The "Is Windows 8 a Flop?" Thread

Jimmeh said:
Win8 is quite usable at home. Just spend the $5 on the Start8 start menu and put a few hours into installing alternative apps before going through file associations to make sure that NOTHING opens with the Metro/NewUI shyte. Basically undo everything that microsoft has done except the performance optimisations.
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I agree. No need to even spend the $5 - Classic start menu is free and does everything just fine, the windows 7 way. I haven't seen the start screen since I installed 8 six weeks ago.
 
Roman4604 said:
With OSX heading in the same direction?
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11% on total Win sales vs 6% on Apple laptops? That's a big difference. While "The difference between the two is that Apple is going to sell a lot of iPads to make up for the drop", MS had to resort to giving away their ARM tablets to staff for Xmas LOL!

Edit. I'm sure I have better things to do, but if you read that NPD report you will see that overall sales dropped 7% year on year. That puts Apple laptops ahead of the averages, and MS far behind.
 
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Roman4604 said:
But you have to ask yourself why. This analysis sums it up quite nicely ... http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-windows-sales-dropped-11-during-the-holidays-2013-1
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Fact is the home PC/Laptop has reached saturation point in most households, and they simply cannot find a need that their 3-4 year old machines cannot meet with good old XP and Win7.

Win7 had the benefit of replacing many Vista installations, but even at bargain basement prices they're not interested in windows 8 especially as the word is spreading how **** it is.

There is no fundamental shift to tablets, tablets are occupying a new niche, but they are simply at a different point on the demand and product maturation cycle. (of course MS completely missed this boat, allowing Android to become the natural windows OS for tablets and phones, hence the desperate desire to force the metro UI on the rest of us.)
 
BeVonk! said:
Exactly. Corporations are standing at a very complex junction. In my personal computer use I do too. MS is pulling a Hitler on us ... and I do not appteciate it one bit. Ballmer must fall for this. Corporations must take a firm stance and not enter the MS gate to their new world where they are constructing a very poor copy of AppleWorld.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
 
rwenzori said:
11% on total Win sales vs 6% on Apple laptops?
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Ok, so semi-crap, since it's still going backwards?

If you weren't so narrow minded, you see the big difference is the evolving market trend whereby an ever increasing amount of spend is shifting from traditional PC hw to tablet/touch type devices.

If MS released Win8 as a refined version of Win7, they would see none of that revenue. And since they recognised they were so late in the game, releasing a disparate Win Tablet 8 would have little chance of success. So they believed their only strategy was to leverage the only major market asset they have, the huge existing Windows base (even if kicking & screaming).

alloytoo said:
hence the desperate desire to force the metro UI on the rest of us.
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You got it. I suspect though, Sinofsky's departure indicates the MS brass have lost their nerve regarding the aggressiveness with which the strategy has been pursued. I'm expecting SP1 to include some compromises.
 
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Roman4604 said:
You got it. I suspect though, Sinofsky's departure indicates the MS brass have lost their nerve regarding the aggression with which the strategy has been pursued. I'm expecting SP1 to include some compromises.
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One hopes so.

Metro even a mobile device doesn't impress me (and I'm sure many other Android and iOS users). There are also many tools which allow Android and iOS devices to interact with our tradition desktop devices. For most users I suspect there is simply no point to metro in total.
 
Jimmeh said:
I'm very worried about deployments in business though. Have sold a few machines with Win8 on it and support calls are going through the roof. I can not employ more people because of this and pushing the prices up (to get more people and provide user training with every workstation) will force me out of the market. I do not sell anything with Win8 on it anymore. Too many unhappy clients. Win8 can close my small IT company.
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And there you have it. The definitive reason it will fail.
 
I still honestly think all the objections to the start button is lame, just lame beyond words :/ Like it is the end of the world or something when what we have now on Windows 8 is just as easy to use and really not a problem.

Then they argue that no they don't like it because going into the new start interface means you leave the desktop environment, as if they have 4 eyes and 2 brains and can concentrate on many things at once when locating an app and as if it makes much difference anyway. It will literally take me just a second to open any of my favourite apps on Windows 8, I mean that. So you liked the old start button? Just because of the fact that you are used to it I presume? This is a very very minor grievance you have to admit but hey I can't argue beyond that.

The metro applications design and intrusive operation argument is the only thing I will agree with to a point, but even then one has to admit that it is still in its infancy with very little app support and design choice just yet and I myself hardly use it unless I have a need to anyway so why the fuss? It is there if you need it, and not if you don't. I actually found a cool game I like on it.

But then they say look!! just look at the sales figures!! when we all understand exactly why they are low anyway and is a moot point. Childs play this.

And finally they are disgusted with the overall look and feel, well that is subjective but is the only real thing I think the "haters" really have going for them. Themes, effects and future design options will probably fix that too.


Now if you are saying you hate Windows 8 because you just hate Microsoft as a company, well ok then that I can understand :D
 
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I thought that the ribbon in Office 2007 was bad when it was first released and years later I still can't get used to it. The 2003 and earlier interface is still better for. Maybe I'm too stuck in my ways. I hope it's not like that for Windows 8. I'm being positive that it will grow on me.
 
vinodh said:
I thought that the ribbon in Office 2007 was bad when it was first released and years later I still can't get used to it. The 2003 and earlier interface is still better for. Maybe I'm too stuck in my ways. I hope it's not like that for Windows 8. I'm being positive that it will grow on me.
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The ribbon reduces productivity, as does metro.
 
Having used W8 since release I still don't see why so many folks are hating it.

It's W7 with a different Start window. For clients who have difficulty using it you can simply create shortcuts on the desktop or metro interface which goes directly to Control Panel, Network settings or whatever may need tinkering at some point in a business support setup.

I did the entire upgrade from a client's Windows 7 PC to 8 via Teamviewer from start to finish. It fixed his windows system corruption issue and all his apps migrated perfectly. Only issue I found was Windows Task Scheduler lost permission / something went awry with the old tasks and I had to delete and recreate them.

My only beef is the ribbon system in Windows 8 Explorer... Like Vinodh said there, Office 2003's menu system >> Office 2007/2010/etc. Feels cumbersome digging through the silly menus.
 
Roman4604 said:
If you weren't so narrow minded,
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No need for insults now - keep calm.


Roman4604 said:
you see the big difference is the evolving market trend whereby an ever increasing amount of spend is shifting from traditional PC hw to tablet/touch type devices.

If MS released Win8 as a refined version of Win7, they would see none of that revenue. And since they recognised they were so late in the game, releasing a disparate Win Tablet 8 would have little chance of success. So they believed their only strategy was to leverage the only major market asset they have, the huge existing Windows base (even if kicking & screaming).
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If you read my posts, even just in this thread, you'll see I am well aware of this. This particular outpost of the Windows installed base ain't going anywhere kicking and screaming just to make Steve Ballbag happy. The sooner he is fired the better - he is a beancounter, not a tech visionary.
 
Windows 8 is something Microsoft poured into an a$$h0le, then it got farted out and concocted into an ISO image, which you could buy and download for R130.

:)
 
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