tech

PC sales plunge as Windows 8 flops

54 Comments
By PETER SVENSSON

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54 Comments
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Windows 8 = Vista 2.0 beta

6 ( +9 / -3 )

i still have my windows 98 pc. My XP desktop is still good for basic computing. I have Windows 7 as my workhorse but people don't buy PC yearly. The market is saturated. Smartphones are different, they have shorter span longetivity.

PC can be there for 10 years and it is still operable especially if you built it from the scratch.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Hey, you can't have a hit product every time,

2 ( +5 / -3 )

windows 7 was a hit because they finally(omg finally) listened to consumers.

windows 8 was like going back to being microsh*t clunky. extra dumb irritating menu. just adding more code for the sake of pleasing the boss. i will never. never. never use windows 8.

winXP has been the best. win7...the next. i hate anything that slows my computer down. and i can sense it. all those extra lines of code wasting cycles.

18 ( +19 / -1 )

Hahahaha... who couldn't see THAT coming? Anyway, one of the worst things about this company is that they make it so a lot of old things are incompatible with new OS. Now they're going to render their most popular operating systems unusable in the near future so you'll HAVE to buy the new rubbish.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

MS royally screwed the pooch by trying to design software for both PCs and tablets. i have it on my PC and it totally sucks. there's so much clutter on the home page and most of the tiles are worthless. i can't imagine any business installing it on their PCs.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

A three year old might like the brightly coloured rectangles found on a Windows 8 machine, but I don't. I'll be giving Windows a miss until Microsoft get their act together.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Microsoft has not had a hit since XP. Everything since has been heavy and not particularly stable. I run a PC and a Mac side by side in my work and I always end up using the Mac. It just works and has less down time and certainly less trouble overall.

WIndows should toss out their model and start over. Tables and smart phones cannot do everything. People will buy machines that work. They won't buy machines that have painful OS systems. It really is that clear.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Microsoft could reimplement the entire Windows API on top of Linux and write a portable executable loader. Then everything would just work and they would never have to put any more work into the operating system ever again. Might have to do some interesting hacks to put back drive letters, assuming that anyone wants those (I certainly don't.)

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

LOL. Hey Microsoft, it's called building you own computer. Building your own computer can save you HUNDREDS of dollars.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

A quick review:

98SE Good ME Bad

XP SPIII Good Vista Bad

Seven Good Eight Bad

Everyone is waiting for Windows Nine!

14 ( +16 / -2 )

I am using Win8 at home and had to put a Win7 UI on top of it to make it even usable. MS needs to make up its mind as to whether this OS is for PCs or tablets...it can't be both, because its just too confusing and unintuitive.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

@wanderlust

Windows 9 is suppose to be released in November 2014 (according to some articles). They are supposedly bringing back the missing start menu and are debating on whether to keep or kill Metro. I personally think they should keep metro, but make it so that you can toggle it on or off in the control panel, so that the touch screen users have a better touch screen interface and the PC user can continue to use the traditional Win95 interface.

Metro, much like the introduction of Internet Explorer 4.0 (an internet browser that required constant connection to the internet, during a time when dial up was still prevalent in most households), was too soon for its time. MS should have waited until the tablet PC market was ready to go full speed, but they panicked in the wake of the runaway sales of the iPad and Android based tablets, and jumped in with both feet with Windows 8. The fact is, no one was ready for this OS. Its the first MS OS since Windows 95, that I had problems using straight out of the box. Usually the interface always has a familiar feel to it, but this one didn't.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

A quick review: 98SE Good ME Bad XP SPIII Good Vista Bad Seven Good Eight Bad Everyone is waiting for Windows Nine!

Right on the mark! Seems like every "other" Windows product works well. Sad to say though that I personally like and was very comfortable with XP and now Microsoft is discontinuing support in the next year.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Who wrote this? Windows 8 doesn't just run on PCs

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Perhaps it is time to switch to a MAC, Microsoft keeps messing everything up and making people buy new products, messing with businesses that have to upgrade their computers because old software is no longer compatible. Microsoft greed is getting to be too much. They want to get rid of the best OS they ever had and force the unstable OS on everyone. I am keeping XP until it can no longer be used. I do not need all of the security updates that they will not be putting out. As long as I can run my programs and work online, I will keep my windows XP.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

Kent Mcgraw,

Perhaps it is time to switch to a MAC

A lot of people are saying that. Especially the way the iPhone, iPad and Mac desktop/laptops integrate seamlessly.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

@nicolls

Windows 7 was only a hit because it ripped key features straight from OS X. Shameless!

