Posted on 01/08/2014 12:30:34 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Windows 8/8.1 has topped 10% market share for the first time, apparently picking up a few users from among those who are finally leaving Windows XP behind.
According to Web analytics firm NetMarkeshare, users of all versions of Windows 8 amounted to 10.49% of Internet users for the month of December, up from 9.25% in December. This as users of Windows XP have dipped from 31.22% to 28.98%.
While the showing for Windows 8/8.1 is a milestone, it is also part of a gradual trend. Since last February, use of the operating system has risen 7.82 percentage points while XP has dropped 10.01. Windows 7 use has moved up 2.97 points over the same period, so it seems most of those abandoning XP have moved to Windows 7 or 8/8.1.
Over the same period, Windows Vista dipped 1.56 points.
NetMarketshare’s data is gathered from the browsers of visitors to its customers’ 40,000-plus Web sites worldwide. The firm breaks down the sites as 46% commercial, 18% corporate, 10% content and 29% other, including government, search engine marketers and .org groups. Seventy six percent participate in pay per click programs to drive traffic to their sites, the company says.
Surface Pro 2 upgrade
While it’s not an official hardware overhaul, customers who buy Microsoft Surface Pro 2 laptops now will get faster machines than those who bought them last month.
That’s because the Windows 8 devices are being built with a better CPU than the earlier versions, according to a report by WinBeta. The newer Surface Pro 2s have Intel i5 4300U (1.9Ghz) CPUs vs the older versions that had i5 4200U (1.6Ghz) processors.
Here’s how Microsoft explained the changes to WinBeta: “Microsoft routinely makes small changes to internal components over the lifetime of a product, based on numerous factors including supply chain partnerships, availability, and value for our customers. With any change to hardware or software, we work to ensure that the product experience remains excellent.”
Chromebooks rule on Amazon.com
Amazon.com reports disheartening holiday sales from a Windows 8 perspective: Chromebooks are outselling the best-selling Windows 8 laptops.
According to the site’s Best Sellers, two Chromebooks – Acer C720 and Samsung Chromebook - are ranked No. 1 and 2 with two Windows 8 devices – Asus Transformer Book T100TA-C1-G and Asus X200CA-HCL1104G – coming in third and fourth. Price seems to be a factor. The Chromebooks sell for $199 and $179, respectively, while the Windows devices go for $448 and $298. Another blow to Windows 8: Toshiba’s Satellite C55-A5245 came in fifth - equipped with Windows 7.
Surface 2 BitLocker woes
Microsoft is promising a Jan. 14 solution to a Surface 2 software problem that has the device demanding the BitLocker recovery key when it boots up.
Microsoft acknowledges it shouldn’t do that and is working on a fix.
“They should come up with “Old Fart Windows”. I want to surf the web, write letters and get email. I don’t need anything else. And I don’t get very many emails.”
“They” did - it’s called Linux and works beautifully for the things you mentioned. You’d never have to buy anti-virus software again or fret with half a dozen security products to keep your system clean. And, Linux is free.
“My point is just why should Microsoft change the way something is operated or controlled? Yes, I can see new features that make an operating system either more secure or more efficient. Just like our new Subaru, a far superior vehicle compared to the Geo, but we just got in the Subaru and safely drove it off at highway speeds.”
Because it’s their product, not a charity gift to remain a static entity for 12+ years so a few holdouts can feel ok using something that was designed in the late 90s. Things have moved on by a decade, and MS cant blow time and money patching obsolete OSs.
“There is no practical reason to change how something is operated or controlled.”
There are plenty, or else we would be loading software from cassettes and running BASIC programs. It’s called evolution. Your TV is no longer a box, and your phone doesn’t have a rotary dial.
“Now for things being shoved down our throats. By making XP obsolete, they are indeed attempting to get people to move on to something else. Many people, such as the elderly living on a fixed income cannot afford this switcherroo BS.”
Oh boo hoo. It’s been 12 YEARS. If that 12 year fast switch was unnoticed by someone, then what are they doing even using a computer? The elderly aren’t broke or stupid, and it isnt an excuse. Apple certainly isnt supporting OSX 10.0.0.
“We are one of the ones moving to Win7. Our install discs will be here in a few days.”
Well hey, at least it’s progress.
Different strokes for different folks. My experience is the exact opposite. Oh, I like my iPhone just fine. I use my iPad a lot for surfing and some neat apps. My MacBook air is also nice but for the same price my wife's Lenovo Yoga with Win 8 and a touchscreen beats it hands down in specs, speed, usability etc. At work? Still using Win 7 with a dual monitor system and happy with that, too.
