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rfhar
The World Sport, Played In Every Country
Premium Member
join:2001-03-26
Buicktown,Mi

rfhar

Premium Member

Windows 8's usage uptake falls further behind Vista's

»www.computerworld.com/s/ ··· cks=true

no comment...read and decide for yourself.

PeteC2
Got Mouse?
MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

1 recommendation

PeteC2

MVM

Although I do think that Win 8 is somewhat of a "kludge" first effort at attempting to make Windows an "all-device" OS, an equal contributing factor is that the pace of hardware development and CPU changes have slowed noticeably in recent years.

Many Vista-equipped desktops and laptops are still relevant machines in terms of horse-power, storage space, etc., so that even though Vista was a bomb for MS, as long as it works, many folks with Vista machines are not just running out and getting new computers.
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

1 recommendation

BlitzenZeus to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
Who didn't see this coming? It's been outright shunned, and Microsoft should have known better.
BlitzenZeus

2 recommendations

BlitzenZeus to PeteC2

Premium Member

to PeteC2
Vista wasn't a bad os, and uac was a good idea for the average user who wasn't a complete moron, however most 3rd party software wasn't correctly written to use user account when unnecessarily needing admin privileges for bullcrap reasons when Vista was released. Even to this day some software is still poorly written, and while it's not a system utility, otherwise installer wants admin privileges for everyday use due to piss poor programming. Vista also wasn't accepting of antique computers either due mostly lack of driver support from 3rd parties which Microsoft had no control of, but could have delayed the release of the os to reduce this problem.

I wouldn't replace Vista with Win 8 either.

HolmanGT
HolmanGT
Premium Member
join:2001-11-20
Washington, UT

HolmanGT to BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

to BlitzenZeus
Amen brother BlitzenZeus.

Personally I feel like I have two different OSes On my laptop. One that seems functional and stable "DeskTop" and then the "Star Menu"... of which I won't go into my usual RANT about save to say it must have been designed by someone that is no longer employed by M$ (at least I hope so).

Maven
Premium Member
join:2002-03-12
Canada

Maven to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
Does that necessarily reflect poorly on Win8? Maybe computer sales are down. Few people will actually upgrade the OS on their existing systems.

I consider Win8 a minor upgrade over Win7. I certainly don't think the OS is bad simply because the start menu happens to be full screen.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

1 recommendation

Alcohol

Premium Member

People are overreacting because it's different. It happens everywhere. Even on this forum when Justin used to make changes people would freak out.

Everyones that complaining about windows 8 has only seen it and not used it.

I'll admit i didn't like win8 at first but it's very adaptable. I just never go into metro after initial boot.

digitalfutur
Sees More Than Shown
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
GTA

2 recommendations

digitalfutur to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
80% of OS sales are OEM, so with the fragmentation of the OS market in 2012 (tablet and smartphone web browsing were not present when Vista was launched), it' not really a surprise that Windows 8 uptake is slower than Vista. Even Apple desktop sales are declining, as are Windows deskstop sales.

Mobile devices now account for 12% of internet browsing, a trend, not a blip. That's the future, and where MS is with Windows 8. The real failure is a software company not having any presence in the mobile space, which is where MS was with Windows 7.

»netmarketshare.com/repor ··· qprid=61
Kerodo
join:2004-05-08

Kerodo to BlitzenZeus

Member

to BlitzenZeus
said by BlitzenZeus:

Who didn't see this coming? It's been outright shunned, and Microsoft should have known better.

Agreed 100%. It's a total disaster still unfolding. The more time goes by, the more apparent and obvious this will be.. even to those that keep desperately and blindly trying to defend it...

jaa
Premium Member
join:2000-06-13

jaa to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
I don't understand why they won't just "fix" it. I think 99% of the complaints would go away if:

1. They put the start button back on the desktop view
2. They gave you the option of starting in desktop or metro mode
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO

Premium Member

Perhaps they think that they have to move users into different (phone-based) environment. IMHO, it's wrong and a big mistake on their part. But anyway, it's definitely a push, not a honest mistake...

jaa
Premium Member
join:2000-06-13

jaa

Premium Member

If that is their strategy - force this on the desktop environment so we will buy their phone because it looks the same - they are mistaken.
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

BlitzenZeus to Alcohol

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to Alcohol
Everyone huh? I used it for over a week multiple times during beta, and it didn't get any better. Even setup a brand new Win 8 machine. It was a bad idea to force it on home pc users, and even those with touchscreens it was a bad idea to make all of the metro apps fullscreen on top of other issues.

If computer sales were so down why did Win 7 do so well also? It was clear businesses, and consumers avoided Vista for one reason or another. They extended xp for business customers, which many then jumped to Win 7, and pro even had a xp virtual machine for those who had to run legacy software. Metro is just another annoyance to IT admins, and home users. It's two gui with two separate rules which just isn't logically done.

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian

Premium Member

said by BlitzenZeus:

It's two gui with two separate rules which just isn't logically done.

I have to smile there. Bloated GUI was mentioned long before now for previous flavors of the O/S, I've just realised we need to redefine it.

On a side note did they ever fix the Aero security issue? We now have twice as much GUI to exploit?
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

Aero was disabled in rtm.

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian to BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

to BlitzenZeus
said by BlitzenZeus:

Vista wasn't a bad os, and uac was a good idea for the average user who wasn't a complete moron, however most 3rd party software wasn't correctly written to use user account when unnecessarily needing admin privileges for bullcrap reasons when Vista was released.

