Windows 8 usage can't even keep up with Vista/s poor numbers. (Data from Net Applications)
Posted on 03/05/2013 8:24:48 AM PST by ShadowAce
Windows fans will whine, but Net Applications' desktop operating systems numbers don't lie. Windows 8's pathetic user adoption numbers can't even keep up with Vista's lousy numbers.
Windows 8 usage can't even keep up with Vista/s poor numbers. (Data from Net Applications)
The numbers speak for themselves. Vista, universally acknowledged as a failure, actually had significantly better adoption numbers than Windows 8. At similar points in their roll-outs, Vista had a desktop market share of 4.52% compared to Windows 8's share of 2.67%. Underlining just how poorly Windows 8's adoption has gone, Vista didn't even have the advantage of holiday season sales to boost its numbers. Tablets--and not Surface RT tablets--were what people bought last December, not Windows 8 PCs.
Windows 8, and its relatives Windows Phone 8 and RT, make no impression at all in the smartphone and tablet markets. (Credit: Net Applications)
Windows 8's failure is actually greater than it appears. The tablet and phone markets in 2007 were next to non-existent. Now, in a market where NPD expects tablets to out sell notebooks by year's end, neither Windows 8 nor its cousins Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 even appear on NetApplication's mobile and tablet reports for February 2013. How bad is that? Android 1.6, with is tiny 0.02% of the market, does make the list.
I predicted that Windows 8 would be dead on arrival last year, but it's flopping even more than I thought it would be. So, why has Windows 8 been such a failure? Here's my list:
I said it before, I'll say it again: Metro, or whatever you want to call it, may make an OK tablet interface, but it's ugly and useless on the desktop. It requires users to forget everything they ever learned about Windows and learn an entirely new way of doing things for no real reason. To quote a popularly held opinion, Metro is "awful."
True, you can use a more traditional Windows interface, but you know what would have been a lot better? If Microsoft had just kept the Windows 7 Aero interface for the desktop version of Windows 8 and give up this idea that the Metro touch-friendly interface is for every device.
Can you tell me one new thing that Windows 8 brought to the desktop that was truly innovative? Exciting? Engaging? I can't. Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7, but that's about it -- and that dual interface mess makes it slower for practical purposes.
I said all along programmers wouldn't like throwing out their hard-won .NET, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) expertise to work natively on Windows 8. I was right. Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director of video game company Valve, said it best: "Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space." He then started moving his Steam game empire to Linux.
We saw this happen before with Vista and XP. Then, as now, the new operating system -- Vista -- was not better than the old operating system -- XP -- so very few people moved to it. We're seeing it again now.
In addition, in an economy that's still not moving forward quickly, who really wants to move from tried-and-true Windows 7 to new, expensive Windows 8 PCs? As Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu observed, the $500 to $1200 price tags slapped on Windows 8 hardware makes it "uncompetitive" in a world where people want iPads and Android tablets.
If you are going to buy a new computing device in 2013, chances are it's going to be an Apple iPad, an inexpensive Android tablet, or a Chromebook. The PC desktop isn't dead, but it's not very profitable either -- and Windows 8 isn't helping PC sales.
Microsoft has to know this. If Microsoft does indeed start selling, or rather renting, Microsoft Office for iPad, you'll know they've seen the light. Microsoft's future then will not lie in operating system and application sales, but in services.
And Windows 8? Like Vista before it, Microsoft will re-release an older version of Windows, Windows 7 this time instead of XP, and start talking about wonderful Windows Blue, the next version of Windows, will be.
It’s all part of MooseChelle’s “Let’s Move” program.
“This is highly topical for me, as I just started using a Windows 8 tablet today. I can run all my office apps and I’ve got all that one-touch connectivity.
Very nice!”
I have to agree with the above post. My wife and I purchased 2 HP 23 inch touch screen PCs to replace our 6 and 8 year old desk tops running XP. As this also resulted in our having to replace Office 2003 with Office 2010, we were expecting bad experiences. What we have found is that Windows 8 has been easy to use once you learn the various shortcuts. Plus, it is good at self-diagnosing and correcting problems. We also found the move to Office 2010 quite easy. Both of us are long time users of PCs.
As to crashes and other experiences listed, we have had none. I use Firefox and it works just fine.
