Windows 8's uptake falls behind Vista's pace

Windows 8's uptake falls behind Vista's pace

New OS can't keep up with Vista, Microsoft's 2007 OS flop

By Gregg Keizer
December 27, 2012 10:55 AM ET

Computerworld - With just a week left in the month, Windows 8's usage uptake has slipped behind Vista's at the same point in its release, data from a Web measurement company showed.

According to Net Applications, Windows 8's online usage share through Dec. 22 was 1.6% of all Windows PCs, an uptick from 1.2% of November. Windows 8 publicly launched on Oct. 26.

At the same two-month mark in Vista's release timetable, that OS accounted for 2.2% of all Windows systems, double the month prior.

Net Applications measures operating system usage by recording the specific operating system and version used by the machines of visitors to approximately 40,000 sites it monitors for clients.

The slowdown in uptake of Windows 8 and its poor performance compared to Vista is a troubling sign for the new operating system. Vista has been labeled a rare Microsoft failure, in part because it was adopted by far fewer customers than either its predecessor, Windows XP, or its successor, Windows 7.

Vista's online usage share peaked in the fall of 2009 at 20.3% of all Windows systems.

While there are nine days of Windows 8 data for December still to be released by Net Applications -- including Christmas, when a substantial number of Windows 8 PCs may have been given as gifts, and thus not included in the online estimates -- the new OS would have to record an amazing usage jump during December's final week to put it on par with Vista's 2007 pace.

see two page report

 

[Coke Robot]

Then there's, "Why can't a print from my ipad?! Why can't I plug in video camera to my ipad?! Why can't I plug in my iphone into my ipad?!"

Non-technical reasons get technical, REAL fast.

Valid questions. However, it's not a question I have been asked or heard complaints about on Facebook. I cannot print from my smartphone, tablet or Chromebook and that doesn't bother me at all. If I have to print, I can always grab a laptop and do so.

So,, no one, I do mean no one, who sits down with their Android or Ipad next to this and watches it work, isn't going to be awed by what they see? You watch and see, the future of REAL Tablet computing is close. And many are going to be disappointed they wasted their money.

You can argue till you are blue in the face, but you have already stated that YOU are not interested in owning a tablet. Those who are interested and bought an iPad or Android won't be so happy they did.

I actually own a tablet. It's an Asus Transformer that's about 14 months old now. Spent about $375 back in the day on it. It's gotten a fair amount of use, mostly from my kids watching YouTube and Netflix videos. I use it to read my email and to rent Redbox movies. And now it's used as a remote for my new Home Theater receiver. I'm perfectly content with my purchase.

Having a PC to do something simple like printing is the WHOLE point of having a Windows 8 tablet. A tablet based off a smartphone OS is limited to that device's capabilities to keep the apps and UX similar, which makes an artificial notion of an "ecosystem." Things that are simple on a PC become a whole expensive backdoor method, it's also one of Microsoft's belief in keeping two devices: a smartphone (Windows Phone) and a PC (ideally tablet in this scenario). It's REAL pointless to keep two devices around, do a lot of internet browsing and content viewing on the tablet, and do some light work on the PC. It's a separation of what a PC has done before. Before, it was about just Office software, then came the internet and the PC did work and internet. Then comes along gaming, and huge media storage. Essentially, up until the ipad, the PC was doing work, gaming, internet viewing, printing, sending content to other devices, and being a staple in a home theater setup. Basically, it was doing all the above. Then comes the ipad and phablets, everything other than printing and Office software and maybe storing media is what the traditional PC has come to. This is the idea and one of many reasons for Windows 8. It takes the current hardware of laptop PCs (which are hugely in use) and takes the internet browsing and the light gaming of phablets back into the PC but improved. If the PC once did and does everything, why is it that a different device taking away from that and why is it trying to put things that a PC would do into those devices? Too many devices, to do only a few tasks, when a tablet PC with Windows 8 can literally do all the above.