Windows is such a dinosaur these days...

-9 ( +2 / -11 )

Microsoft keeps messing everything up and making people buy new products,

How ironic. Apple is the ultimate master of that approach. Apple users spend way more time and money have to get updates or buy new devices, due to the limited backward compatibility of its OS.

The fact that Windows XP has been running for 12 years should maybe be an indication of this?

4 ( +10 / -6 )

Bring Back XP! Bring Back XP!

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Perhaps it is time to switch to a MAC, Microsoft keeps messing everything up and making people buy new products

@Kent McGraw

You're needlessly turning this into a Mac vs. PC debate. Both platforms have their place and doesn't really contribute to this conversation. XP may be a good OS, but the bottom line is that is over a decade old and does not support many technologies used today without heavily patching it with the use of service packs and updates that MS does not profit from.

As I mentioned in another thread, XP has become a white elephant for MS. Because of its success, People and organizations are reluctant (afraid) to upgrade for fear that the new OS would be too complicated to use. And until Win8, that isn't the case; Win7 (IMHO) is so much more intuitive and easier to use than XP.

Microsoft is a business, and as a business they cannot make money by continuously slapping bandages (through the use of service packs) on an aging and tiring OS just to keep up with technology. They need to create a brand new OS to market and sell to not only pull a profit, but to also provide a fresh and viable platform for developers to use to create newer and easier to use technology so that also can stay technologically competitive and make money. THAT is what technology is all about.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Just Think Different !!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Personally, I prefer MacIntosh operating systems. I used Windows systems exclusively until I went through journalism & broadcasting school. There we used Macs for photo & video editing. I noticed how much better Macs seemed to handle the programs. Yeah, it was weird getting used to the GUI, but it's not hard to get the hang of.

Anyhow, a few years ago my Sony Viao took a huge pooh on me, so I went to the store & bought an iMac. I have not had a single virus on my iMac, nor have I had the issues with freezes & system crashes that I had with Windows systems.

It's funny how Windows have started to resemble the Mac GUI since Windows 7.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I actually haven't tried the new MS operating system, so maybe it is great and people should be adopting it.

However, MS just doesn't seem to be offering much new with Win 8 other than the ability to run a partially consistent OS between a tablet and an actual PC with a touch screen. If you don't have a touch screen PC, then it seems like there is little benefit to using WIN 8. All the graphics probably just bogs down an already cluttered OS. Then there is the added confusion of a new UI, it is no wonder that sales have been dismal.

Maybe MS should have done a better job at selling the system to the IT departments at big companies rather than consumers who want an iOS style operating system. It seemed like MS did a better job with selling the IT departments when they were selling Vista and Win 7.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The title is ridiculous and as the news states

Microsoft’s Windows 8 software appears to be driving buyers away from PCs and toward smartphones and tablets, research firm IDC said Wednesday

A more likely reason is a shift in use of mobile computing rather than like or dislike for win8. Was this a late April fools article or just handling the truth carelessly.

I have been using windows 8, updated from win 7, on my PC and notebook and it is without doubt the best of all the MS OSs I have used all the way back to DOS. Android, linux, solaris and even MAC you name it, just don't have the support for printers devices and software that are needed by most people to do business in the real world.

My PCs now don't crash, they run fast and just work and setup easy as could be and customizable to what I like, even better than ever before so I don't know what all the negative responses to MS and Win 8 are. MS also is still a major stake holder in the IT market going by the figures quoted in the news article.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I haven't had any reasons to complain about Win 7. It is the best MS OS yet. It has not really failed me in the limited work I do on it. So, why Win 8 and now Win 9 is in development. It just seems to be a money grab on the consumer touch screen craze rather than anything new and beneficial to businesses.

