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Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

kitguru.net

41–50 of 78 posts

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#41
post #25

Does anyone else find it problematic that the data in the graph only reflects Windows 8 usage until December 22nd? It could completely be missing out on the post Christmas activations.

Yes, it's absolutely silly. Here's a graph where X is always greater than Y, except for one data point which hasn't been fully measured.

Therefore, Y > X? What the fuck.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#42

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…

Windows 8 has bad connotation associated with it and there is no going back. And it's all due to a UI that can be ignored completely. Funny how that happens.

It's a solid incremental upgrade that they will miss out on. Everything you said is absolutely true.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#43

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 th…

Also Vista was long overdue by the time it came out and had quite a few features beyond XP.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

i did look at the asus tablets, and an HP that was similar (but ran full win 8 - much like an ultrabook that snapped into its keyboard), but i decided on the surface based on my personal preferences. I actually started out with a Nexus - it was great, but found i would consistently put down the tablet to do something on my pc that i got frustrated trying to do on the tablet. Further, the surface hardware quality was worth the extra 130$ over the transformer in my opinion.

TDLR: Hardware quality + preference of metro over android

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#45
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What specifically was the problems?

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#46
post #34
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 des…

I know my IT guy would rather replace our BlackBerries with something designed to work well with Outlook.

Using Good on the iPhone just does not cut it.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Really, the ASUS with Android runs RDP as well as Win8? I find that hard to believe.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#49
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've had a touch-screen laptop with Windows 8 for a couple of months now, and I wish all my PCs had touch screens. Not that I'd use it for every interaction, but sometimes it's just so much easier to swipe at the screen than to use the mouse or the keyboard.

Re: Windows 8 proving less popular than Vista

#50
Win8 actually does have some great functionality in WinRT and the new application security model which has been sorely needed.

The problem is that these are all tied to the Metro interface. Once Microsoft supports these in the classic desktop and stops pushing users into Metro then it'll be a decent OS again.

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