 

[Ray8]

This is a misnomer, People have no clue cause they have not truly been introduced to a Tablet that can do everything their PC's can do and more. Tablets have been out of range of the mainstream due mostly to cost and they have been targeted to the business world, not the consumer. That all is about to change.

I've shown my Windows 8 tablet to a number of my friends, who have Android and Apple tablets, and all but one (who specifically wanted to be able to run Windows programs) have all been completely underwhelmed by the experience. The vast majority of people who use tablets don't want anything more than what current tablets provide.

I bought mine for business use and so that I had full compatibility with all my other Windows devices, the number of people who want that are in the clearly in minority. Oh, and those with the Android tablets have no trouble printing, wirelessly connecting to their Windows PCs etc, they can do everything they want.

 

[Tepid]

well, I think my points all along have been well made when it comes to people who really do want a tablet they can actually use as a laptop/tablet. But again, you are using it as a toy cause you have no need to use it for any kind of productivity.

These then are not for you. But I think you yourself have made that perfectly clear as well. So, there is no point in posting much further on this matter. We have both beaten the horse dead on both sides.

You are pointing out what people have been trending too, I am trying to point out that people have no clue at this time and they will be trending the other way.

And as for the

"No it's all about "convenience" of hand helds!"

I disagree completely. But we are not talking about small handhelds either. we are talking about the Laptop Replacement. These Convertibles will be laptop replacements.

But,,, I repeat myself again.,...

 

[Tepid]

This is a misnomer, People have no clue cause they have not truly been introduced to a Tablet that can do everything their PC's can do and more. Tablets have been out of range of the mainstream due mostly to cost and they have been targeted to the business world, not the consumer. That all is about to change.

I've shown my Windows 8 tablet to a number of my friends, who have Android and Apple tablets, and all but one (who specifically wanted to be able to run Windows programs) have all been completely underwhelmed by the experience. The vast majority of people who use tablets don't want anything more than what current tablets provide.

I bought mine for business use and so that I had full compatibility with all my other Windows devices, the number of people who want that are in the clearly in minority. Oh, and those with the Android tablets have no trouble printing, wirelessly connecting to their Windows PCs etc, they can do everything they want.

I will repeat myself one last time,, and I think my points will be proven correct later this year...
The largest majority of the mainstream consumers have not been properly shown the power of a full Tablet Experience.

 

[pparks1]

Time will tell and will be interesting to see if things take off. I'm obviously very skeptical and I think many are just losing the need fir full blown pc functionality..and I think this is where the toy tablets for nicely. For the price it seems they do what many want and leave some wanting much more.

I'll stop being the dead horse.

 

[R0bR]

What's going to be really funny is when Apple releases an iPad that runs OSX, I can't imagine it will be too far off, and all the media is going be WOW'd by it because it's Apple. With Mountain Lion they've integrated Facebook and Twitter, there's also an App store to access from OSX, wonder where they got all these ideas from.

 

[Ray8]

What's going to be really funny is when Apple releases an iPad that runs OSX, I can't imagine it will be too far off, and all the media is going be WOW'd by it because it's Apple. With Mountain Lion they've integrated Facebook and Twitter, there's also an App store to access from OSX, wonder where they got all these ideas from.

While I don't like Apple one jot and will hopefully never have to own anything Apple, I believe that Apple has been moving towards an integrated OS for some time. It fits in with their 'Walled Garden' ecosystem very well and I guess Microsoft is looking at doing something similar, as it's been very profitable for Apple.

 

[Coke Robot]

By the time apple has integrated mac os and ios to be like Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, it will be next decade... Point being, apple doesn't move fast enough, which could be a good thing, but right now they're being outpaced by Microsoft by a good mile.

 

[Ray8]

By the time apple has integrated mac os and ios to be like Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, it will be next decade... Point being, apple doesn't move fast enough, which could be a good thing, but right now they're being outpaced by Microsoft by a good mile.

A lot of people actually don't care, they seem to be buying Apple stuff by the droves. Android seems to be doing exceptionally well also, led by Samsung who delivered a US$8.3 billion quarterly profit this year. They are not being outpaced by sales, not by a long shot, and that's all that matters.

