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Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

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Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#31

Post by jiggy2011 »

joenathan wrote: post #16
dchest wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows 7, released in 2009, was a success compared to Vista, and our computers are not that much different inside from what they were then.

Windows Vista is a special case, it took a lot of flack that Windows 7 would have taken if Vista had not came before it. Windows Vista broke compatibility(for the better of security) by making it so applications could only write to the User lever directories and would need elevated permissions to make system wide changes, Windows Vista also brought the first major x64 push from Microsoft, which left people with many…

True, I never quite understood why people seem to hate Vista but love 7.

I have a laptop with Vista (and a recent SP) and 7 on my desktop. Besides a few UI differences I find it hard to tell them apart at all.

Most of the changes between XP and Vista that I disliked on Vista seem to have persisted unchanged in 7. I find network configuration much more confusing on Vista and 7 than on XP for example.

Perhaps earlier versions of Vista did have issues with memory management but as far as I can tell they have been improved by recent service packs.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#32

Post by gambiting »

dillona wrote: post #23
archangel_one wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have Windows 7 on my desktop (for gaming, needless to say) and it works fine - so I don't see why I should spend £25 on it (that's six pints of beer - or 12 if I want a physical disc) for a nebulous vague claim of "it feels faster" and native ISO mounting that I'll never use (native ISO ripping would be mildly helpful, but it's still not that big a pain point). And no, I don't want to arse about googling for 3rd-pa…

The security improvements alone are easily worth the money in my opinion.

What kind of security improvements?

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#33

Post by gambiting »

therobot24 wrote: post #30
EwanG wrote: post #27

My personal favorite Windows 8 feature - plug in a mouse, but not a keyboard. Go to a text field. Windows 8 figures that if you have a mouse you "must" have a keyboard even though it can plainly see you don't. So the on-screen keyboard doesn't come up. Even if you load it in the desktop pane, it won't be available in other panes (like the Store). The solution is to unplug the mouse, and then the keyboard shows up. Th…

RT user checking in - as long as remote desktop works i'm good (though i'm connecting to a win 8 pc). Why did i buy a 499$ remote desktop machine? Cause i don't need to carry computing power with me, and the snap in keyboard + usb port (charge my phone/plug in a mouse) + expandable memory is exactly what i need.

You can do EXACTLY same thing with an Asus Transformer, which is cheaper, and works just as well. It even supports multitouch gestures when connected remotely to your Win8 PC.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#34

Post by neovive »

mtgx wrote: post #8

Microsoft made a mistake trying to force a made-for-touch interface on PC users, and in the end the strategy is not that different than forcing a PC interface on a touch device. It may actually be worse, because at least in that case you would be familiar with the interface, so at least it would have that advantage. I think this video explains most of the problems with Windows 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTYet-…

Microsoft likely anticipated weaker demand for Win8 which is why they are focusing their promotions on the consumer market at this point. Once they work out the issues they will repackage a new version for enterprises running Win7.

Microsoft knows that the consumer desktop market is dwindling and that competing with Apple and Samsung in the consumer mobile space isn't viable at this point. However, the enterprise desktop market isn't going anywhere at this point and leveraging their enterprise desktop dominance as a way into mobile enterprise devices is their best option. IT managers will prefer an end-to-end Win9 solution for all desktops and mobile devices over managing disparate architectures.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#35

Post by jmspring »

The problem I have with that chart and the article - Vista was unpopular and didn't deliver on a lot of it was supposed to. So, people stayed on XP. When Win7 came out, it was a solid rev from both XP and Vista. Thus, the strong uptake in upgrading.

With Win8 - you have an install base that is already fairly content with Win7, a new interface that gets mixed reviews in the trade press -- yet people who use it find things they both like and dislike, and as others have stated computers have been "good enough" for awhile.

