Windows 8 May Have Longer List of SKUs After All

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A lot of the pro/enterprise editions are more than likely going to go to educational uses. Where i'm going to school, a lot of the pc's are win7 machines, with core i5's with onboard graphics and 2gb ram. Enough to surf the net and use office, and not a whole lot more.

Why make a stripped down version? because not everyone needs the backward compatibility that ultimate/pro provide, not everyone needs EVERYTHING. Especially not your average home user, they don't need virtualization software.

Further, most of the licenses are going to be packaged with prebuilt systems; Dell and HP and other vendors are going to put home basic in anything other than a built-for-gaming pc, and even then a gamer rig is going to get home premium or pro. Only custom boutiques are going to bother with ultimate.
 
I am entirely going to skip this one. There is a reason WP7 has less than 25% market share, and its because Metro is in no way better or more efficient than the existing OS'. If they really wanted to make money, Microsoft needs to revise the way that Graphics Drivers work into a more easily optimized platform, where just because Nvidia can afford to bribe 99% of devs into Nvidia optimization that their inferior GPUs can out-preform the superior ATIs.
 
[citation][nom]drwho1[/nom]"Professional Plus" edition? WTF![/citation]
Maybe some extra wallpapers and screensaver. And it includes Solitare where the Professional doesn't. 😛
 
This kind of behaviour explains why Microsoft had a net profit margin of 33% last year....higher than Google, higher than Apple, higher than Intel...
Every 3rd dollar in revenue is pure profit!

It's a miracle that anti trust agencies around the world aren't giving Microsoft a harder time.
 
I am praying to god there's an edition that looks and works NOTHING like the current Metro UI. I will never use a computer that is so cumbersome and slow to use than what they call Metro.

I couldn't even figure out how to view the list of installed applications quickly in Metro. Every normal task that I need to do on a daily basis took 3x as long to accomplish and was clunky and hard to use with a mouse. MS has seriously lost their mind if they think this Metro UI is going to be anything except a complete failure. If they thought Vista was bad then Metro may end their existance on the desktop. I actually like Vista (after SP2) and have no issues with it, in many ways the UI is better than Win7 (start men for example is better in Vista, more customizable). Win8 I will not touch with a 10' pole.
 
PLEASE DUMP STARTER!!!! PLEASE...

What's wrong with just the normal version, Professional, and I guess Enterprise? Or even just normal and professional? Or just one? (excluding 32-bit, 64-bit, ARM versions that is)
 
[citation][nom]richarduk[/nom]"Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 32 Edition" Sorry, but if you're a professional user then you need to be using the 64bit version. And if you're missing a driver then MS need to pay to get it written even though it is not their hardware, it's why you 'pay' for this OS. I think all 32Bit versions should go, if you're shipping 32bit x86 only hardware then use Win7, the hardware is old stop supporting it then you can concentrate on fixing bugs.[/citation]

"Look, I'm sorry IT folks, but we can't afford several hundred thousand dollars to upgrade our 16-bit applications to 32-bit or 64-bit. And besides, there's no clear performance boost, so why fix something when it's not broken?"

-Your typical management
 
They've just made things a lot worse since they've changed the SKU's to a few to nearly a dozen (32 and 64 bit included) or more. Trying to dissect just friends problems is a PITA from my experience given the differences between Home Basic -> Home Premium -> Professional -> Ultimate. I just don't see the reason for it. The old way was far more efficient. The Starter Edition has been the biggest joke and waste of time ever created. It's meant for Netbooks, but it makes Netbooks almost even more worthless than they are already hardware wise.

The Professional version was always the starting point back in the day and it should be advertised and marketed as such. It's so misleading how they bundle decent PC's with such crap Home Editions. One of the reasons I encourage users to build there own (enjoy the experience) for cheaper and you can use that saved money to get yourself the OS that your PC deserve and not get sucked into this Edition crap.

But I digress. I've long since realized it's pointless to try and get Microsoft to be consistent and accept simplicity. The Metro UI being forced and Start Menu being removed will be the final straw that breaks the consumer confidence when Windows 8 comes out. Mark my words if they force that UI from boot it's going to create a backlash that hasn't been seen since, well, Vista lol
 
I was liking the fewer SKU report. This is yet another nail in W8's coffin. Eventually, Microsoft will run out of nails. Lets hope they don't get another pack before the coffin can't fit anymore. Windows 8 wasn't too bad at first, but it seems that Microsoft makes it a little bit worse every time I see a report on it. Even when there are good reports, there is simply a bad one the next day that tells us that the good report may have been wrong.
 
