Windows 8 blamed as PC sales slide

[jmyrlefuller]

http://m.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/windows-8-blamed-as-pc-sales-slide/2013/04/11/02a0d740-a2a0-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html

By Hayley Tsukayama,  Published: THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 10:42 AM ET

Since the start of the year, the PC market has seen its steepest quarterly decline ever — 13.9 percent, according to a report from International Data Corp. That news comes on the heels of a Gartner report predicting the PC market will shrink as much as 3.5 percent over 2013 in favor of ultra-light notebooks and tablets.

It’s not necessarily that users are dropping PC use altogether, but rather that they aren’t interested in replacing their PCs because tablets are becoming the center of their tech lives. As Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said in the firm’s press release, “As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis.”

None of this is particularly surprising. But it is bad news for Microsoft, whose new Windows 8 system is being partly blamed for the market’s poor performance. When the company introduced Windows 8 in October, the operating system was supposed to help a flagging PC market gain — or at least lose less — ground against tablets, with a new touch-based interface. Instead, sales of PCs have dropped faster, and analysts are saying that sales aren’t coming back.

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[Rapunzel]

I've looked at Windows 8 units at Staples and Walmart... problem is I need a keyboard for what I use the computer for, not a touch screen where I have to reach across the paperwork on my desk to operate........

[Atomic Cow]

Windows 8 is crap, pure and simple.  It is great for a tablet but that's it.

Microsoft knows it which it why most computer makers still have the ability to downgrade you to Windows 7 upon request.

We'll see what happens when "Windows Blue," as it is currently referred to, is officially announced.  It may be nothing but Windows 8 SP1, a total revamp of the system to fix all of the failings, or even Windows 9.

As Windows 7 is what Vista should have been, Windows 9 will probably be the same for 8.

[jmyrlefuller]

They'd be better off going back to XP-- you know, the one that was a rousing success for them for nine whole years-- and tweaking a few things. The problem is, when you deal with Windows, you have certain expectations. It has had the same basic format since the early 1990s. It wasn't broken, so why fix it? Tablets could use a start menu just as much as any desktop.

From what I understand, with Windows 8 they have tried to change too much, too fast, and they confused people.

So now we have Android slowly becoming more familiar and more viable, first with tablets, and now slowly with laptops, while Microsoft begins its decline. As for me, if I could put Linux on this laptop (it's currently on Android), I would, but quite frankly I haven't figured out how yet.

[Atomic Cow]

The problem with XP is the kernel is obsolete and there really isn't much they can do with it.

Everyone now is pretty much running the 64-bit versions of Windows because those can handle more than 3.5gb of RAM.  While XP 64-bit does exist, it is crap and always has been which is why few people have ever heard of it much less used it.

[jmyrlefuller]

AC, I mean that in terms of the aesthetic feel of the system. They can rebuild the kernel all they want, but the fact is most people outside the geeks probably are too naive to understand that sort of thing. As long as it's familiar enough to get the hang of, which XP was, and 98, and 95 before that, it will stay popular.

[Atomic Cow]

Windows 7 did fine; the learning curve was not huge, but going to Windows 8 is like going from Windows 3.1 to Windows 7 overnight.

[Rapunzel]

I'm happy with Windows 7.  When I think back to the DOS days it boggles the brain what I had to know then that no one has to worry about today.  I like a touch screen - on my smart phone and on my Kindle (love my Kindle just wish it would allow me to download iTunes to it and that I had the 8.4" size Kindle....... but downloading and reading books, reading the net in the morning before I get out of bed, being able to do my email, etc... I love... unfortunately none of them replace my two computers on my desk.

[Oceander]

The problem isn't so much that people should return to XP, but rather that Microsoft should have learned something about the brand-loyalty it built - and is now pissing away - simply because XP was around for so long that it became a stable part of the background.  I'm not a complete babe in the woods when it comes to computers, but I've found the rapid succession from Vista to Win7 to Win8 to be very, very off-putting.  I "manage" the computers for my family and my own work computer, and that now means that I'm managing (a) one ancient XP Media Center laptop (grandma refuses to upgrade), (b) one Vista notebook (my own), (c) two Win7 notebooks (another one of mine, plus my wife's), and (c) one Win8 desktop (my new work computer).  In other words, in just over 4 years (I bought the Vista notebook in 2009) the number of OSes I now need to keep track of doubled (in 2009 I had three XP systems and one then-new Vista system).

