I really do think that Windows 8 will be a success

[whs]

Hi,

I'm not so sure "old-timers" are as technologically challenged as we think, or at least I don't think so. Take a look at this poll that has been running a while now - look at which age groups make up the most users at SevenForums. If you have been active there, you will admit that the vast bulk of experience comes from the older members.

Which age category do you fall in? - Windows 7 Forums

Regards,
Golden

You are absolutely right Golden. I don't know where Coke gets this statement from.

Well, the technological demographic isn't geared towards the older crowd, that's a given

I am 74 years old and do not seem to have any problems keeping up with technology. If I could see better, I would certainly have one of those small gadgets too. But the screens are just too small for me.

 

[Coke Robot]

So, "old" people are not real people. Is that some kind of selective misanthropy! As for enterprises, well that's already been discussed here and elsewhere and the general consensus is the complete opposite to your assessment. By the way, when my teenagers had a chance to 'play' with Windows 8, their collective pronouncement was "it's gay"!

Well, the technological demographic isn't geared towards the older crowd, that's a given.

If you have some statistics, I'd really like to see them?

Whilst it quite true that young people are generally quite quick to adopt new technology, they aren't the only group to do so. In fact the group with the highest adoption of new technology are the group with the highest disposable income and they are the 46 to 64 year old range, otherwise known as the 'baby boomers'. So I guess it depends on your definition of 'old'.

And for enterprises, that's a general consensus of people saying that it's too much time and effort initially to move towards a new OS, maybe for productivity or simply cost. But if given the chance or opportunity, there are IT admins that would upgrade to 8.

Unfortunately, that's pure speculation which is really quite contrary to the consensus. However, it's quite possible enterprises will find a liking for Windows 8 on the tablet and server. But only time will tell.

HA! Hostility by calling something a name doesn't always pass off....I thought tablets were "gay" once, now I can see myself using one.

In this case, it's not so much "calling something a name" rather, it's simply suggesting the product is not very good. However, in fairness to Windows 8, the disparaging remark was quite squarely aimed at Metro and not the underlying OS. It's also worth noting that I only mentioned their response, as an opposing view to your "college students, gamers, young people" comment.

There really isn't a stat to defend such, but honestly, nowadays, the older crowd probably isn't going to be buying new PCs or upgrading their OS unless absolutely necessary. I'm not to say that ALL older people don't do such, but it's not as much as the younger age groups.

But for enterprises that want to adopt tablets, a HUGE plus for Windows 8 slates will be the fact (except for ARM maybe) that they will fit right into a Windows based network infrastructure. It won't take a massive overhaul of everything just to adopt meager ipads.

And for metro, obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion. Based off personal experience, metro design will fare pretty well.

 

[Coke Robot]

Hi,

I'm not so sure "old-timers" are as technologically challenged as we think, or at least I don't think so. Take a look at this poll that has been running a while now - look at which age groups make up the most users at SevenForums. If you have been active there, you will admit that the vast bulk of experience comes from the older members.

Which age category do you fall in? - Windows 7 Forums

Regards,
Golden

You are absolutely right Golden. I don't know where Coke gets this statement from.

Well, the technological demographic isn't geared towards the older crowd, that's a given

I am 74 years old and do not seem to have any problems keeping up with technology. If I could see better, I would certainly have one of those small gadgets too. But the screens are just too small for me.

Well, to defend myself, I'll just say that generally, not all the time, the older crowd isn't the demographic you see lining outside apple stores or hinging on every latest technology. Personally, I think it's awesome you're 74 years old and you keep up with modern technology. I think that's quite cool and I want to be like that when I get to that age. But usually, from what I speculate, if it still works, there's no need to replace it.

 

[Coke Robot]

Ok, the responses here are going into age related things. I'm going to clear this up. The youtube video of the father trying to figure out Windows 8, and then a later video of him using mac os, I think that goes to show worse towards the older generations because to me; that seems more like if older people can't grasp UI changes at all. I think that's odd, and what I think is even more odd is the fact that the father in that video is portraying "real" people and how they will use Windows 8. I've had some other people use Windows 8, and it was quite a success. With some simple tips, they figured out how to use it and enjoyed it.