Not to make this into a Mac vs. MS debate, but I started using Mac's OS last year. Now, I prefer my Mac OS over Windows (Win 7). There is also a consistency, simplicity, and depth to the MAC OS that is welcome over MS. Sure Win 7 has depth, but each time I get a new MS OS I have to learn something new. It also seemed so stupid when MS overhauled the MS office UI since businesses (and MS sales) rely on MS office. The only real issue on Macs is with software (game) companies focusing on Windows based machines.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

viking68: Same here. Windows 7 for me has been one of the best operating systems Microsoft put out since Windows appeared on the market. I'm still using it and I feel Windows 8 for me personally not only looks plain and clunky, but the fact you have to modify it with 3rd party stuff to make it do what I want is unacceptable. And as for Metro, I don't have a touch screen for my PC, and I won't for a long time yet.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Glad to operate (aka at work and at home) since over two decades with mac os. Every time I'm forced to work on a pc with windows (unfortunately I have to dokitoki at work), it makes me feel like using a time machine, backwards. Really nothing against Windows, I'm far from hating it and I know the topic is about the new Windows OS. Just to say, I will never use this unless I'm forced to :0...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Mac's are just overpriced Fisher Price toys. You have to upgrade a Mac every 2 years, heck when apple went to intel chips they basically said you MUST upgrade or you wont work anymore... when I could comfortably run anything since windows 85 was released should I wish.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

should say windows 95 :)

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Lol MS is seriously failing.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

As for me, Mobile, MAC, at Home, windows costume make power house. Apple don't have nothing as powerful a a windows machine.

And don't even try to talk about the outdate Mac Pro, that of pro only have the Procesor.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Windows will likely live on in a lot of businesses due to the utility of the business suite, etc., but for the average user at home, Windows doesn't make much sense. Mac and tablets do everything they need (email; browsing; media) without all the hassle (i.e., malware).

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Mac's are just overpriced Fisher Price toys. You have to upgrade a Mac every 2 years

Rubbish. I've had 4 Macs in 22 years. The first I replaced because things in the IT world were moving fast (it had a HD of 1.4 gigabytes - huge at the time.....), the second one I replaced because the new iMac with the cheeky round bottom was so cute, and I would still be using that cheeky round bottomed baby if the 3/11 earthquake hadn't emptied a fish tank over it. (I no longer have a fishtank next to my desk). Over two years since I bought the one I'm using now, needs no upgrading, works like a dream and helps me earn my living as well as doing all kinds of stuff for fun. If only I didn't have to use MS Office for work.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Still not as bad as Windows ME...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Cleo said If only I didn't have to use MS Office for work.

Typical of a MS hater, did you know that when you buy a Mac MS get some of your money, since MS own a lot of stock of Apple inc.?

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

I've been on W8 since February.

Likes: It's faster and way more stable than W7. Start up and shut down are faster as well.

Dislikes: Everything else. It forces you to use a password every startup. Annoying. That start up screen is annoying and there's no easy workaround. Getting the shutdown button and so on in your tray is possible, but requires a bit of know how (ie, how to read a web page and figure it out).

Verdict: All Windows products are frigging annoying and a pain -- so this is about the same, but faster. Still, the range of software available on Windows has kept me here. But moving back to Mac as soon as my new computer arrives.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Typical of a MS hater

Would you like some apple with that whine? :-)

Why should I care who owns stock in Apple? My Mac comes with all the software I need apart from MS Office, which I need to be compatible with the folk who send me work documents written in Word/Excel/PP and want them back in the same format. It means I have to spend extra money installing a suite of software I wouldn't otherwise need. Nothing to do with 'hating' MS, everything to do with hating having to spend money I could use elsewhere.

While I'm 'hating', anyone have any tips on how to stop my Japanese-language Word defaulting to American spelling no matter how many times I reset it to British English? The Office for Mac people seem to think it's a feature, not a bug.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Cleo,

I wonder if you really need MS Word.

TextEdit (comes with your Mac) and Bean (free software) open Word documents and save in Word format. And they do 90% of what Word does. Then you can set your British English in System Preferences.

This is part of the reason for MS's troubles.

It doesn't play with other people well.

As the article states, the "Windows 8 launch not only didn't provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market."

