Windows 8 Sales Well Below Projections, Plenty of Blame

[area 66]

I don't see too much ME in my life, it was replace very fast with XP, and in my place at the time, more peoples was buying PC in computers shop, so we was building them with Windows 98 SE and after ME.

 

[SIW2]

That is hilarious.

MS are disappointed that sales are below their own projections (allegedly).

Microsoft has not met is internal projections for Windows 8 sales

Don't you think MS have factored the PC sales cycle into those projections?

Or maybe you understand the PC market better than MS?

It IS catering to need and catering to a want.

In that case - why isn't it selling?

More and more of what you post makes less and less sense.

If people did want it - they would be buying it and MS would be happy.

Assuming Thurrott is right - that is clearly not the case.

Uuummmmm, from how I understand the PC market, sales don't pick up until the holidays and well after the release. Do you not remember 2009? Did Microsoft sell over half a billion licenses of Windows 7 in three weeks? It took almost three years for that to happen.

Honestly, I'm going to be quite blunt here, I'm not interesting in discussing this as this like talking to a brick wall that uses Windows 7 and YET, is still on a forum for Windows 8.

 

[tseven]

I don't think we can really tell yet but usually for most things you can tell by the first week if it's selling or not. I guess to see the overall picture you'd have to wait a year or so. Part of the reason it's not selling is because there isn't a huge demand. The hybrid look will throw people off and a few things that made windows 7 desktop pleasant are not well implemented here. The product designs for Windows tablets, desktops, laptops have not been appealing either especially some that are made by HP or Dell(which are the larger manufacturers).

 

[area 66]

If Microsoft will be in competition with 2 or 3 other OS manufacturers, they will not survive. They do good because they get the big share of the market years ago and they have no competition, , Mac been more expensive and Linux too much left and right for normal users.

If you think I'm wrong look what happen with the intelligent phones, this is new technology , Microsoft was not the leader and was not alone, they are completely push away by Google and Apple. They can't dictated anymore . they have to listen an adapt to what we want and need

 

[Philgates]

Big mistake by Microsoft bolting this mobile crap onto their flagship desktop OS, did Apple see the need to bolt on IOS 6 to Apple Mac/OSX desktop machines? No because they developed a great Mobile and Tablet OS separately, clearly Microsoft are panicking over the Tablet market, what do they have, other than the useless winmo, which is years behind the competition, Google and Apple must be laughing all the way to the bank, Android and IOS 6 have got full control of the Mobile and Tablet market, and no way will RT make in roads into their dominance, matter of fact I see Microsoft's dominance of the desktop market now up for grabs, wonder how far Google are from launching a Desktop OS?

 

[caperjack]

I remember reading or seeing on TV a few years back about French police going Linux ,this thread brought the memory back .the link tells the story ,from 2008,maybe more Country's/police will get to someday also
French police: we saved millions of euros by adopting Ubuntu | Ars Technica

 

[Mystere]

Yep, lots of places did that. Or claimed they did. Some spent tons of money (going way over budget, and effectively nullifying any savings they got, plus more costs) doing a transition (like the City of Munich) while others attempted a slightly less drastic change and went to software like OpenOffice.. only to switch back to MS Office due to various problems.

Still others used the threat to negotiate better deals from Microsoft.

All in all, it's pretty rare to find an organization that ACTUALLY did the switch, and if they did.. stuck with it.

 

[kmint]

I have been trying many Linux distros for a few years now and it never gets better.

In fact yesterday I was trying the last Ubuntu and I was shocked to see that it gets worse and worse and worse. Not just for the totally horrible Unity or Gnome 3 but because many things have been removed (how about being impossible to change the font or the size for example?) or simply just don't work, even those that worked in this same computer in previous versions. The other main distros I regularly try, the same disaster. Stuck in the 90's.

Horrible thing. Needed a tranquillizer after testing for one hour.

 

[dirtyvu]

Big mistake by Microsoft bolting this mobile crap onto their flagship desktop OS, did Apple see the need to bolt on IOS 6 to Apple Mac/OSX desktop machines? No because they developed a great Mobile and Tablet OS separately,

then you don't know what's happening in the Mac OS side of things. they're implementing more and more of iOS in OS X over time.

and like NPD (a third party sales tracking firm) said, the slow uptake of Windows 8 in the US is due to the huge inventory of unsold Windows 7 PCs. once those PCs are gone from the marketplace, Windows 8 will uptick further and match the pace of sales in Europe.

the bulk of Windows sales have always been sales of new PCs. not PC upgrades.


Windows 8 Off to a Weaker Start Than Windows 7 - John Paczkowski - News - AllThingsD

Today, AllThingsD offered confirmation of sorts to Thurrott's source. According to market research firm NPD, the US market does have a problem with stale Windows 7 inventory. Windows 8 is growing each week as these old machines are flushed from the channel. But Windows 7, in contrast, had no comparable problem with Windows Vista inventory. The result? Windows 7 had a "stronger launch," but Windows 8 has a "faster ramp."

