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Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

redmondtimes.com

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Re: Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

#2
I don't know... given the proximity to Halloween I'd be more than a little worried at the week one stories likely to come out - particularly if there are ANY bugs.

Some reason that an earlier date in October wouldn't have worked as well given that the master is going out in about a month anyway?

Re: Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

#4
I guarantee that, shortly after the launch date, many tech media outlets will announce:

"XX million copies of Windows 8 shipped."

"Windows 8 sets record for [carefully worded phrase relating to sales volume]"

...et cetera.

Essentially, Microsoft will make a concerted effort to assure potential customers that Windows 8 is something that is being accepted. I guess that's no big surprise.

Will Windows 8 add significant or measurable value to the user currently using Windows 7, Vista or XP? I would argue that the value added for the vast majority of users will not exceed the paltry $40 upgrade cost.

In 10 years, will Windows 8 be viewed as another Windows ME or Windows Vista (i.e., minor updates that were largely viewed as worse than their predecessors)? I don't know, but my initial guess is 'yes.'

Re: Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

#5
post #4

I guarantee that, shortly after the launch date, many tech media outlets will announce: "XX million copies of Windows 8 shipped." "Windows 8 sets record for [carefully worded phrase relating to sales volume]" ...et cetera. Essentially, Microsoft will make a concerted effort to assure potential customers that Windows 8 is something that is being accepted. I guess that's no big surprise. Will Windows 8 add significant…

I don't really see any universe in which Windows 8 is a minor update.

Re: Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

#6
post #4

I guarantee that, shortly after the launch date, many tech media outlets will announce: "XX million copies of Windows 8 shipped." "Windows 8 sets record for [carefully worded phrase relating to sales volume]" ...et cetera. Essentially, Microsoft will make a concerted effort to assure potential customers that Windows 8 is something that is being accepted. I guess that's no big surprise. Will Windows 8 add significant…

have you tried it? I want to bash on it but its actually pretty good. they have solved a hard problem of making an OS scale between laptop, desktop, and tablet. the interface is clean and consistent and increasingly the whole Microsoft line is coherent with a simular interface.

Re: Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

#8

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm looking forward to the Surface launch. It looks like almost exactly what I'd love to have in a tablet.

Me too, I think the x86 Surface is going to be to me what the dust covered iPad on my shelf never was. However, I'm feeling that Windows 8 on the desktop is going to be a disaster. There's just no benefit to a tablet/phone UI on my desktop.

Re: Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

#9
post #4

I guarantee that, shortly after the launch date, many tech media outlets will announce: "XX million copies of Windows 8 shipped." "Windows 8 sets record for [carefully worded phrase relating to sales volume]" ...et cetera. Essentially, Microsoft will make a concerted effort to assure potential customers that Windows 8 is something that is being accepted. I guess that's no big surprise. Will Windows 8 add significant…

I've always hated the "XX million copies sold" or "Fastest-selling Windows OS ever."

Windows sales are proportional to PC sales. New Windows OSes come out every 4 years. Assume the GDP increases 2% or 3% per year in that time, and PC shipments increase proportionally (heck, the population of the Earth grows that much).

Every 4 years you can automatically announce "This is the best selling OS ever, ~10% more shipments per month than the one we released 4 years ago".

Here's the press release for Windows Vista:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/2007/mar07/03-2...

"REDMOND, Wash., March 26, 2007 — Initial sales figures from Microsoft show its new operating system Windows Vista made a splash in its debut. In the first month of Windows Vista’s general availability, sales exceeded 20 million licenses, more than doubling the initial pace of sales for its predecessor, Windows XP. These initial figures reflect the broad interest in the security and usability enhancements in Windows Vista."

As expected, Vista smashes sales records compared to XP [GDP growth + 6 years of pent-up demand?]. Was Vista a more successful OS?

Re: Windows 8 launch date announced: October 26th

#10
post #4

I guarantee that, shortly after the launch date, many tech media outlets will announce: "XX million copies of Windows 8 shipped." "Windows 8 sets record for [carefully worded phrase relating to sales volume]" ...et cetera. Essentially, Microsoft will make a concerted effort to assure potential customers that Windows 8 is something that is being accepted. I guess that's no big surprise. Will Windows 8 add significant…

Hopefully a few hundred million XP users will upgrade. For me, it's all about Internet Explorer. If Win8 does well, IE10 will be the new minimum for html5, and it's a lot better than the previous IE's.

http://html5test.com/results/desktop.html

Most non-corporate Win7 users should get the IE10 update too. In a year IE8 usage will be in the single digits.

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