 

[Coke Robot]

By the time apple has integrated mac os and ios to be like Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, it will be next decade... Point being, apple doesn't move fast enough, which could be a good thing, but right now they're being outpaced by Microsoft by a good mile.

A lot of people actually don't care, they seem to be buying Apple stuff by the droves. Android seems to be doing exceptionally well also, led by Samsung who delivered a US$8.3 billion quarterly profit this year. They are not being outpaced by sales, not by a long shot, and that's all that matters.

Smartphones, not macs.

 

[Ray8]

Smartphones, not macs.

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if it's what they buy, then it's smartphone and tablets. That applies to both Apple and Samsung (and the also rans). Nokia is considering its position and hasn't rules out another OS, as it's not legally tied to Windows Phone. Samsung is also currently looking at Tizen, as another possible OS. And Ubuntu is also showing off a preview of its mobile phone OS (for what its worth).

 

[Coke Robot]

Smartphones, not macs.

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if it's what they buy, then it's smartphone and tablets. That applies to both Apple and Samsung (and the also rans). Nokia is considering its position and hasn't rules out another OS, as it's not legally tied to Windows Phone. Samsung is also currently looking at Tizen, as another possible OS. And Ubuntu is also showing off a preview of its mobile phone OS (for what its worth).

People buy more iphones than they do macs. If apple lost their ios demand, they'd lost literally half their profit stream and user base. Which means by the time mac os integrates a good deal of ios, it would literally be next decade. An ipad doesn't constitute a mac or PC replacement, but for apple, it does mean replacing out the mac as it's not close to being a cash cow.

Nokia has last been heard working on two Windows RT tablets that they might reveal at CES soon or a bit later, HTC as well. It's also been speculated that those two Nokia tablets might have a Windows 8 Pro variant a bit down the road. They're not legally tied to Windows and Windows Phone, but they've put ALL their eggs in the Windows Phone basket. They're dropping Symbian for Windows Phone, and don't have actual plans for android other than probably porting their services like their maps and music apps over to android.

 

[Ray8]

People buy more iphones than they do macs. If apple lost their ios demand, they'd lost literally half their profit stream and user base. Which means by the time mac os integrates a good deal of ios, it would literally be next decade. An ipad doesn't constitute a mac or PC replacement, but for apple, it does mean replacing out the mac as it's not close to being a cash cow.

Nokia has last been heard working on two Windows RT tablets that they might reveal at CES soon or a bit later, HTC as well. It's also been speculated that those two Nokia tablets might have a Windows 8 Pro variant a bit down the road. They're not legally tied to Windows and Windows Phone, but they've put ALL their eggs in the Windows Phone basket. They're dropping Symbian for Windows Phone, and don't have actual plans for android other than probably porting their services like their maps and music apps over to android.

People buy more iPads than they do Macs as well. Apple is in no rush to replace OS X with iOS, but it's what they apparently want to do in the long run. They may well hold back and see what happens with Windows 8, as it may well give them an opportunity to cash in on the desktop. After all, as far as I'm aware, the Mac still integrates reasonably well with iOS devices.

Nokia is still in limbo as far as where they are headed and Windows Phone is their hope, but they have to contend with the new 800lb gorilla that is Samsung, as well as Apple. Where they end up is anyone's guess.

 

[Coke Robot]

People buy more iphones than they do macs. If apple lost their ios demand, they'd lost literally half their profit stream and user base. Which means by the time mac os integrates a good deal of ios, it would literally be next decade. An ipad doesn't constitute a mac or PC replacement, but for apple, it does mean replacing out the mac as it's not close to being a cash cow.

Nokia has last been heard working on two Windows RT tablets that they might reveal at CES soon or a bit later, HTC as well. It's also been speculated that those two Nokia tablets might have a Windows 8 Pro variant a bit down the road. They're not legally tied to Windows and Windows Phone, but they've put ALL their eggs in the Windows Phone basket. They're dropping Symbian for Windows Phone, and don't have actual plans for android other than probably porting their services like their maps and music apps over to android.