On the other hand, we spent some time at Best Buy researching tablets, thinking that the Surface Pro which runs the full Windows 8 might be a good choice for tablet use. Wow, the weight of it is staggering compared to other tablets, and it is larger as well. Plus the price. Same goes for the Apple Ipad as to price. It looks like we will be purchasing two Samsung tablets but have not decided as to full size or mini.
Are you talking about MicroSloth, Abfal, or Scroogle?
Because it sucks and the interface is to Darwin.
I prefer Paleo Windows and my next computers, PDA, tablets, etc will get divorced from MicroSuck® everything.
I’d rather use less bloated OS and Office.
MS has a history of over correcting. They allowed XP to hang around too long, now they’re kicking out OSes too fast. While I don’t like the look of the metro interface I understand the concept and I think it’s a good idea, we know that most users use less than half a dozen apps regularly, might as well make it super easy for the user to get to them, it’s the quick launch bar writ large. But it’s also really an FP1 feature not a new release feature.
I don’t throw much blame at them for 365 and azure. I don’t like them as I think the cloud is overrated, but I don’t blame a company for being buzzword compliant. And they don’t seem to me to be any worse than anybody else’s cloud solutions.
LOL! Take your pick.
You can use Windows 8 in desktop mode. It is almost identical to windows 7. Trying to use the new mobile interface on a desktop is next to useless especially if your desktop doesn’t support swipe technology.
How does that work?
They actually locked you into Bill OS and you couldn’t install Linux?
Hell, Windows XP users are not moving. I just bought my wife a new laptop - with Windows XP Professional.
Windows Vista, 7, and 8, stink on ice.
Touch screen is optional and I don’t use it.
I want the OS on my computer to be invisible, or as close to it as can be managed. When I plug up a peripheral, I want it to work. When I use an app, I expect it to be easy to find and use, and have an interface that doesn’t get in the way. I want the computer to not require a daily restart to avoid memory congestion, and I want either security or ease of using my own security. In short, the OS should do its job with a minimum of fuss and otherwise stay out of the way.
Basically I haven’t seen the need to change my OS since Windows XP Pro. Though I have a Windows 7 PC at the house, I find the system interface to be more trouble than it’s worth.
...and only pre 2008 distros.
I’m not into the portable experience; don’t have tablet, or smartphone, or anything like that. I do like laptop computers.
So I just bought a new one, and restricted my search to computers that still had Windows 7, so I wouldn’t get stuck with Windows 8.
It is partly for gaming, not super-high-end gaming or we’d really be stuck with a desktop, but I figure with Steam going to Linux, it will be nice to be able to set up a dual boot with Linux at some point.
And I really like Windows 7, so why bother with Windows 8 and all the hassles?
Of course, I still have one Windows XP desktop at home, and one old Windows Vista laptop — which I think is just a bit too underpowered to switch to Windows 7, and which isn’t quite operating right now anyway, I’m hoping it’s a hard drive issue.
I hate, loathe, despise, and f*rt in the general direction of Microsoft.
However, I am quite pleased with Windows 7, which is not bad in the office.
Apple is still my home environment (although we do have Windows 7, Linux, and Apple machines speaking quite nicely to each other).
As for Windows 8 - meh....not in my house.
Windows 8 has been fine for me. I build all my machines with the exception of laptops so I don’t deal with the crapware installed by the manufacturer. Windows 8 performed fine for me. I even use it for a file and media server. The built in Storage Space and File History features are great tools. I even have a Windows 8 phone and Skydrive and I love it.
“Who the hell wants a touch screen interface on a desktop?”
I use a laptop with an hdmi port to a 40 inch tv.
I love the big screen and no way in hell do I want a touch screen.
Apple Derangement Syndrome
Which seems to seriously infect FR.
I have a Lenovo with Win 8 and Firefox works great.
I haven’t had any “crash” problems at all with this Computer, but my last Laptop had Vista, making my expectations much lower. LOL
My Wife and I also have Windows Phones and we love them. My old Droid is all but forgotten.
We skipped Windows Vista, and went straight to Windows 7 — and that is still rolling out, so I’m sure we’ll not see Windows 8 for years, if ever.
I upgraded to windows 8, it’s great thanks to installing “classic shell”, which makes the interface just like windows 7 — no metro, a start menu, etc..
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