint that people don't appreciate a UI that has been designed by an 8 year old.