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HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

theinquirer.net

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Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#81

Post by dkuntz2 »

gooble_flop wrote: post #61
Encosia wrote: post #55

The Windows 8 (especially post-8.1) pushback baffles me. If you put any effort at all into learning how to use it effectively, the acclimation period is definitely shorter than Win95 or WinXP was. I use it on a desktop machine with two 30" displays and only mouse/keyboard inputs (i.e. no touch). You certainly couldn't pay me $150 to go back to Win7 at this point. I even find that I use Metro apps on my desktop fairly…

From memory XP wasn't well received at first. It just hung around so long that people got really comfortable with it and didn't want to change.

But at least with XP you could recreate the 9x interface without installing additional software.

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#82

Post by tanzam75 »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #69
girvo wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you say that? You have always been able to purchase previous versions for a few years after the release of the latest...

You've been able to buy it installed on a machine offered by a major hardware vendor and publicly offered in their catalog? Or just been able to buy the install disks?

> You've been able to buy it installed on a machine offered by a major hardware vendor and publicly offered in their catalog?

Yes.

You could buy PCs preloaded with Windows XP for the first couple years of Vista's availability.

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#83

Post by girvo »

michaelwww wrote: post #41
girvo wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

8.1 really makes it shine, and is amazingly useful in touch or M/K modes. I find the reactions to Windows 8 fascinating; my girlfriend and grandfather both love it (it was awesome to see the gf use windows side by side for once, rather than just maximise and alt-tab, and she worked out the snap mode on her own -- yes I know it's in Windows 7, but she loves the auto width changes with the slider) and they're not parti…

Your post sounds like marketing copy to my ears. You have an extraordinarily adept family that Microsoft would probably appreciate hearing about.

*shrugs

That's my personal experience. If you want to call me a shill, then say it, rather than insinuate it.

Edit: Apologies, that was antagonistic. I was a professional salesperson for 7 years - I sometimes lapse into sales talk when discussing any product. Usually it's things other than Microsoft, and I'm not joking when I say that the last version I used was Vista, but I honestly think 8 is interesting, if unpolished. My family isn't adept other than my mother (she's 41).

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#84

Post by ajayjain »

adamors wrote: post #4

Windows 8 is noticeably faster, has nice improvements all around and it's probably the first Windows that looks aesthetic. People are afraid of change, simple as that.

One of the Windows 8 improvements is with the default file copy/move, and I no longer use TerraCopy. There are a bunch of under-the-hood/utility improvements outside the aesthetic.

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#85

Post by wfunction »

Encosia wrote: post #77
wfunction wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure how that goes against what I said.

Maybe you could clarify what you meant in the comment I replied to then. It seemed like you were saying that a laptop with Windows 8 somehow precludes "some people from doing something productive" just because the Metro interface is there in the background. I'm saying that hasn't been my experience whatsoever, using a Windows 8 laptop for development work.

I said you can't do anything productive with Metro, a.k.a. it's useless for doing anything productive.

I didn't say you can't avoid Metro to do something productive on the classic desktop.

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#86

Post by Encosia »

wfunction wrote: post #85
Encosia wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you could clarify what you meant in the comment I replied to then. It seemed like you were saying that a laptop with Windows 8 somehow precludes "some people from doing something productive" just because the Metro interface is there in the background. I'm saying that hasn't been my experience whatsoever, using a Windows 8 laptop for development work.

I said you can't do anything productive with Metro, a.k.a. it's useless for doing anything productive. I didn't say you can't avoid Metro to do something productive on the classic desktop.

I'm not sure I understand. I told you that I personally do productive things in Metro, but you're telling me I'm wrong. I told you that I personally do even more productive things by focusing on the desktop when Metro isn't enough, but that apparently doesn't count. What else can we talk about at this point? I don't really understand what your purpose was when you replied to my original comment?

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#87

Post by pdw »

Encosia wrote: post #64
ams6110 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it didn't offer much that Windows 2000 didn't provide?

I don't know this for a fact, but I think very few people were coming from Win2k to XP. Win2k was relatively niche, even in business, from what I can remember of my experience back then. It was essentially only the people who were running NT 4.0 Workstation before who used Win2k in the interim between that and XP.

It was getting popular in hobbyist circles (probably mostly in pirated form), especially after new PCs started shipping with Windows ME.

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#88

Post by michaelwww »

girvo wrote: post #83
michaelwww wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your post sounds like marketing copy to my ears. You have an extraordinarily adept family that Microsoft would probably appreciate hearing about.

*shrugs That's my personal experience. If you want to call me a shill, then say it, rather than insinuate it. Edit: Apologies, that was antagonistic. I was a professional salesperson for 7 years - I sometimes lapse into sales talk when discussing any product. Usually it's things other than Microsoft, and I'm not joking when I say that the last version I used was Vista, but I honestly think 8 is interesting, if unpoli…

I wasn't necessarily saying it was a bad thing. We're all grownups here on HN for the most part. I was just observing that it sounded like that to me. I don't knock salespeople. My old boss used to say that last two groups let go when a company is in trouble are those who make it (engineers like me) and those who sell it.

As a long time user of Windows, I'm frustrated, but maybe they're going after new people and they don't have the same expectations as me.

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#89

Post by wfunction »

Encosia wrote: post #86
wfunction wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I said you can't do anything productive with Metro, a.k.a. it's useless for doing anything productive. I didn't say you can't avoid Metro to do something productive on the classic desktop.

I'm not sure I understand. I told you that I personally do productive things in Metro, but you're telling me I'm wrong. I told you that I personally do even more productive things by focusing on the desktop when Metro isn't enough, but that apparently doesn't count. What else can we talk about at this point? I don't really understand what your purpose was when you replied to my original comment?

> I told you that I personally do productive things in Metro

Sorry did you say this? Maybe I misread your comment but I think you said:

> I'm no stranger to tasks OUTSIDE of Metroland.

and:

> I don't have any trouble using my desktop or laptop to get things done.

Nothing I see here means "I'm productive with Metro", it means "I can avoid Metro and still be productive". Not sure if that was what you intended to say but that's how I read it.

Re: HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyers shun Windows 8

#90

Post by JeremyNT »

Encosia wrote: post #55

The Windows 8 (especially post-8.1) pushback baffles me. If you put any effort at all into learning how to use it effectively, the acclimation period is definitely shorter than Win95 or WinXP was. I use it on a desktop machine with two 30" displays and only mouse/keyboard inputs (i.e. no touch). You certainly couldn't pay me $150 to go back to Win7 at this point. I even find that I use Metro apps on my desktop fairly…

The issue with Windows 8 isn't that it's unusable, obviously it can be used. The issue is that the changes to the desktop were made in service of a use case (that is: a full screen, mono-tasking, touch-based mode) that doesn't really seem to exist on a desktop computer, and so the changes do not improve anything for most people using traditional systems.

Changing the way a UI functions has a cost to the user, and users expect that if they are willing to pay that cost they gain something in return. Once a user acclimates to it, perhaps Windows 8 is equally as usable as Windows 7 was, but given its relatively poor uptake I think it would be difficult to argue that many users actually find the experience better.

Ultimately, paying the "learn a new interface" cost for what is effectively side-grade is a poor value.

In contrast, for users of touchscreen-based Windows devices, this is a cost that is likely worth paying, since the features enhance usability for their hardware. But such devices represent a minority of Windows based PCs on the market.

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