Posted on 08/08/2014 12:48:21 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s official, Windows 8 is a write-off . Sales for the operating system have been poor and now it is even starting to lose market share to Windows 7. To Microsoft MSFT -0.12%’s credit it has bravely persisted addressing issue after issue. Most notable was the major Windows 8.1 Update 1 patch released in April which makes the OS a genuinely credible platform. Still it remains far from perfect and now Microsoft is prematurely pulling the plug.
In a blog post by Microsoft Senior Marketing Communications Manager Brandon LeBlanc, he explains that there will be no more major update releases for Windows 8: “despite rumours and speculation, we are not planning to deliver a Windows 8.1 ‘Update 2’.”
LeBlanc reassured Windows 8 users that they “can expect that we’ll use our already existing monthly update process to deliver more frequent improvements along with the security updates”, but in my opinion this doesn’t wash. A roadmap with no major updates on the horizon is the deathknell for any operating system. Android, iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone along with previous Windows versions all deliver regular improvements, but they still make a point of issuing major updates to introduce the biggest changes and generate interest.
Instead what is now clear is for Microsoft the next big ‘update’ will be Windows 9 and in taking the decision to sideline an OS that won’t even be two years old until the end of October the company runs a huge risk of undermining the confidence of users who expect Windows versions to last 12 years like Windows XP.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
It is easier to boot up another computer than to try to read attachments to E-mail. Microsoft office blocks reading downloads so I deleted that pos. Now all I get is a blank page for half a second then back to an open screen. It is just as transparent as 0!
I wish I had my old Vista, would perhaps switch to 9
if they made it cheap enough.
If you had Vista or 8 they should pay you to go to 9
I see you’re in Hawaii....how bad did things get there?
Boomers, GenX and GenMe (youngest Gen X and oldest Millenials born before 1989) are the worst lot. The youngest Millenials
are our last hope.
And hope dies last.
A-Hole.
Who do you think actually created the "build-out" of the internet? Created the microprocessors that went from a piddling 25 MHz out to 2.5 GHz - a factor of 100 in frequency alone, and another factor of 20 or so in capacity beyond that?
Gen-Xers, that's who.
And what did we get as a reward? Being laid off in drones for H1-B slave labor to come in and undercut our wages and work 80 hours a week as a norm, as otherwise they're shipped back to their backwards country.
Thanks for your kind words!
Could see a lot of whitecaps out a few miles on the ocean, but not in close. Last tropical storm was similar, but we did catch an unexpected violent wind burst and rain that time. Not this time luckily, but we were tied down for it.
Hilo side caught the brunt of the rain and wind, yet to read a report other than 8-14 inches of rain in some areas.
Ah yes, one of the Windows 8 innovations - you type the name of the command you want to run and it runs - just like DOS!
I got sick of the “updates” after that useless one before XP. Can’t even remember the name. I liked XP okay. My next computers were loaded with Vista and I’m still on them. Took forever to find all the settings again to change them.
Didn’t bother with 7 and saw 8 on a tablet...total crap. 9 won’t be any better.
That must be some vacation!
Windows 7 is much better than XP. Really don’t like the 8 interface.
Try running wsreset.exe first.Thanks, I don't think that was among the things I tried.
However, since each attempt ties up my computer for at least a day, I'm not too motivated to try again.
Linux is working just fine, and I do have a Win7 virtual machine for those rare occasions where I actually need Windows.
there is a God, thank you. there is no way I can express how bad Windoz 8 is.
I’ve read several articles suggesting that Windows 9 will be free.
Microsoft truly needs to re-imagine their operating system.
First and foremost, this should be done using a technique long done by Apple, of putting their OS on a chip. This means that customers could order chips with not just the OS, but other Microsoft software on it as well. Importantly, the software on the chip should be read only, which precludes a huge number of viruses.
This also means a giant leap for the manufacturers of motherboards and other chip manufacturers as well.
Next, allow custom made OS derivatives to be tailored by users and sold online. There could be very different OS selection designs, depending on the consumer. For example, a computer optimized for gaming would have its own OS, with its primary software components, and a bunch of mandatory minor ones to function properly.
Another computer OS might be optimized for mathematics and engineering. Eliminating a huge amount of software overhead would speed up and optimize such a system considerably.
People might even publish their own optimizations, that if they were checked by Microsoft and certified, could be offered as tailored designs as well.
The whole thing could be “ala carte” as far as the cost went. Once somebody made a system to their liking online, they could go to a licensed Microsoft OS retailer, which could write their read only OS while they waited.
i use win vista on a laptop it works for me
and i use win7 on a desktop and linux and OS/2 on desktops
not planning to move off of 7 any time soon, might beta test 9 just for the fun of it
Same here, and my son scrubbed Windows 8 off for me and loaded Windows 7 on mine. What I really hated about 8 was that after watching a video that I made myself on Media Player and tried to close it down like it does simply in Windows 7, it would instead take me to some strange Microsoft movie website with subscription videos which I had no interest in watching. Always had to do a forced shutdown of the computer to get rid of it. Windows 7 is really nice
Isn’t it awful expensive when some company promotes what they know to be a poor idea & then later have to “eat it”? How much of that cost is added to the next new system that may or may not be satisfactory?
I got mine during last year’s Black Friday when my “best” XP machine was acting flaky.
Turned out that the deal was a microMB that was probably intended for an all-in-one that they slapped inside a fairly cheap chassis.
It works, but there’s no mb expansion for adding disks, save for USB3. The external PS probably couldn’t handle another HD.
The chassis for the XP machine was the first ATX chassis I ever bought. Celeron 400...
You may the only user who liked Vista—what an abomination Vista was!
Similarly, I still use "Office 97". It is quite adequate for many of the things I need to do today. I use it mostly at home, and also have later versions available, but I never lack for options when I'm using the PC with Office 97.
So for Microsoft to believe that the lifespan of Windows XP is an anomaly, they are smoking something that many others would like to try.
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