When I say the older generations don't upgrade their technology, I base this off more or less on the stereotype that older people simply don't. I understand that there are 50 year olds and 70 year olds that upgrade to new technology, but consider the fact that this is the nerdiest Windows sites that generally is populated with people that keep on the cutting edge of technological change, regardless of age. I'm not here to say that older people that are members on this forum don't upgrade to new technology, because that's not true; they're using Windows 8, the latest version. So, that is all.

 

[whs]

Well, to defend myself, I'll just say that generally, not all the time, the older crowd isn't the demographic you see lining outside apple stores or hinging on every latest technology. Personally, I think it's awesome you're 74 years old and you keep up with modern technology. I think that's quite cool and I want to be like that when I get to that age. But usually, from what I speculate, if it still works, there's no need to replace it.

Coke, I know what you are saying. This is the general take. But in fact I think it is quite different. In Florida I live in a really rural area - 150.000 souls in the whole county. I am member and instructor in a computer club with well over 800 members - 90% are over 65 years old. And they are eager to learn and keep up with the times.

During classes they saw how fast my laptop was because I use an SSD. Now everybody wants an SSD and I get calls from them to install it and to transfer the OS. Also, most of these people are pretty well off and can afford new gadgets.

Have a look at our club website and you will get the idea. Hernando Computer Club, Florida Look at the instructors page to get an idea of the 'avanced' folks. I am not in this picture (it was taken during the summer when I am not here). But I would fit right in. The oldest on the picture is over 80.

 

[Calico]

Ok, the responses here are going into age related things. I'm going to clear this up. The youtube video of the father trying to figure out Windows 8, and then a later video of him using mac os, I think that goes to show worse towards the older generations because to me; that seems more like if older people can't grasp UI changes at all. I think that's odd, and what I think is even more odd is the fact that the father in that video is portraying "real" people and how they will use Windows 8. I've had some other people use Windows 8, and it was quite a success. With some simple tips, they figured out how to use it and enjoyed it.

When I say the older generations don't upgrade their technology, I base this off more or less on the stereotype that older people simply don't. I understand that there are 50 year olds and 70 year olds that upgrade to new technology, but consider the fact that this is the nerdiest Windows sites that generally is populated with people that keep on the cutting edge of technological change, regardless of age. I'm not here to say that older people that are members on this forum don't upgrade to new technology, because that's not true; they're using Windows 8, the latest version. So, that is all.

Unfortunately, you're still making completely unsubstantiated claims about 'older' people'. It seems, all you have for your accusations are 'gut' feelings and a youtube video or two. The simple fact is, there will be people in any age demographic that will embrace new technology and there will be those who won't. The latter may be due to a whole variety of reasons, and age may well be a factor, but that could be any age, not just 'older people'. As I said in my earlier post, the group with the most amount of money to spend and quite often, the most amount of time on their hands are not young people. I might also add, it's this very same age group that are in the key positions, within the companies driving the change.

But for enterprises that want to adopt tablets, a HUGE plus for Windows 8 slates will be the fact (except for ARM maybe) that they will fit right into a Windows based network infrastructure. It won't take a massive overhaul of everything just to adopt meager ipads.

A couple of things. First, most large companies seldom run a single vendors Operating System or Applications on their networks. Second, decisions regarding which product to use, for any given task, are not simply based on the premise that because we have product A from company A, we should also use product B from company A. Most sensible companies will make their decisions based on best tool for the job.

And for metro, obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion. Based off personal experience, metro design will fare pretty well.

I'm sure it will, for tablets, smartphones and desktops, where running single instance applications for social networking is the cutting edge.

 

[Vince53]

We're not old. We're kids with experience.

 

[Coke Robot]

Ok, the responses here are going into age related things. I'm going to clear this up. The youtube video of the father trying to figure out Windows 8, and then a later video of him using mac os, I think that goes to show worse towards the older generations because to me; that seems more like if older people can't grasp UI changes at all. I think that's odd, and what I think is even more odd is the fact that the father in that video is portraying "real" people and how they will use Windows 8. I've had some other people use Windows 8, and it was quite a success. With some simple tips, they figured out how to use it and enjoyed it.

