Is Windows 8 Killing PC Sales? Read The Fine Print: The Report Of Windows' Death Was An Exaggeration

Forbes ^ | 04/12/2013 | David K. Johnson

[2111USMC]

I just bought a new computer with Windows 8. I actually like it.

Those big “App” icons you see on the screen are just on the opening page. You still have your own regular “home” page. It looks just like your XP of W7 desktop page.

[chris37]

But I don’t want to avoid the Start Screen. I use the Start Screen all the time.

Why would I want an OS in which I would want to avoid such a screen?

[oh8eleven]

America - and if you can’t figure out a way to overcome your ISP’s shortcomings, you get what you deserve.

[rockrr]

Every live person I've talked to with Windows 8 hates it.

Same here - until I turn them onto the 3rd party start button app "Classic Shell: http://www.classicshell.net

After that they are able to go to work with their new OS ;-)

[Cyropaedia]

Microsoft sold has 1.5 million Surface tablets. Last quarter alone, Apple sold nearly 23 million iPads.

And wait till the iPad mini gets retina display in a few months.

[battousai]

The idea of wanting to make a PC somehow or other work like a tablet or gadget (Windows 8) is basically idiotic.

Actually it works out quite well, have the convertible Dell with win 8 and since it has a desktop which, with the added start menu from Stardock, works just like win 7 I have no issues with it. I use it as a laptop for regular programs, or a tablet when I want one with a bit more power than my ipad. Though for portability when out and about, other than for work, I still take the ipad since mostly i'm just watching youtube videos or reading web pages while waiting for my kid.

[adorno]

New Coke died with the same arguments... Win 9 will remedy this.

New Coke was a product, and the company that produced it, is still quite alive and well.

Your analogy stinks, since Windows is not really a new product, and underneath it all, it's still the same Windows functionality, but better, and to include touch devices.

According to the tech blogs and all of the Microsoft detractors of the pas 1520 years, Microsoft should have been dead more than 10 years ago. Same with Coke, which is still a giant with multiple products, and where its main product is still named "Coke", just like Windows is still Microsoft's most recognizable product, and no matter what happens with any of it's many products, the company continues being the biggest software maker on the planet.

[Blue Highway]

And there is no way to set the default to not show the metro screens. You have to click to get to the classic desktop and classic internet explorer.

[2111USMC]

True. But one clilck doesn’t bother me. I actually kind of like the weather app on the first page.

I got used to it very quickly and kind of like it just because it’s a little different.

[Blue Highway]

Not a fan of weather apps, one came on my phone and that was the first thing I removed, as I don't need it taking up screen space and using resources.

Also the idea of the apps and pictures all right on the main screen there isn't much sense of privacy in an office setting.

[SengirV]

Enlighten us ohhh guru of the interwebz. You are usually stuck with two really poor options. You choice is to give lots of money to option #1 or lots to option #2.

QED

[oh8eleven]

The professor on Gilligan's Island could come up with more / better solutions than you ... while all you've done is attempt to blame me for your own ignorance.
There are many companies offering very low cost Internet access - some even for free. That you're too lazy to find them speaks volumes.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Where I live we had dialup or cellphone. Recently there is a wireless provider that is $75 for 20 gigs a month. A lot of people here don’t have the cell option. Satellite is an option also. I use the cell option but it’s not cheap and you learn to get by on 5 gigs a month. I would like to hear of some other options also. Would love to have Netflix but that would put you into paying for extra bandwidth quickly. I am looking into the wireless thing now.

[jdsteel]

“I’m decent with technology so I can handle the bugs that come with PC”

Forget about that with a Mac. It is very difficult to “get under the hood” if things DON’T “just work”. And trust me, they don’t always just work.

[BillM]

Get Windows Classic Shell (FREE!!!). It is the solution to your problems.

[SengirV]

WOW!!1 I guess no joking is allowed here.

My definition of options and your definition of options are obviously not the same. Reliability is the #1 criteria for me. I have had friends use “alternative” options for internet access, and the horror stories of “single 9 versus six 9s” have been plentiful. Other options also use the same physical lines as the 2 main options, or have pings that are ridiculous.

So let me ask it to you in another way. Can you provide an example as an alternative that you have found, that is reliable?

[LibLieSlayer]

“New Coke was a product, and the company that produced it, is still quite alive and well.”

Windows is a product, and the compoany is doing well because when they make mistakes... they change course. MS will change course this time also.

“Your analogy stinks,”

Not as much as Win 8 stinks!

“since Windows is not really a new product, and underneath it all, it's still the same Windows functionality, but better, and to include touch devices.”

I am happy that you like it but most people do not... I am amongst those that do not and I will never purchase it. Win 7 I like... Win 8 is a dog.

“According to the tech blogs and all of the Microsoft detractors of the pas 1520 years, Microsoft should have been dead more than 10 years ago. Same with Coke, which is still a giant with multiple products, and where its main product is still named “Coke”, just like Windows is still Microsoft's most recognizable product, and no matter what happens with any of it's many products, the company continues being the biggest software maker on the planet.”

IT managers that I know... both corporate, private and government (school systems)... ALL refused to go with Vista and never implemented it and adopted WIN 7 as their new standard OS. They will not be transitioning to Win 8 for the very reasons that others have stated in this thread. BTW... I was a beta tester for MS Windows and an early member of Tech Net. My first pc was a a screaming 8088 XT at 4 mhz. I remember a keynote speech by Gates where is swore that no one would ever need more than 640k of memory. The market will decide if 8 will be a success... so far... it appears to be another millennium.

LLS

[adorno]

I am happy that you like it but most people do not

YOu can't speak for most people, and the vast majority of people haven't even tried it yet.
Fact is that, Windows 8 is the way of the future, and it actually is several steps above Windows 7 and every other OS out there.

Having been an IT person myself, and still being one, I can attest to the fact that, most IT people cannot speak for the regular folks, and they make just as many mistakes as the regular folks. When it comes to the tech bloggers who are constantly attacking Windows 8, a lot of them have their own agendas, and many are just as fanboyish as the geeks that populate the tech sites.

You too sound very closed-minded, and very unreasonable, and can't be counted on to make a non-partisan decision. YOu come with the obligatory "Windows 7 is fine" defense, in order to try to make is as if your attitude is not one against Microsoft or Windows 8. I know a bunch of people like that, and when asked to back up their claims or reasons for disliking Windows 8, they can't come up with anything, other than, the UI is ugly, or the Start menu is missing, or the desktop is hidden, or it's not easy to navigate. But, each and every one of the negatives given, can be easily blown out of the water through demonstration of how easy and useful and better it is than anything that preceded it.

I was very skeptical myself, especially through the pre-RTM process, where the UI and the desktop procedures were kind of clunky and difficult to use. The RTM OS is quite excellent and NOTHING out there that existed before, or currently, can even compare to how easy and useful and better this current Windows 8 is. I admit that, the UI is not the prettiest looking that could have been designed, but, when it comes to features and functionality, nothing can compare. If people are judging Win8 from its UI, then it's like judging a book by its cover.

How Windows 8 works, is how it should have worked all along, and it's also how all other OSes should work.

No doubt that, Windows 8.x will have some tweak to make it more palatable to the detractors, but, functionally, there shouldn't be that much in changes.

[LibLieSlayer]

I will let the market settle this mister gates.

LLS

[adorno]

I will let the market settle this mister gates.

That's so big of you, letting the market decide.

But, the market is the ultimate decider. Not Mr. Gates, nor Mr. Ballmer, nor you or me.

Windows 8 is just getting started, and it's awfully nice of you to let it stay out there for other people to experience. ;)