I'm not sure if/how Win8 will play out, but corporate upgrade cycles and OEMs will play heavily into that. That said, a number of formerly PC only corporate environments are becoming more Apple friendly, which will also have an impact.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#36

Post by maxerickson »

rcthompson wrote: post #26
moskie wrote: post #11

Isn't part of the problem that the hardware market hasn't yet put out a good selection of touchscreen devices (tablets, laptops, monitors) to take advantage of Windows 8's core upgrades/features yet? I was in Fry's Electronics last week, went to the laptop section, and couldn't find any touchscreen Windows devices in their sea of laptops they had on display. I had to ask a salesman, and he had to point out to me the…

Why does my PC need a touch screen? I've never been using a desktop or laptop computer and thought "If only this had a touch screen, my task would be so much easier." For that matter, same question with s/a touch screen/Windows 8/g. Seriously, I haven't seen any commercial that tells me what Windows 8 will actually do for me. Live tiles and "doodle passwords" are nifty, but I'm not going to drop several hundred dolla…

I'm still using a 5 year old laptop with XP on it. So take this in that context.

I think the idea isn't so much that every PC needs a touch screen, it is more that it is a good thing for the OS to be able to take advantage of one that is there. The marketing message certainly leans towards "You need a touchscreen", but I don't think that was driving the technical choices 2 or 3 years ago. If there is a touchscreen and the OS knows about it, it might as well be able to run apps designed for touchscreens.

(I find all the complaining about the missing start menu pretty irrelevant, hunt and click is a terrible interface compared to a searching launcher. But I guess they did a poor job of understanding who was going to end up using the new launcher.)

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#37

Post by jstalin »

pixl97 wrote: post #24
xpose2000 wrote: post #6

I run window 8 and its a solid upgrade. It feels faster and has incremental updates to various parts of the OS. (Native mounting of ISOs was a nice surprise) Only down side? The lack of start menu. But since that can be easily fixed with Start8 (Google it), then there is no reason to not upgrade. If you run windows 7, then stop wasting time and upgrade to 8.

If you run windows 7, then stop wasting time and upgrade to 8. If you run 7, stay on 7. If you're getting a new computer, don't fear 8, though it will take a little time getting used to. If you have a corporate office and will be replacing 500 pc's, you better do some tests with your users before you even think about 8.

My enterprise is not even considering Win 8. We have 5000+ PCs to manage and there's no business reason whatsoever to upgrade. It was hard enough to get our users to deal effectively with their upgrade to Office 2010...(who moved my cheese!) Windows 8 would grind the company to a halt.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#38

Post by simplyinfinity »

I like how people comment on the UI of Win 8 when they clearly have not used it.

The new Modern(ex Metro) UI is a big Start menu(now called start screen). You go to it only when you login to your machine after restart, after a login from sleep/hibernate/lock if you have left it on the desktop , it stays there. Everything else is like or better than Win 7.

Also you only go to the start screen when you need to find or start an app. Yes , for some users it would suck to see the Start Screen after booting, would be nice if there was option to select which screen to show after boot.

Also , the Start Screen is very good tool for organizing Apps. You can create columns of apps (not automatically though) by type , use case or whatever order your heart desires. And i find the start screen better replacement of the desktop for placing my icons ( i dislike cluttered desktops as i see it more often than the Start Screen)

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#39

Post by jstalin »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #31
joenathan wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows Vista is a special case, it took a lot of flack that Windows 7 would have taken if Vista had not came before it. Windows Vista broke compatibility(for the better of security) by making it so applications could only write to the User lever directories and would need elevated permissions to make system wide changes, Windows Vista also brought the first major x64 push from Microsoft, which left people with many…

True, I never quite understood why people seem to hate Vista but love 7. I have a laptop with Vista (and a recent SP) and 7 on my desktop. Besides a few UI differences I find it hard to tell them apart at all. Most of the changes between XP and Vista that I disliked on Vista seem to have persisted unchanged in 7. I find network configuration much more confusing on Vista and 7 than on XP for example. Perhaps earlier v…

Vista nearly ground several of our offices to a halt when we began a rollout. It was a complete disaster. Windows 7 just works. Vista didn't.
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