Windows 7 outpacing Windows 8 adoption, shows latest fig.

Latest NetMarketshare figures suggest Windows 7 is outpacing Windows 8's adoption, despite a rapid reduction in Windows XP usage over the past quarter.
Over the past month, Windows 8's share has increased by 0.61 percentage points, rising to 8.02 percent of the total share. Whereas, on the other hand, Windows 7's share increased by 0.8 percentage points, rising to 46.3 percent of the market.
To put this into context, Apple's latest desktop operating system OS X 10.8 operating system grew by 0.27 percentage points to a mere 3.7 percent of the overall share. But this figure accounts for just shy of half of Windows 8's overall growth for August.

Windows 7 outpacing Windows 8 adoption, shows latest figures | ZDNet

 

[alphanumeric]

I don't think Microsoft is trying to push users to hybrid devices. They are already moving that way, Microsoft just wants a piece of the pie. Desktop PC's will be around for a while, it's just that most people already have one and aren't in a big hurry to buy another one or replace it. A fair number already have a laptop too, and a smart phone. Tablets are what's selling at the moment, at least it looks that way to me. Microsoft wants in on that market and tried to mold Windows to run on those devices. Trying to make Windows run on all types of devices doesn't seem to have worked out to well. A lot of die hard desktop users aren't impressed. Windows 7 is what rocks for those die hard users. I still run it on one of my desktop PC's. I respect those users and their opinion. Some may be buying Windows 7 licenses while they still can knowing that its going to get harder and harder to find.

I was quit indifferent to Windows 8 when I first started using it. After using it for a while though I don't find it so bad. I don't miss the old start menu. I still think it should be an option for those that want it though. Now that Metro is multi monitor friendly in 8.1 I have it running on my main desktop. I must say though, that if I didn't have TechNet I'd still be running Windows 7 on everything except my Laptop that came with Windows 8.

Well said, and it's what I've been saying for a while about tablets being the main reason Microsoft is moving towards this type of OS. Yeah, they do want, and need to be part of the mobile market.

As for Windows 8, now 8.1, I'm running it on my laptop and have gotten used to the way it works. No issues here, and to me, the OS performs just as good as 7, and some things are a bit better example task manager and windows explorer.

I'm still running 7 on my desktop but am seriously considering replacing it with 8.1. The only question is game compatibility.

So far I haven't installed to many games on my desktop since installing 8.1. I've tried 8 on it several times and always ended up going back to Windows 7. This time though with 8.1, I'm thinking I might not roll it back. My laptop came with Windows 8 preinstalled so I left it that way. I wanted at least one PC with 8 on it. The more I used it the less annoying it became. I have access to TechNet so I did a clean install of 8.1 on it just to avoid the pitfalls of an upgrade install. I like the changes they made to Metro and the Start Menu. I think the reality for most though is if your already a h8tr, 8.1 isn't going to change that. I was on the fence, I didn't h8t it but I didn't think it was g8t either. I still wouldn't spend any money to upgrade any of my 7 PC's to 8 but I gladly run 8.1 for free.

 

[echrada]

Most of my clients (79 out of 100) have asked me to install Windows 7 on their brand new windows 8 laptops and pc's. That tells you something doesn't it!

 

[Lee]

Most of my clients (79 out of 100) have asked me to install Windows 7 on their brand new windows 8 laptops and pc's. That tells you something doesn't it!

No it doesn't. Since there are 1.9 billion computer users across the planet it doesn't mean a thing.

 

[sygnus21]

So far I haven't installed to many games on my desktop since installing 8.1. I've tried 8 on it several times and always ended up going back to Windows 7. This time though with 8.1, I'm thinking I might not roll it back. My laptop came with Windows 8 preinstalled so I left it that way. I wanted at least one PC with 8 on it. The more I used it the less annoying it became. I have access to TechNet so I did a clean install of 8.1 on it just to avoid the pitfalls of an upgrade install. I like the changes they made to Metro and the Start Menu. I think the reality for most though is if your already a h8tr, 8.1 isn't going to change that. I was on the fence, I didn't h8t it but I didn't think it was g8t either. I still wouldn't spend any money to upgrade any of my 7 PC's to 8 but I gladly run 8.1 for free.