[citation][nom]A Bad Day[/nom]"Look, I'm sorry IT folks, but we can't afford several hundred thousand dollars to upgrade our 16-bit applications to 32-bit or 64-bit. And besides, there's no clear performance boost, so why fix something when it's not broken?"-Your typical management[/citation]
[citation][nom]richarduk[/nom]"Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 32 Edition" Sorry, but if you're a professional user then you need to be using the 64bit version. And if you're missing a driver then MS need to pay to get it written even though it is not their hardware, it's why you 'pay' for this OS. I think all 32Bit versions should go, if you're shipping 32bit x86 only hardware then use Win7, the hardware is old stop supporting it then you can concentrate on fixing bugs.[/citation]

Windows 7 retail boxes shipped with both 32 and 64 bit. I would assume they'll do the same with 8.
 
[citation][nom]cpatel1987[/nom]Windows 7 retail boxes shipped with both 32 and 64 bit. I would assume they'll do the same with 8.[/citation]

With good reason.

@richarduk

We keep 32 bit versions for software compatibility (some 32/16 bit software that is too expensive to replace doesn't run on a 64 bit Windows OS) than for hardware compatibility. Most groups are running old applications on new hardware and OSs, not new OSs and/or software on older hardware.
 
I'm worried about when PCs start coming with this POS preinstalled. I sure hope they do like Vista, and give you a free "downgrade" to windows 7.

I have used almost every version of windows since 3.1. For me, Windows 7 has been the most complete, bug free version of windows I have used. I love it.

I have given both the Dev and Cons. Previews a shot, installed in VMs and straight to Hardware. They both have a lot of really good, well implemented features. I also truely think the Metro UI has a lot of potential, but right now it seems like a poorly implemented afterthought.

Have any of you even tried to use the Metro version of IE? Talk about a headache!

I honestly believe the only way to save themselves from certain failure is to release Windows 8 for tablets only. Then, take all the features, minus the Metro UI and implement them in a Windows 7 upgrade, 7.5 maybe?

Then desktop users can stick with the Windows 7 layout we all now know and love, still use the updated features, (who doesn't love the new file transfer windows?) with out the hassle of Metro.

But hey, what do I know...
 
There just better be a version with no trace of metro what so ever as that is just totally useless for a laptop or desktop. If all version boot straight into metro then windows 7 wont be going anywhere anytime soon.
 
I just gotta say it : Microsoft sucks!

I'm glad I'll be skipping 8 entirely, but I feel sorry for anyone who buys a new computer next year or the year after - they are gonna get so screwed by M$
 
The reason they're getting rid of the old start menu and forcing you to use metro from the start is because you wouldn't use it otherwise. It would be like the Sidebar in windows 7... it was a pathetic attempt to match dashboard for OSX. No gadgets of worth ever came out and nobody used it longer than a week.

Metro would be the same way. If they made it an icon on the taskbar, you'd hardly use it as often. It wouldn't reach the pointlessness of the sidebar, but it'd be a small update. Frankly, I would still consider Win8 with that alone. HOWEVER, since they've oversimplified the interface and overcomplicated nearly EVERY simple action possible, I'm passing. I'm not "charmed" by Windows "Metro"sexual...
 
[citation][nom]mrmike_49[/nom]I just gotta say it : Microsoft sucks!I'm glad I'll be skipping 8 entirely, but I feel sorry for anyone who buys a new computer next year or the year after - they are gonna get so screwed by M$[/citation]
I'm convinced the average user will be pleased by what they'll see. We're all the minority here when we complain about not liking W8. It works and it works great even if it seems kind of a pain in the ass/doesn't look good. + people get used to it
 
[citation][nom]richarduk[/nom]"Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 32 Edition" Sorry, but if you're a professional user then you need to be using the 64bit version. And if you're missing a driver then MS need to pay to get it written even though it is not their hardware, it's why you 'pay' for this OS. I think all 32Bit versions should go, if you're shipping 32bit x86 only hardware then use Win7, the hardware is old stop supporting it then you can concentrate on fixing bugs.[/citation]
You think that just because someone has the professional edition then they must be using to do some serious CPU/GPU demanding job. Do you eve know what the difference is between the home premium edition and the professional edition? The professional edition has the XP mode, windows backup & recovery and the ability to join a domain. The last is the most important and the reason most companies use the professional edition. Many companies still use 16 bits software that can't be run on windows 64 bits, and 32 bits software that is incompatible with windows 64 bits. Also laptops with the Core Duo are 32 bits CPUs yet they're more than capable to run windows 8.

I use a 64bits OS because I need more than 4GB. Even though almost all computers come with 4GB of RAM or more, only a tiny portion will really needs this ammount of memory. For most people 3GB is more than enough, and they will most likely never use more than 2GB.
 
Steve Ballmer doing his impression of Dr. Evil

Windows 8 Professional Edition, $1,000,000.00 dollars

Windows 8 Professional Plus Edition, $1,000,000,000.00 dollars

Muhahahahaha
 
This is how marketing guys work: let's make several versions of windows, each catering to a specific market segment - third world, emerging markets, home users, professionals, businesses. Let's also make windows uniform across all platforms from servers to desktops, laptops, netbooks and smartphones, with a common UI we will call Metro. So Windows 8 is a diversified uniform product. Boy i can't make that more confusing.
 
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