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Bertie - I need to be able to use things like 'save changes' mode, footnotes, comments etc., which tend not to survive being moved around different applications. It's that 10% that has me trapped!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I have an excellent use for my Windows 8 Cd......as a coaster!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Cleo,

I see. Pages?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I looked at Win8 laptop the other day at Costco.. and I had no idea what I was looking at, seemed so utterly confusing (I'm still using Vista) like someone puked up all these fantastic colours on the screen.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The truth is that Windows 8 is the most advanced operating system ever created, it is rock solid, it never crashes, it is approximately 30% faster than windows 7 on the same hardware and it works great with touch screens AND with PCs that dont have touch screens. No platform is better at multitasking and raw power on given hardware (unsurprising given that the Windows platform has had vastly more man hours of refinement than any other piece of software ever), no other platform has a greater variety of software available for it. The touch interface is just an enlarged start menu with the benefit of live tiles and the option for touch. The people talking it down either havent used it or wouldnt invest the 5 minutes necessary to understand the fairly minor changes in the user interface. Its just cognitive dissonance to justify to themselves why they dont have the latest system or to justify why they havent got to grips with it.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Bertie, I looked at Pages/Numbers/Keynote when I bought my new mac, but the demo wouldn't let me save any documents to check for compatibility. Looking at what others have said on mac forums etc., I didn't think they had all the bells and whistles I needed. It seems there was an update to iWork last year, so compatibility may be better now, though.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I put Windows 8 on one laptop and it's a disaster. Not compatable with a lot of software, including flash player, and the install wiped out my SolidWorks and LabVIEW. PITA. Now my son needs a new laptop. It's going to have Win7 because he's familiar with XP and I'm not going to subject him to learning Win8 in the middle of a semister.

@interuni321 - are you one of the trolls that goes around trying to say nice things about MS on boards where the posts are negative? From all your font changes it's either a cut-and-paste job or you want your post to look like Windows 8.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I believe WinXP Pro is best operation system software. I try Win7 but WinXP is my preferred operating system.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

What's amazing is that betas of Win 8 had a "use Windows 7" mode where you could just go back to that interface. Then MS removed that in the final version! That was a crazy pigheaded mistake. Why would you punish your legacy users that way? It shows a kind of contempt for customers and legacy.

The good news is you can download the free "Classic Shell" utility which allows you to choose XP, Vista or 7 style. Or pay a pittance for the even-better solutions by the clever people at Stardock.

I would guess this option to use Win 7 mode will re-appear in a future update due to complaints and pressure from enterprise users, and the fair number of complaints and negative reviews from switchers.

Another interesting thing: if you have a Windows 8 license, you automatically get downgrade rights. You can download a free ISO image of Windows 7 SP 1, install it, then call MS at the number shown on the activation screen to explain that you're exercising your downgrade rights, prove your Windows 8 license, and they'll give you a free, one-time activation key from Microsoft. Just Google "Windows 7 ISO image" for the official links. You can also visit Microsoft's site and search for "downgrade rights" for more explanation.

A word of warning though: Windows 8 uses the UEFI boot system, not MBPT like previous Windows versions. You'll have to make some BIOS changes before downgrading. Better to check your maker's support or forum site for a simple how-to on this.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@gogogo: Actually the updates are not very expensive. I have not updated my Mac OS since I bought it about three years ago & it still works fine. So, I don't know where you are getting your information from that we MUST upgrade, or they won't work. That is false information.

However, to each his, or her own. If you are happy with Windows 95, then good for you. Windows 95 can not handle the workload I need. I edit multi-media (video, audio, photos & print publications), so I need something I can mutli-task memory-heavy programs.

Put it this way, in our office, we use Windows operating systems for routine word processing etcetera. We use Macs for all of our multi-media production.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

There's no need to pay MS or Apple for office programs or suites. You can use the free OfficeLibre suite, which does most everything MS Office does. It's available for Mac, Windows and Linux. If I had a small business, I'd use this...it's free and works with most any file format. It's excellent,, fully-featured, robust and mature.

But if your work requires sharing and collaboration on complex Excel spreadsheets, or Word documents with complex formatting or change history, then you will find glitches from time to time unless you use the real MS products. Alternate programs aren't reliable enough for mission-critical work. They can make you look bad, and waste the time of other people.

This actually happened to me last Tuesday, when I lost formatting and change history in a docx file that many hands had touched in Japanese and English with change history, comment balloons, notes, multicolored highlighting and fonts. That kind of document is the norm in my big company. So I still have to run Office on my Windows machine at home.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Bertie: Sadly, and the only thing MS is good for, the Suite is more or less necessary, regardless of what kind of computer type you have. That's one area where Apple fails -- or at least, it's just not widespread enough yet to counter. In every other respect it dominates, save cheapness, virus catching, and other weaknesses.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Linux ubuntu works and it's free. Goodbye windows.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@bertie: ouch! That hurts!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

i knew, it will happening surly.......window 8 is a very famous and popular operating system. http://www.dynamicmounting.com/

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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