“I would say that Win 8 has had a faster ramp than Win 7 since launch, but Win 7 had a much stronger launch,” Baker told AllThingsD. “When Win 7 was released the retail channel was fairly clean with few Vista systems remaining. This year, there was a lot of older inventory that needed to sell through before Win 8 product could really start to sell. That is slowly fixing itself as Win 8 keeps growing each week. But it started off with a much weaker share of volume than Win 7 did.”

 

[area 66]

I have been trying many Linux distros for a few years now and it never gets better.

In fact yesterday I was trying the last Ubuntu and I was shocked to see that it gets worse and worse and worse. Not just for the totally horrible Unity or Gnome 3 but because many things have been removed (how about being impossible to change the font or the size for example?) or simply just don't work, even those that worked in this same computer in previous versions. The other main distros I regularly try, the same disaster. Stuck in the 90's.

Horrible thing. Needed a tranquillizer after testing for one hour.

Same feeling here, Linux is on a tread mill, it walk but stay at the same place. Mint make a nice effort, but they will need money and support from hardware vendors to pay a development team to make it a real everyone OS

 

[Philgates]

Big mistake by Microsoft bolting this mobile crap onto their flagship desktop OS, did Apple see the need to bolt on IOS 6 to Apple Mac/OSX desktop machines? No because they developed a great Mobile and Tablet OS separately,

then you don't know what's happening in the Mac OS side of things. they're implementing more and more of iOS in OS X over time.

It's amazing how some people clutch at straws to defend this piece of junk, that MS have rolled out as Win 8! Deluded isn't the word!...........:thumb:

Same feeling here, Linux is on a tread mill, it walk but stay at the same place. Mint make a nice effort, but they will need money and support from hardware vendors to pay a development team to make it a real everyone OS - area 66

Agree to some extent, though try and think back to before there was Android! Then all you had was IOS and Winmo 6.1, now see how the landscape is with Linux Android, Linux is now giving IOS a run for their money, Windows mobile is pretty much dead in the water, how long do you think that it will be before companies like say Google , will develop a Desktop to blow Microsoft out of the water! Unthinkable it might be, but given the current reality, I think not.

 

[Little Darwin]

Linux seems to be doing OK in the server market, and bumping Solaris out in some organizations... I don't think it will ever succeed in dominating the desktop market unless one of the user interfaces emerges as dominant over the others... and I don't see that happening as long as techies value flexibility over conformity in that space.

It's not like the Windows world where we have two choices. Either like it, or deal with it.

I was reluctant to move to Windows 8, but when I noticed that the main complaints were the interface, and not stability, I made the move since it was so cheap. I'm glad I did, since the interface works well for me, and I actually removed the old Windows 7 files pretty quickly since I have no plans to go back.

Touch screen on my desktop... that's just not going to happen on my system, but as long as I can use my keyboard and mouse as an alternative, I'll be fine.

 

[area 66]

Windows 8 is stable that's a fact. They just to admit their mistake and fix the interface. They can even do it in a way it will look like an improvement

"Microsoft have listen you, we add new features to our amazing new Os, Users can now re-size the Start Page and we also include new functions that make the desktop even a greater experience. "


something like that ( i'm not that good in English to make it look good ) . of course some will say that Windows 8 is perfect and don't need improvement. I question their reason seriously

Microsoft as to keep the start page and forget the start menu, they just have to add feature to the start page and place a dam icon in the bottom left corner to link to it ...and Please make us a charm desktop version

I'm not a hater, I'm someone with idea ....

 

[lehnerus2000]

Try Linux Mint (MATE) or CentOS 6

I have been trying many Linux distros for a few years now and it never gets better.

In fact yesterday I was trying the last Ubuntu and I was shocked to see that it gets worse and worse and worse. Not just for the totally horrible Unity or Gnome 3 but because many things have been removed (how about being impossible to change the font or the size for example?) or simply just don't work, even those that worked in this same computer in previous versions. The other main distros I regularly try, the same disaster. Stuck in the 90's.

Horrible thing. Needed a tranquillizer after testing for one hour.

The new Ubuntus (11.04 onward) are awful.

Try Linux Mint (MATE) or CentOS 6.

 

[mctonale]

The last time I tried Mint it was still an Ubuntu clone with a custom gnome GUI (any change?).. Last time I tried Ubuntu it's GUI was a shameless rip-off (no approximation) of mac os lol. I have a vm of OSX and it is about as good as Linux can get although you would have to spend double the money for the restricted hardware to run it. Android works fine for my phone and whatever version it is works fine in my NAS.

If Linux was a realistic alternative for a desktop environment then a lot more people would be using it but they are not because.. who wants to learn a completely different way of doing the exact same thing, badly, that requires an in depth understanding of a very different CLI which basically feels like you have to hack your way around just to do the simplest thing... like installing non generic sound drivers... I even had trouble with Nvidia and ATI graphics.

reactOS looked interesting but Last I checked it was still an xp clone and still an alpha build, was it abandoned? I think I'll stick with the market leader as there are very few compatibility issues and the rest of the public will have come round to the new (hardly that much different) way it works by the time windows 9 comes out.