When I say the older generations don't upgrade their technology, I base this off more or less on the stereotype that older people simply don't. I understand that there are 50 year olds and 70 year olds that upgrade to new technology, but consider the fact that this is the nerdiest Windows sites that generally is populated with people that keep on the cutting edge of technological change, regardless of age. I'm not here to say that older people that are members on this forum don't upgrade to new technology, because that's not true; they're using Windows 8, the latest version. So, that is all.

Unfortunately, you're still making completely unsubstantiated claims about 'older' people'. It seems, all you have for your accusations are 'gut' feelings and a youtube video or two. The simple fact is, there will be people in any age demographic that will embrace new technology and there will be those who won't. The latter may be due to a whole variety of reasons, and age may well be a factor, but that could be any age, not just 'older people'. As I said in my earlier post, the group with the most amount of money to spend and quite often, the most amount of time on their hands are not young people. I might also add, it's this very same age group that are in the key positions, within the companies driving the change.

But for enterprises that want to adopt tablets, a HUGE plus for Windows 8 slates will be the fact (except for ARM maybe) that they will fit right into a Windows based network infrastructure. It won't take a massive overhaul of everything just to adopt meager ipads.

A couple of things. First, most large companies seldom run a single vendors Operating System or Applications on their networks. Second, decisions regarding which product to use, for any given task, are not simply based on the premise that because we have product A from company A, we should also use product B from company A. Most sensible companies will make their decisions based on best tool for the job.

And for metro, obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion. Based off personal experience, metro design will fare pretty well.

I'm sure it will, for tablets, smartphones and desktops, where running single instance applications for social networking is the cutting edge.

From many enterprises and corporate setups I've seen, from both private industry and public education, Windows is generally the base OS of choice. I have seen Ubuntu be used on 15 year old puters that once ran Windows 98. They're never used though from what I'm told. I have seen some ipads be used but usually as promo devices for adverting. Other than that, Windows is the operating system that is primarily ran on an infrastructure. Then again, Windows has always been in that situation.

Metro design isn't limited to apps. Metro isn't apps. Metro is a design language that is used to design products like the Windows Phone, Start Screen, Zune software, IE 9, Office 2010, and the such.

 

[Calico]

Ok, the responses here are going into age related things. I'm going to clear this up. The youtube video of the father trying to figure out Windows 8, and then a later video of him using mac os, I think that goes to show worse towards the older generations because to me; that seems more like if older people can't grasp UI changes at all. I think that's odd, and what I think is even more odd is the fact that the father in that video is portraying "real" people and how they will use Windows 8. I've had some other people use Windows 8, and it was quite a success. With some simple tips, they figured out how to use it and enjoyed it.

When I say the older generations don't upgrade their technology, I base this off more or less on the stereotype that older people simply don't. I understand that there are 50 year olds and 70 year olds that upgrade to new technology, but consider the fact that this is the nerdiest Windows sites that generally is populated with people that keep on the cutting edge of technological change, regardless of age. I'm not here to say that older people that are members on this forum don't upgrade to new technology, because that's not true; they're using Windows 8, the latest version. So, that is all.

Unfortunately, you're still making completely unsubstantiated claims about 'older' people'. It seems, all you have for your accusations are 'gut' feelings and a youtube video or two. The simple fact is, there will be people in any age demographic that will embrace new technology and there will be those who won't. The latter may be due to a whole variety of reasons, and age may well be a factor, but that could be any age, not just 'older people'. As I said in my earlier post, the group with the most amount of money to spend and quite often, the most amount of time on their hands are not young people. I might also add, it's this very same age group that are in the key positions, within the companies driving the change.



A couple of things. First, most large companies seldom run a single vendors Operating System or Applications on their networks. Second, decisions regarding which product to use, for any given task, are not simply based on the premise that because we have product A from company A, we should also use product B from company A. Most sensible companies will make their decisions based on best tool for the job.

And for metro, obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion. Based off personal experience, metro design will fare pretty well.

I'm sure it will, for tablets, smartphones and desktops, where running single instance applications for social networking is the cutting edge.

From many enterprises and corporate setups I've seen, from both private industry and public education, Windows is generally the base OS of choice. I have seen Ubuntu be used on 15 year old puters that once ran Windows 98. They're never used though from what I'm told. I have seen some ipads be used but usually as promo devices for adverting. Other than that, Windows is the operating system that is primarily ran on an infrastructure. Then again, Windows has always been in that situation.