People buy more iPads than they do Macs as well. Apple is in no rush to replace OS X with iOS, but it's what they apparently want to do in the long run. They may well hold back and see what happens with Windows 8, as it may well give them an opportunity to cash in on the desktop. After all, as far as I'm aware, the Mac still integrates reasonably well with iOS devices.

Nokia is still in limbo as far as where they are headed and Windows Phone is their hope, but they have to contend with the new 800lb gorilla that is Samsung, as well as Apple. Where they end up is anyone's guess.

People buying macs is still something to see, but seeing as how not many people are buying macs over Windows PCs, there's little reason to integrate ios into mac os.

Now on a Windows 8 PC, with a Windows Phone, and/or an Xbox, those pair all together nicely.

Nokia seems to be in positive territory, as their Lumia 920 is the most sold Windows Phone to date, sold out in mere minutes and hours in China, and is reclaiming market share bits at a time.

 

[Night Hawk]

When mentioning Tablet be sure to note the distinction between Tablet and Tablet PC. They are two different things entirely. The Tablet PC runs like your desktop or laptop as far as being able to install apps while the Tablets, smart phones, and other devices tend to see an embedded OS. Those are not just simply Tablets with external keyboards.

Doing 2013 since you are bringing up what the Fruit company is doing they are considering slashing the prices on the IPhone due to the rising costs on the other KindleFires and smart phones. While everyone else get "pricey" the Fruit company wants to cash in with their product on the discount line. This would also be a move to match the MS lean on the mobile market as well.

 

[BillWindows]

"Nokia is still in limbo as far as where they are headed and Windows Phone is their hope, but they have to contend with the new 800lb gorilla that is Samsung, as well as Apple. Where they end up is anyone's guess."

"Sales of Windows Phone-powered handsets increased by the power five in December 2012, according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer also confirmed large Windows Phone sales November, claiming they were up by four times from the same period in 2011, but neglected to talk exact numbers."

That must hurt the naysayers.

 

[Ray8]

"Nokia is still in limbo as far as where they are headed and Windows Phone is their hope, but they have to contend with the new 800lb gorilla that is Samsung, as well as Apple. Where they end up is anyone's guess."

"Sales of Windows Phone-powered handsets increased by the power five in December 2012, according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer also confirmed large Windows Phone sales November, claiming they were up by four times from the same period in 2011, but neglected to talk exact numbers."

That must hurt the naysayers.

Why is everyone who points out a simple fact about anything Microsoft that you disagree with, a naysayer. Some facts:









And here's something positive, a 140% increase in Windows Phone sales from 2011 to 2012:

http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/screen-shot-2012-11-01-at-8-22-42-pm.png?w=618&h=293

You can have a 1000% increase of nothing and it's still nothing.

 

[BillWindows]

"You can have a 1000% increase of nothing and it's still nothing"

See, you cant help yourself, no matter how much you try to disguise it, you're a naysayer, and you keep bringing up pretty pictures to back you up. It must be like a knife in your stomach every time there is positive news about Windows 8 or WP8.

I'll bet you've got a doll of Steve Ballmer at home.

Oh, and all those dates, before Windows 8 and WP8.

 

[Ray8]

See, you cant help yourself, no matter how much you try to disguise it, you're a naysayer, and you keep bringing up pretty pictures to back you up. It must be like a knife in your stomach every time there is positive news about Windows 8 or WP8.

I'll bet you've got a doll of Steve Ballmer at home.

You are hilarious. Truly! I've only ever heard of such devotion and righteous anger being displayed by Apple fanboys.

 

[Coke Robot]

"You can have a 1000% increase of nothing and it's still nothing"

See, you cant help yourself, no matter how much you try to disguise it, you're a naysayer, and you keep bringing up pretty pictures to back you up. It must be like a knife in your stomach every time there is positive news about Windows 8 or WP8.

I'll bet you've got a doll of Steve Ballmer at home.

Oh, and all those dates, before Windows 8 and WP8.

I found this to be rather comical!