Who are "most people". There are over 7 Billion people in this world so someone has checked over 3.5 Billion people to backup their claims. I don't think so.
Jim
I can't speak for others, but from my experience almost all people I've conversed with on windows 8 are indifferent with the changes. They will use whatever that's preinstalled on their PC when they bought it, including all the crapware.
Admittedly, they also tend to stay in the desktop mode because that's what they are familiar with. Most haven't even noticed the start menu is gone because they never used it in previous versions of windows. They just have icons on their desktop.
I speak from my personal experience with people. And I know a wild variety of people. Now it is entirely possible that the people I know and interact with do not represent the normal PC user.
I can accept "most people I know" or "most people I conversed with" as that is legitimate. Some on here just say "most people" which infers the whole world.
Jim
You never took philosophy or debated in the philosophy club in college did you?
The number 1 rule in a debate or discussion setting is if someone's statement can be interpreted several ways, always always always always give them the benefit of a doubt and assume the most intelligent, most logical interpretation of their words.
I don't claim to know most people in the world in a literal sense. I'm assuming nobody in the world knows most people in the world in the literal sense either. So, when people say "most people", always always always always assume they are speaking of most people they know.
What I do claim is that I know a wide variety of people, from the tech illiterate to power users to professional developers. All tech illiterates *I know* are indifferent about the UI change, given that they spend most of their time in the desktop environment. The power users and the professional programmers *I know* are split between liking windows 8 and hating it. The power users and professional programmers *I know* make up a tiny portion of the PC users. That is why I've been saying most users *I know* are indifferent about the UI changes.
I am also using this experience that I have to infer that the people I know and know of are a representative sample of the wider world abroad.
Now, here is a statement of fact. We do know for a fact that with any product out there, most owners do not post reviews or comments about it. People who hate it are a lot more likely to post comments and write reviews than the people who are either indifferent or people who like the product.
Take a step back and think about yourself. I'm willing to bet most things you possess you've never thought to go online and write about them. Why? Because you are either indifferent about the quality or you like them. Now, if you were to have a tv that keeps crapping out on you, then wouldn't you feel angry about it? You are going to want to tell people about this issue with the tv. You're going to *gasp* want to go online and write a nasty review for it. Some people go as far as signing up to a dozen different forums and exaggerate their negative experiences.
About two years ago, the market started getting saturated by iOS and android tablets. And about a year ago, people's homes started getting saturated with these devices. That was when PC sales had a nose dive early last year. This *lack* of sales have been consistent ever since, even after windows 8 came out.
My interpretation of this fact is it's not windows 8 that's responsible for the low sales. It's the fact that people's homes have been saturated by iOS and android devices. And they usually have 1 or 2 windows 7 PC's. Why upgrade to windows 8 if windows 7 works just fine?
My sister is a mathematician. Her husband is a phd engineer. They've been working in the mechanical engineering industry for decades. They are considering taking up teaching positions at some university out west. They told me that pretty soon they will be in the market for windows 8 hybrids. But for now, they are quite happy with their 2 windows 7 devices and 10 android devices. I believe they represent the typical American attitude toward system upgrades.