I'm sorry, but from what you've just said, I can only guess you haven't been in many large companies.

Metro design isn't limited to apps. Metro isn't apps. Metro is a design language that is used to design products like the Windows Phone, Start Screen, Zune software, IE 9, Office 2010, and the such.

Well, it's a little more than that, however, I'm not really sure what that has to do with the ongoing discussion?

 

[Coke Robot]

Unfortunately, you're still making completely unsubstantiated claims about 'older' people'. It seems, all you have for your accusations are 'gut' feelings and a youtube video or two. The simple fact is, there will be people in any age demographic that will embrace new technology and there will be those who won't. The latter may be due to a whole variety of reasons, and age may well be a factor, but that could be any age, not just 'older people'. As I said in my earlier post, the group with the most amount of money to spend and quite often, the most amount of time on their hands are not young people. I might also add, it's this very same age group that are in the key positions, within the companies driving the change.



A couple of things. First, most large companies seldom run a single vendors Operating System or Applications on their networks. Second, decisions regarding which product to use, for any given task, are not simply based on the premise that because we have product A from company A, we should also use product B from company A. Most sensible companies will make their decisions based on best tool for the job.



I'm sure it will, for tablets, smartphones and desktops, where running single instance applications for social networking is the cutting edge.

From many enterprises and corporate setups I've seen, from both private industry and public education, Windows is generally the base OS of choice. I have seen Ubuntu be used on 15 year old puters that once ran Windows 98. They're never used though from what I'm told. I have seen some ipads be used but usually as promo devices for adverting. Other than that, Windows is the operating system that is primarily ran on an infrastructure. Then again, Windows has always been in that situation.

I'm sorry, but from what you've just said, I can only guess you haven't been in many large companies.

Metro design isn't limited to apps. Metro isn't apps. Metro is a design language that is used to design products like the Windows Phone, Start Screen, Zune software, IE 9, Office 2010, and the such.

Well, it's a little more than that, however, I'm not really sure what that has to do with the ongoing discussion?

I guess maybe I haven't been in a lot of large enterprises, but what have YOU seen be used? I'm curious to know.

I went off that little tangent because the word "metro" is becoming something that seems like only applies to the Start Screen. Metro isn't the Start Screen. It's not that. It's something TOTALLY else than that. In fact, the metro design language is becoming Microsoft's future in ALL their products and services.

 

[GMan]

We're not old. We're kids with experience.

You're only as old as your mind wants you to be. Serious.

When I was about 12 years old, I had a paper route. Every morning without fail, there was an Oriental lady that must have been in her 90s by my best perceptions and guess. She would be in the park doing an exercise routine which included jumping jacks and push-ups. She seemed to do them better than most teenagers would have been able to.

It's all your thoughts which in turn dictates your physical condition and vice-versa.

 

[jimbo45]

A couple days ago, I used my Windows To Go USB drive on my friend's gaming laptop. When I initially showed him Windows 8, he didn't like it and didn't care for it. He's the gamer type, and by gamer type, I mean a Desktop with LITERALLY the ENTIRE screen full of little icons for games from DOS to PSx emulators and DS and PC games. It's gross. And what's even grosser is his Start Menu in Windows 7. OH MY.

But when I booted up to my Windows 8 drive on his laptop, I told him to use it. So he did for about 20 minutes or so. I had to point out and guide him a little on how to use it. For example, I told him, "Where traditionally is the Start button located?" So after that time period, I asked him if given the option between Windows 7 (which he loves) and 8, he choose Windows 8 only IF it has better gaming performance. He would choose Windows 8 over 7 just to actually use an operating system and its navigation. I told him how Windows 8 will be running on ARM processors and has been found to run games with better framerates than 7, he was sold.

Now, I post this in the face of how people are going off on the tangent of how "real" people will be using Windows 8 with epic fails. Notice how those "real" people are older and generally will never update their Windows OS unless if the physically computer itself is dead? Older people don't always care about what's best or what's the latest version, they care about if it works or not. It if works, don't do anything, if not; well yeah. Real people that will be using Windows 8 are people in the enterprise, college students, gamers, young people that want something else other than a laptop, families that need a new PC. Those are the REAL people that will be using and upgrading to Windows 8.

Hi there
Are you sure you weren't using some of the stuff associated with the First part of your User Id !!!!!

