Windows 8 damaging PC Sales

[sisu]

@Projammer

I read a tech article several months back that indicated that Windows 8 is about half as popular as Vista based on the number of installations in the same time period.

From what I’ve seen and heard of Win8, I can believe it.

I work in the corporate world in the area of software and mobility sales, my view is that a lot of companies have been forced to introduce many operating systems into their business such as IOS, Android and yes even Windows Mobile.

There is also a big push on to have OS and apps delivered from the cloud, so given the changing scene I don’t think we can draw any major conclusions based on 8 vs Vista sales.

I know that a lot of the top Australian companies are sitting back and letting the early adopters take the risk on the cloud.

[gazpacho]

@Jophiel

Or, you know, Microsoft can give people what they want instead of telling them what they want and to stop whining about it.

@Enright3

I don’t agree with this. I’m of the opinion that progress is made by having the courage to put things out there that people don’t think they like. Yes sometimes it’s a bust; but certainly not always. People are resistant to change; even if the change is for better. Frequently once people are forced to change; and then have to go back to an old way of doing things they realize how much better the new way is.

If people knew what they wanted there would be a lot less of products like windows 8. People for the most part don’t know what they want in a new operating system or new anything else. They just recognize that the Metro desktop ain’t it. That was is the genius of apple in recent years they had a good vision of what people would want if they got a chance to see it in action.

[sisu]

@Martin_Hyde

This is a situation where you need to read the original WSJ article. The article is basically saying that PC sales overall are slumping, and that manufacturers like HP were burned by Windows 8 because they expected a sales leap such as what happened when Windows 7 was released. That didn’t happen.

But the article isn’t really blaming the PC slump on Windows 8, but other market factors. Companies expecting a sales leap with Windows 8 were foolish.

Businesses don’t upgrade that often, most had been running Windows XP when Windows 7 launched and even now many are still just working on their Windows 7 rollouts. It was a laughable assumption that enterprise customers would be buying very many Windows 8 licenses. That left the consumer market, which also by and large had been jumping on Windows 7 notebooks and desktops for the last few years and were also highly unlikely to be ready to buy new PCs.

I don’t agree with Steve Jobs on a lot of things, but he was right in what he said about PCs. They’ll always be around, but they’ll be like a work truck. Imagine if everyone drove work trucks, then small cars and such were invented. Many people would transition to small cars. PCs were in many/most homes because access to a lot of stuff people wanted (internet mostly, word processing/office tasks for a smaller but sizable number) that you couldn’t get to without a PC. But now that tablets so well fill the niche of users who just need to occasionally browse the internet or compose an email PCs look like work trucks to home users. People who already own one probably won’t be upgrading if they are using their tablets a lot. If they do, it’ll be when their PCs basically die–but some may never buy a PC again.

The enterprise will never replace PCs because for office tasks the tablet form factor is not conducive to people whose jobs involve mostly sitting at the same desk for 70-80% of the day doing office jobs. Even business travelers who might be issued tablets will probably still be issued laptops for heavier use, along with docking stations. In the enterprise PCs are pretty safe, only a few highly specialized jobs might go 100% tablet. Think people like utility workers that have bulky mobile data terminals built into their work truck because they are never in an office but need to access corporate networks and systems. Those guys could use a tablet (probably needs to be rugged, though.) But for the consumer market tablets are going to be the everyday, probably eventually with TV integration (try using a table to control an Xbox 360 for example–interesting experience.) Home PCs will be for enthusiasts and home workers, the equivalent of the home owners of Mach trucks and such.

I am a heavy corporate user and I am in the middle of an experiment. I have put my $1200 laptop in the drawer and am using a Samsung Win 8 convertible tablet device in its replacement also being hooked up to Office from the cloud. Early days but I must say I like it.

I have a Windows 8 Nokia Phone and the integration is ace, I also run iPad, iPhone 5 and a Note. Yes I know I get all the toys.

The point is that all of these are really good devices and OS,.

[Crowbar_of_Irony_3]

@sisu

I am a heavy corporate user and I am in the middle of an experiment. I have put my $1200 laptop in the drawer and am using a Samsung Win 8 convertible tablet device in its replacement also being hooked up to Office from the cloud. Early days but I must say I like it.

I have a Windows 8 Nokia Phone and the integration is ace, I also run iPad, iPhone 5 and a Note. Yes I know I get all the toys.

The point is that all of these are really good devices and OS,.

What’s your job scope like? Excel, word processing, sending email?

I find it hard to work from a tablet, even when I have gotten a portable one for my iPad with Retina. The money spent on that could have gotten a cheap laptop which I could balance perfectly on my lap and type while I am seated on the train or bus.

That said, I think the drawback of Windows 8 is there is just no incentive for me or many of the geeks I know to upgrade to. Back when Windows 7 when still in RC, a friend came down and told me I absolutely must have the RC on my PC, stat. I tried it and I like it, and it’s the silly things that help to make my PC easier to work with. Those are features mainly like the search bar in the Start menu, able to copy file paths from Window Explorer directly and etc. The Aero display and such were cool but not important. It’s also more stable than Windows 7.

Windows 8 came and aside from the interface, didn’t really wow me. It takes away the features I like in Windows 7. It doesn’t improve performance for games, like how from XP to Windows 7 you get a DirectX upgrade (if there is, I haven’t hear about it). My Win7 machine is still doing well, and I don’t see any need to upgrade.

Besides interface, what else did Windows 8 change?

[BigT]

See, I used to use those programs that gave you a start menu. But I found more and more I wasn’t actually using the menu. And each one of them starts having problems. ClassicShell would stick around on Desktop fullscreen apps (like games). Start8 started charging money. Some other one I forget made booting horribly slow. And ViStart just kept on crashing.

I wasn’t using them, so I got rid of them.

Do I like the non-hierarchical programs list? No. Do I hate not having a frequently used programs list? Sure. But everything else is fine.

And who in the world uses any Modern UI apps other than games (which are often fullscreen anyways)? Every single non-game app has a Desktop replacement. Use that instead. Modern UI apps are for tablets.

[BigT]

@Crowbar_of_Irony_3

Besides interface, what else did Windows 8 change?

Faster bootup times (if your computer has the hardware to handle it). Better Remote Desktop support. A built in software renderer. A mandatory window manager. Faster disk copying times. Ability to run low-color apps without making the whole screen lose color.

And a whole slew of HTML5-based games that you can run without having to own a tablet. That honestly was the reason I got Windows 8. Unfortunately, the app store kinda sucks, as it doesn’t further subdivide past “Free, Paid, or Trial” in games. There is no way to look for a specific type of game, and you must click on something to get any info on it.

But, still, I love my Fruit Ninja (which I got free because I helped beta testing on the RC version.)! A couple Disney games (Where’s My Parry and Where’s My Water) were also free because I got them early on.

EDIT: And it was the cheapest Windows version ever. Maybe not worth it to upgrade Windows 7, but definitely for any earlier version.