NT was great. MS hired real OS developers from DEC for that, if I remember correctly. It ran on several CPU architectures, including Power PC. The user interface looked like Win95, but there was a serious OS under the hood. One of the few failings was it didn’t have support for USB.
Win 2000 is a great OS, obsolete now. Install it without the service packs, and it only used about 35 megabytes and ran like a scalded ape. Update all the recommended service packs and it ran as slow as XP and used just about the same amount of memory.
The problem with win 3 and ram is once you get past 50mb it will truncate the value above that. So if you have 500mb it will see the 00 and think you have no ram in the system so it won’t run. If you put an odd amount of ram in your computer like 532 mb, then it will truncate it to 32mb and win 3 will run fine thinking it has 32mb to run on.
And in that regard, there is nothing wrong with Win3
I am using Win3.11 to post this reply as a mater of fact.
Screw all that new fangled junk, i am going to stick with the original network operating system. :-)
In reality, besides this old Win 3.11 computer I keep on the electronics workbench to run old programs, my main internet computer is a windows XP machine. I will upgrade that machine to a newer OS when I feel the time is right. But now isn’t that time.
And yes, I am using a win 3.11 computer to post this!
cool
bump
You would have experienced a much smoother transition going to Windows 7 instead of Windows 8. Windows 7 is a lot like an upgraded XP.
My dad was running AutoCAD on DOS... I remember having to start Windows from a command prompt well... miss that.
You have a PDP-11?
Where do I get Linux?
I’m still using XP and will until it crashes.
If you only do web surfing, letter composition and email you can switch to Linux with virtually zero learning curve. For example, install Linux Mint and you'll get 30 or so applications to start and be able to select from about 40,000 more if you want to add any of them.
I'm pulling my XP computers off the internet and using 7 and Linux where I have to be connected. As for the office type tasks, I should be 100% Linux by the end of the year with only a few exceptions wheresome needed applications are only Windows and won't run under Wine.
I wad helping my daughter do a school project on her new computer. It has windows 8.
She was using the sound recorder to record a narration. All i wanted to do was know where the recorded files were, so we could copy them and use them elsewhere.
Guess what? It gives you no indication where it is storing files AND it makes your recorded files hidden. So you can’t even find the files by searching.
I am an engineer. I don’t need my operating system to hide stuff and limit me because it wants to protect the computer from the user.
I recently got a new PC, which ran Windows 8.
I upgraded to 8.1. And I loved it.
Unfortunately I meanwhile also loaded Linux and haven’t changed back. But Windows 8.1 is awesome.
Just saying.
Heh, yeah, that’ll help. I’ve been forced to use XP at my workplace for, well, years now, and MS’ systematic updates downgrade the performance of the machine. 8.1 is barely usable on this cheap laptop because of all the unexpected detours and easter eggs written in by the (apparently) video game programmers MS must have hired to complete this OS. In 2014, XP support will come to an end. Despite the fact that the rollout of XP resulted in a tidal wave of bitching, MS’ followups have turned the XP (after its successful service pack revisions) into the Good Old Days. There are of course people I know who like (and still use) Vista, but it was excoriated from the beginning by the very customer base that made MS something of the envy of the rest of the software industry. W7 was seen as a sweet release from the bonds of Vista, apart from those who continued to use XP rather than upgrade — and I think everyone remembers how some of the hardware vendors offered “downgrades” for those who wanted to dump Vista and install XP on their new boxes.
Thanks SeekAndFind, for both of these:
Apple and Samsung’s New Devices Could Destroy the Demand for Windows 8 Tablets
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3109709/posts
Thanks for the info. Do you remove XP from you hard drive? Or just download Linux and let XP remain idle. I’m very dumb when it comes to computers.
No it is not, for instance how would you do a search of all *.exe files created during a specific period? Xp would do that.
I dumped 7 and went back to HP and intend to stay there!
The problem is that Windows 8.x will never match even the anemic uptake of Vista. Windows 9 will soon be along in less than two years, rendering Windows 8 irrelevant and one of the of worst performing Microsoft operating systems ever.
Windows 8.x has been an unmitigated disaster for Windows, resulting in Ballmer and others at Microsoft being fired, OEMs attempting to flee Microsoft in droves, and not only has it NOT stopped the slide in PC sales, which was what Microsoft claimed it would do, Windows 8.x has actually been a significant factor in consumers fleeing to tablets and other devices away from the PCs that they’ve used for decades. And once these folks have left the Microsoft fold, most of them won’t be coming back.
Like going from XP to Windows 7 and skipping Vista, the enterprise and small and medium businesses will simply skip Windows 8.x and eventually upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 9 or Windows 10, yet another nail in the Windows 8.x coffin.
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