Enterprises I can almost bet you a trillion dollars to a bucket of a load of B/S will not use W8 for years if ever.

It's not that there is anything wrong with it but large companies are like Oil Tankers -- they take AGES\ to change anything.

I still suspect the majority are quite happily running XP and are only beginning slowly to roll out W7 as hardware is replaced.

There is no way that these companies are going to invest in a lot of trouble, time and expence doing ANOTHER Major Roll out of a new OS.

It won't be the professional IT contract workers and enterprises using W8 but the very people you seem to think will avoid it -- home users, hobbyists etc.

As for the average joe --he really doesn't care so long as his surfing, Email and possibly multimedia stuff (including that cr--py Itunes rubbish) works straight out of the box --be it XP, W7 / W8 or whatever.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[GMan]

(including that cr--py Itunes rubbish)

Yeah, I laughed.

My father installed that on his netbook that I admin. I was like, "wtf did you do???"

lol

 

[Calico]

<...Snip...>
I guess maybe I haven't been in a lot of large enterprises, but what have YOU seen be used? I'm curious to know.

It's not as simple as saying company 'a' uses hardware/software abc and company 'b' uses hardware/software def. In most large companies you're going to find a mix of virtually everything, from mainframes to iPads and everything in between. Don't get me wrong, Microsoft software is widely used for many types of application but they share the enterprise with dedicated ERP/CRM/Payment processing/Billing etc. systems.

 

[MINKIN2]

There does seem to be a lot of discussion over who is going to use windows8 but a lot of people won't have a choice. Let us not forget that MS has the monopoly in the retail and OEM sector. Most of the not so tech savvy people who will be buying a new PC from a brick&mortar store after Win8's release will not have a choice as it will already be pre-installed on their machine. We could also see many of this years PCs will get the Windows 8 treatment as stores try their hardest to shift old stock.

We (the more tech savvy) already now how hard it is to buy a pre-built machine that does not have windows installed from the traditional outlets, so we can expect MS to ship a boatload of Windows8 copies through OEM even if no one at all was to buy a physical disc.

 

[Vince53]

Minkin, I'm not sure about that. When Vista came out. MS allowed vendors to continue selling XP, because MS needed the sales money and they didn't want people to go to Apple. New 7 computers might be around for a long time.

 

[MINKIN2]

Yes they did leave the choice to sell old xp machines when vista came out, but they did not make it easy for the stores by announcing the end of support for XP. We (in the uk) found many stores trying to shoe horn vista into sup spec Hardware. It was only with the release of the eeePC that MS decided to extend the consumer support of XP but the desktops were all vista by then.

With 7 this was much easier for stores as It has a lower minimun spec requirement than vista did and when 7 launched our major retailers pretty much pulled vista off the shelves overnight and upgraded them. MS even offered a massive discount package to upgrade previously sold vista machines to 7 for eligable customers.

I do hope that both MS and the retailers have learned from the past releases and offer the choice yes. But this is MS after all and they do have a bad case of "classic coke" syndrome.

 

[chev65]

All I know is that for what ever reason Windows 8 is more stable for me than 7 ever was. I can't seem to make this system freeze up or crash no matter what I do.

After weeks of testing I'm now convinced about this.

Metro fiasco aside there have been improvements under the hood that make this Op system worth keeping.

I did find a couple of major bugs along the way though, messing with UAC will wreck the Metro Apps functionality and the Keyboard thing with the faulty HID driver was a ball buster to figure out. Nothing that won't be fixed in future builds.

It's funny to me that even you Windows 8 bashers keep coming back to this forum over and over again.

Most of you guys who proclaim to hate this Op system go on and on about it but, I bet you are still using it.

 

[GMan]

Have a look at our club website and you will get the idea. Hernando Computer Club, Florida

Simply put, that is just awesome! Great to see people having fun and being brought together like that, over computing.

 

[whs]

Minkin, I'm not sure about that. When Vista came out. MS allowed vendors to continue selling XP, because MS needed the sales money and they didn't want people to go to Apple. New 7 computers might be around for a long time.

This is true. But it was extremely difficult to find a system with XP preinstalled. None of the big manufacturers offered that option. I remember that vividly because I was trying to track an XP system down for a friend. Everything was Vista.