I also have the "TechNet" version, though mine came from my school which participates in Microsoft's Dream Spark program, thus they also got the TechNet version.

Anyway I also did a clean install on my laptop, which also came with W8 preinstalled. Everything went well, including drivers. The only issue I had was 8.1 didn't like Norton Internet Security 2013. Calling Symantec about it netted me NIS 2014 for free since my subscription was less than 5 months old, and 2014 is fully compatible with 8.1.

I'll eventually move to 8.1 to the desktop. I'm already running it in VMware, but it's not the same a full fledged fully functional desktop.

Thus far all is good on the lappy.

 

[sygnus21]

Most of my clients (79 out of 100) have asked me to install Windows 7 on their brand new windows 8 laptops and pc's. That tells you something doesn't it!

That doesn't mean it's a bad OS, it probably just means they haven't got used to the UI changes from 7.

I too have lots of folks asking me about 8, but instead of feeding into the 8 is disastrous hype, I just give them my thoughts and show them some stuff. From there they make their decision. Some of the people I talk to either stick with it if they've got it, or are moving to it. A few of my classmates have asked me about it a lot, and some have even purchased or downloaded it.

 

[lehnerus2000]

What is more interesting; IE is increasing its market share (Firefox and Chrome are both dropping).

 

[labeeman]

It's over -- Internet Explorer won the browser war. Does it matter?

Once upon a time Firefox and Chrome could have become king of the desktop browsers. No longer. Internet Explorer remains at the top of the heap, and it's gaining browser share each month. IE has clearly won the desktop browser war. But does it really matter?

The latest figures from NetMarketShare tell the tale. Internet Explorer has a 57.79% desktop market share to Firefox's 18.58% and Chrome's 15.98% and Safari at 5.77%. And the numbers are only getting better for Internet Explorer. In November of 2012, Internet Explorer was at 54.76%, with Firefox at 20.44% and Chrome at 17.24%. That means since then, Internet Explorer has gained more than 3%, while Firefox and Chrome combined lost nearly 3%. So month by month, Internet Explorer is picking up those who seem to be abandoning the competition.

The problem for Microsoft is that traditional PC sales have been shrinking, while sales of smartphone and tablets have continued to grow. And when it comes to mobile browsing, Internet Explorer isn't even yet in the running.
The latest NetMarketShare numbers for mobile browsers show Safari with 54.16%, the Android browser with 22.79%, Opera mini at 7.86%, Chrome at 6.33% and BlackBerry at 2.31%. Internet Explorer is at a lowly 1.95%.

It's over -- Internet Explorer won the browser war. Does it matter? | Computerworld Blogs

 

[pcRat]

Most of my clients (79 out of 100) have asked me to install Windows 7 on their brand new windows 8 laptops and pc's. That tells you something doesn't it!

Most of my clients (15 out of 18 friends with computer) have asked me to upgrade their 7 to 8. Or find a new 8 computer with good specs to purchase. Only 14 of my clients have 8 on their computer because #15 also asked me to help finance his upgrade.

 

[Vertex]

It still is rather unfriendly for my eye to see any PC's or laptop with Windows 8 that doesn't have Classic Shell. I can imagine so many of those average Joe's struggling to find their programs and files on the first few days or weeks using it. A lot of these guys just bought laptops and computers with Windows 8 preinstalled, clueless of the ups and downs of this new OS and just didn't care or didn't know about it and just had to deal with it because they do not know how to downgrade that to 7 or upgrade to 8.1. This group of customers surely take a HUGE percent of Windows 8 sales, whether or not they may like it or h8 it.

I can personally keep dealing with that as long as I have Classic Shell and so does many people here but it hurts me really that some bits and pieces that I actually like were taken away from 8 then more at 8.1.

One example, the graphical way to create adhoc network is gone on Windows 8 and 8.1. You have to do the command line thing to set up and adhoc network.

As I said before, whoever in the design team at MS keeps saying that they remove this and that feature away needs to be fired and fired for good.