If they keep changing the O/S, then 3rd party vendors are going to fall behind even more. Add money market issues and low finances I can imagine it will not get better. By the time 3rd party vendors get chance to keep up, the page will have changed again.

We end up with an O/S and it's toys designed internally due to outside companies dropping off more than they open. More cash flow for the O/S vendor, less cash flow for 3rd party vendors?

/theory
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

Xp has user accounts, these same companies were ignorantaly, and deliberately designing software that didn't work on user account in xp also. No excuse.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol to BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

to BlitzenZeus
said by BlitzenZeus:

Everyone huh? I used it for over a week multiple times during beta, and it didn't get any better.

What didn't get better?
Gem
Premium Member
join:2005-09-10

Gem to jaa

Premium Member

to jaa
said by jaa:

I don't understand why they won't just "fix" it. I think 99% of the complaints would go away if:

1. They put the start button back on the desktop view
2. They gave you the option of starting in desktop or metro mode

You can do both of those things fairly easily with Classic Systems' "Classic Startup" utility.

I'm more concerned with other potential problems in the OS that some people have mentioned, but have not yet been encountered here.

For example, is there a problem with the ntfs file formats that W8 uses?

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian to BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

to BlitzenZeus
said by BlitzenZeus:

Xp has user accounts, these same companies were ignorantaly, and deliberately designing software that didn't work on user account in xp also. No excuse.

If that is the case and it is still the same companies and not different ones, I can't argue that point.

It certainly didn't help end-users and their security needing admin just to do play with the favorite software. I'm getting off topic though.

urbanriot
Premium Member
join:2004-10-18
Canada

urbanriot to jaa

Premium Member

to jaa
said by jaa:

I don't understand why they won't just "fix" it. I think 99% of the complaints would go away if:

1. They put the start button back on the desktop view
2. They gave you the option of starting in desktop or metro mode

3. Unified the metro experience so that all metro apps behaved the same... and had print! It's silly that you can't print from the metro mail app.

digitalfutur
Sees More Than Shown
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
GTA

digitalfutur to jaa

Premium Member

to jaa
They won't "fix" it because the desktop as it is today is eventually going to disappear. The vast majority of PC users don't use the Start Menu, they use desktop icons or favorites in the browser.

So when the desktop disappears, apps will be started from a launcher or using icons. All the functionality of the Start Menu can built into those replacements.

The reason for all of this is that market share and margins on desktops are declining in favor of mobile devices, including desktop replacements like the Windows Surface Pro.

HolmanGT
HolmanGT
Premium Member
join:2001-11-20
Washington, UT

HolmanGT to urbanriot

Premium Member

to urbanriot
Boy - urbanriot...

You just about sent me over the edge with the "can't print" in the Metro Mail.

It took me a little to find it but if you call up the "Jewels" (whatever) and click on "Devices" it list the printers. Select the printer and then it gives you a page with all the normal print options.

RX300
join:2004-02-23
Bluff Dale, TX

RX300 to rfhar

Member

to rfhar
A mouse and keyboard is what most PC users have used from the start and can't accept a change to anything different.
I started out with a teletype and punch tape and see the need for changes in user input.
In 5 years what will be the norm? In 10 years?
TH47
join:2005-10-29

TH47

Member

MS is learning that we care more about user friendliness than about new bells and whistles.
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

BlitzenZeus to RX300

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to RX300
I've used touchscreen devices, but my home computer has multiple large monitors. Due to their distance for optimal viewing, and their size, combine the crappy fullscreen only apps it's just a bad combination. Metro isn't friendly to multiple monitors either.

The interface was not refined enough to be released, but at least they did change it in beta that you can call up the metro start menu from any monitor, however they still don't like to have more than one metro app at the front at a time even if you have multiple monitors. Simply it's just poorly designed for the home computer, and based off the limitations of a device which usually has a single small screen.

It's called Windows, not Window. Running one program at a time is not multitasking.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

Well the Windows 8 user experience on multiple screens can be different depending on how the system is setup.

With a triple monitor setup using a GTX 670 and nVidia Surround the Start screen and New UI takes up all three screens, not just one. If you don't group the screens in Surround then that doesn't happen. I'm guessing the same is true of AMD Eyefinity,...
BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium Member
join:2000-01-13

BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

Each monitor is, and should be their own boundary by default. I can run a fullscreen game, or movie on one monitor while having other applications open on another. I also have a nvidia card, and have no wishes to make it one big spanned desktop where one metro app can take up all the monitors, even more of a waste of space.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

By default each monitor seems to be an individual display.

One would have to group them together in order to have a spanned display group. This can be toggled on and off and is at the discretion of the user but it does effect how Windows 8 works on said displays,...

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

aurgathor to rfhar

Member

to rfhar
That shouldn't come as a big surprise. The UI of Win8 on traditional PCs is so different that people have trouble using it, and this is especially true for people who had been using older versions. MS should've known this, but in their infinite wisdom they figured they can force people to learn and use a completely new interface, and that doesn't seem to go very well. They should've provided a several options for UI with one of them being Win 7 compatible.

IMHO, this is a real shame because the underlying OS is actually better than Win7, but that matters very little for people who don't buy it, or get frustrated with it.