I honestly do not like that and I'm just a lone retail user.  I can very well imagine that large enterprises are simply not purchasing new systems because the learning curve for their IT departments - which these businesses will have to pay for - is going to be immense and, at this point, would require two complete refresher courses.

Win7 is not a bad variation on the MS Windows system and they should have given it more time to mature and more time to become an accepted part of the landscape (Vista was simply too half-baked in many ways to have become the next staple replacement for XP).

Win8 has more than just a wiff of desperation about it, given that it is essentially Win7 with a stupid "touch" smartphone-esque user interface stapled onto it.  If/when I have the time I'm going to see if there's any way to have my Win8 work system simply boot straight into the desktop UI without having to go through that stupid Win8 interface first.

[Relic]

I don't use Windows 8. I've only seen it a little. My son works for a computer consulting firm, and has used it extensively and told me some horror stories. Windows 8 is a case of trying to be too much. It wants to unify the PC - Laptop - Tablet - Smart phone interface. A big swing and a miss.

XP is very good, and for most users, is enough. Windows 7 is a really nice upgrade, but it depends on newer hardware. An older system that is very functional on XP may crawl running Windows 7. I run the 64 bit version of Windows 7, which leads to some annoyance with legacy applications, but I'm geeky enough to forgive the problems. I know where they're going and what the gain is to running 64 bit OS, so I can live with it.

I'm not as active in the PC world as I once was, but I've been doing this stuff a long time. I have never heard the level of complaint about a Microsoft OS that I'm hearing about Windows 8. This won't kill Microsoft, but it's the kind of thing that allows a new kid on the block to gain footing. This is the opening for Android similar to OS2 Warp allowing Windows 95 to take a firm hold. And various Windows stink bombs, NT 3.51, Millenium, Win 2k allowed the Mac to gain more mainstream support.

[EC]

Win8 has more than just a wiff of desperation about it, given that it is essentially Win7 with a stupid "touch" smartphone-esque user interface stapled onto it.  If/when I have the time I'm going to see if there's any way to have my Win8 work system simply boot straight into the desktop UI without having to go through that stupid Win8 interface first.

There was a huge discussion in the comments of a Cracked article yesterday and it seems there is currently no native way to do that. A couple of addon programs were mentioned, one was

Download and install ClassicShell."

Its free. It brings back the start button. It skips the Metro Page. It fixes most of the biggest complaints about Windows 8, aside from some software compatibility that just isn't there yet, and trying to print wirelessly.

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-common-misconceptions-that-destroy-computers/#ixzz2QGSAQGS3

The article itself is pretty funny too - usual language warning applies!

[Oceander]

There was a huge discussion in the comments of a Cracked article yesterday and it seems there is currently no native way to do that. A couple of addon programs were mentioned, one was

The article itself is pretty funny too - usual language warning applies!

Ah well.  Is it possible to write a little script that will auto-run at startup that would step through the Win8 UI and get to the desktop?

[EC]

I have seen nothing on the tech sites, and disabling Metro seems to be a priority for most users who don't have a touch screen.

Personally, I am sticking with Windows 7 until they release 9.

[Oceander]

I have seen nothing on the tech sites, and disabling Metro seems to be a priority for most users who don't have a touch screen.

Personally, I am sticking with Windows 7 until they release 9.

I found this article:  http://www.7tutorials.com/how-boot-desktop-windows-8-skip-start-screen from Nov. 2012 that discusses a few options.  The comments at the end of the article are interesting, including the fourth to the last one, from Jan. 1, 2013, which suggests modifying the article's suggested solution so that you have a start-up task running that points to the explorer shell.  I haven't tried it, but it would seem that firing up the explorer shell at boot would "kick" the system into the desktop since the "metro" (stupid, stupid name) doesn't have that shell.

[EC]

Interesting, thanks!

I'll give it a try on Dad's machine this week. He just bought a new lappy and is infuriated by Metro.

Microsoft do seem to be sticking to their patten of a good and stable OS being followed up with a bug filled annoyance.