I think for most part the problems with the sales figures for windows 8 are due to.. Windows 7 was so good (we saw the same thing with xp vs vista), They scared noobs by changing something so visible and.. you have to admit.. even we can't agree if its good, what's a "user" going to think about that?

 

[SIW2]

how long do you think that it will be before companies like say Google , will develop a Desktop to blow Microsoft out of the water! Unthinkable it might be, but given the current reality, I think not.

It is possible.

This is the time there is great opportunity.

That doesn't mean it is going to happen.

Someone will have to get hold of it and make the investment.

You might think there is incentive for the oem's to do so.

We shall see.


It would good for everyone if there was a truly viable alternative.

 

[Mustang]

how long do you think that it will be before companies like say Google , will develop a Desktop to blow Microsoft out of the water! Unthinkable it might be, but given the current reality, I think not.

It is possible.

This is the time there is great opportunity.

That doesn't mean it is going to happen.

Someone will have to get hold of it and make the investment.

You might think there is incentive for the oem's to do so.

We shall see.


It would good for everyone if there was a truly viable alternative.

Competition is the life blood of a market driven economy and makes sure everyone gets more bang for their $$$$.:thumb:

MS have had it their own way far too long, which is what happens with any monopoly. Time for someone to step up to the plate!

And just for the record, I don't want to see M$ go under, because what they do make is quality made. I want to see their attitude change.

For too long they've enjoyed the luxury of an attitude of "our way or the highway" .... to a degree unparallelled by any other manufacturing industry in a modern democratic society. Car manufacturers wouldn't last five seconds if they had that attitude. They pay people to constantly canvass public opinion. Up until now M$ could afford to not listen to their consumers ... but can they continue to do that?

 

[lehnerus2000]

I use Windows 7 for ~95% of my computing these days.

The last time I tried Mint it was still an Ubuntu clone with a custom gnome GUI (any change?)..

Linux Mint 13 (MATE) has a more conventional desktop and GUI than Gnome3 or Unity.
I haven't tried Linux Mint 13 (Cinnamon).

It looks like Linux Mint 14 has just been released.
The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » Linux Mint 14 “Nadia” released!

If Linux was a realistic alternative for a desktop environment then a lot more people would be using it but they are not because.. who wants to learn a completely different way of doing the exact same thing, badly, that requires an in depth understanding of a very different CLI which basically feels like you have to hack your way around just to do the simplest thing... like installing non generic sound drivers... I even had trouble with Nvidia and ATI graphics.

You only need to know the Terminal if you want to be an expert.
I suspect most ordinary Windows users don't even know what the Command Prompt is.

Someone who only surfs the Internet should have no problems with any Linux distro GUI.
If you want to run MS Office or Photoshop, then you have to" jump through hoops".

My friend only buys Nvidia cards for his Linux PC (Arch).
I can't recall hearing him complain about his graphics cards.
My Nvidia card works OK in Ubuntu 10 (I have Mint in a VM).

I think for most part the problems with the sales figures for windows 8 are due to.. Windows 7 was so good (we saw the same thing with xp vs vista), They scared noobs by changing something so visible and.. you have to admit.. even we can't agree if its good, what's a "user" going to think about that?

Scaring the cr** out of your customers isn't a good way to boost sales.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
I'm still using a Windows 2003 server VM for 90% of my daily computing use and don't see myself changing any time soon.

W8 is interesting to test and play with -- but to work with daily performing usual tasks - presentations, Photoshop, word documents, spreadsheets etc -- No thanks. For just surfing / watching movies or behaving like a large size mobile phone - then W8 is OK.

My Linux of choice is OPENSUSE 12.2 which uses KDE by default (far far better than ANY version of GNOME based distibutions) - you can choose GNOME if you are really bonkers enough to want it on OPENSUSE. !!

Newish Linux users coming from Windows would probably find the whole desktop experience with KDE much more to their liking than the GNOME base desktop too.

The worst thing about OPENSUSE is the bit archaic package management system - but since I only use this Linux to run XP and a Windows 2003 server Virtual machines via Vmware workstation (Linux version) I'm not worried about having to install much software.

For running Virtual machines plus file and print servers Linux is still 100% viable .

Windows 2012 server -- expensive - can be Metro based (who needs that JUNK on a server !!) and there is no way to get any video content in the browser even from Virtual machines run from W2012 server.

Windows 2008 server wouldn't support sound in any shape or form - not a good idea when you want to strean audio / video content. !!!

Opensuse works straight "Out of the box". You don't need to be a "Linux" Guru to use it --it can (especially with the KDE desktop) be made to look just like Windows 7 !!! No probs either with sound / video / network connections.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[area 66]

Most easy Linux to use : Pinguy, it's a moded Ubuntu 11.04 it come with all the addon you need ( Java, Docky, Libre Office ) no need to install anything