Windows 8 Uptake Falls Behind Windows Vista Pace

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
Although Windows 8 isn't that great. I think a bigger factor driving slow adoption is that for most people a new computer isn't necessary.

Any computer with Windows XP, Athlon 64 X2 or better and 2GB+ RAM is going to satisfy the computing needs of 90-95% of people. Those whom game or do professional or hobbyist work requiring something more powerful is a very small percentage of people. It doesn't take a very powerful computer to surf the internet, check e-mail, look at pictures, run MS Office or use Quickbooks.

Heck most people can get by fine with 1GB RAM, a Pentium IV and XP. Besides those that need the latest and greatest, most people are happy to continue running their computer until it no longer performs their basic tasks or has an expensive failure.

$800+ for a new computer is expensive and they would rather spend that money elsewhere. I say $800+ since many people replacing computers are replacing ones so old that they need to buy a printer and will likely get a new monitor. They can't reuse their old software since they probably lost the disks so they will need to repurchase software. Then they will get talked into a warranty and (crappy) Norton Internet Security by the salesperson.

Many of them will also have to pay someone to transfer their files from their old computer. Then they will not only have the headache of learning how to use a new OS. But they'll have to figure out where their files are. Since most techs don't realize that putting everything in a transfer folder on the desktop or C drive is not very helpful. They need to be placed in the My Documents, My Pictures, &c folders and linked to the desktop. As it was when they used XP.
 
[citation][nom]CrArC[/nom]I called it at the very beginning: businesses would run from Windows 8 as the cost of retraining is far, far too high.[/citation] Business wasn't likely to use Windows 8 regardless of the UI. Most of our clients have only just been migrating to Windows 7 slowly over the last year. The few that are still on XP are still there for software compatibility reasons and not because they don't like Metro.[citation]My personal experience of Win 8 so far is that it's quite irritating on a laptop. I'd describe it as a claustrophobic sensation of being strangled or restrained by the new interface and the way it interacts with the traditional desktop environment. It almost feels as if I have to make excessive use of the mousepad as well, which of course isn't brilliant as mousepads are crappy human interface devices.[/citation] That sounds like a personal problem to me. Your ineptness with a interface technology that has been around for more then a decade isn't Microsoft's fault. Also, keyboard shortcuts. One simple one will solve all your "problems". Winkey. [citation]What surprises me most is of how little use the new interface seems to be. It doesn't appear to... well, to 'do' anything. I can't configure my entire system through it (try changing the mouse acceleration/scroll speed via Metro... go on). I can't explore files and folders through it - at least, I've not seen a file browser in there so far. I have to search for things if it isn't clear they are immediately navigable (at least search works well). It seems it's only useful as a pretty window from which to launch the occasional app.Bizarre. It's just really bizarre. At least the novelty is entertaining.[/citation] Try changing the mouse acceleration from the Start menu in Windows 7... Go on. Also, while you're at it, try browsing the file system from the start menu as well, I think you'll have the same problem. So once again we have someone offering a critique of a product they clearly don't understand... Sounds like Tom's Hardware in a nutshell. Metro isn't an OS. Metro is a touch optimized (Touch optimized because that's what people want, in case you haven't noticed what people are buying these days) launcher that works across all platforms and interface methods to give a unified "feel" to all platforms. Of course you can't do all those things from Metro, it's not SUPPOSED to do any of that. You use metro to launch apps, just like the start menu. If you want to get into the guts of your machine, you use Control Panel, just like you did in every single version of Windows ever.
 
[citation][nom]Marco925[/nom]I beg to differ, if you have been under a rock all these years, you would know that yes it is being forced on people through support and application compatibility. You want to run the apps and programs you want, yet through artificial limitations, it is made "Newest OS only" compatible. thus forcing you to choose between not running your app or running the OS you can't stand.[/citation]
With the exception of Metro apps, any software designed for W8 should work on W7 and Vista. The only code that actually checks for OS versions is drivers, and even that can be circumvented. They all run the same kernel (NT6.x).
 
If they just had a Start button and a way to bypass the "Metro" tile screen, on boot, right after install, people would adopt it. As it is right now, people don't want this OS that is more restrictive than past Windows were. What they should have done is give Windows 7 another year on the market and design a Windows 8 that is more 7 like, for people that don't even want to fool with Metro. Oh, and IE 10 sucks.
 
[citation][nom]DjEaZy[/nom]... ok... if you compare it to a car... it haz a powerful and efficient engine mounted in to crap... not a car body on wheels and stuff, no... just crap...[/citation]
think of it more like the internals sports car with the body of... a prious or a pt crusier... both cars many people don't like the look of.

and to get what you really want, you have to buy a different body.

thats what its like.
 
This has less to due with the merits of Windows 8 and more to due with the PC market being cannibalized by the tablet market.

The innovation is being drained out of PC and the rate of change is slowing.

Windows 8 is a sightly improved version of Windows 7......but there is no reason to upgrade because your windows 7 hardware still runs everything and will for some time.

 
I personally replaced my last 3 systems because there was some piece of software I wanted to run. Very few people are going to want to upgrade there machine just for the sake of a new UI.
 
[citation][nom]dalethepcman[/nom]Windows 8 works great, and everyone thinking metro will be going away is wrong. The mouse will become impractical for day to day operations before a touch / motion / voice enabled interface does. Welcome to technology. You can choose to embrace it or stick to using a slide rule, it makes no difference to me.The big fix for metro and windows 8 will not be a service pack. It will be something along the lines of Kinect 2, or using a Leap Motion device along with voice software from Nuance. If you have not yet seen these dots connecting, then maybe the internet really does make people stupid.[/citation]

Dale, you're just wrong on a million levels. How is removing Start and forcing a Metro Tile screen an improvement? Can we at least have an option? This has zero to do with embracing technology, it's about having a choice and not being forced into an OS doing less or being given less, than its predecessor. They can take Kinect and all the motion crap and shove it, because until these things are perfected (and we're a long way from that) it most certainly will NOT be more practical than using a keyboard and mouse.
 
[citation][nom]rolli59[/nom]What did people expect. Totally not comparable, Vista came after a long run of XP, that was getting long on the tooth, and was full of bugs. 8 is coming out after a relatively short run of 7 which has all the Vista bugs out of it and is a good and stable OS.I am currently running machines with XP, 7 64bit and 8 64 bit and all are running fine even 8 has features I like. If people do not like 8 stop moaning, nobody is forcing it on you, just buy 7![/citation]
It's quite sad how majority of the moaners and whiners would be willing to spend 2,5-8 times more (Windows 8 Pro is $40, Windows 7 Home Premium is $100, Windows 7 Ultimate is $320) for quite a few less features at worst or same features at best with the reasoning of not willing to install 3rd party start menu such as Classic Shell which is free, even though the first thing they'll do on the Windows 7 is install a 3rd party browser. Classic Shell also has the options to completely disable all the Windows 8 specific 'corner' functions in desktop mode such as Charms menu and you can set it to boot directly to desktop.
Windows 8 Pro is by far a superior OS when it comes to features than 7HP which most of the people moaning would get instead.
The only real complaint I have on 8 is that GFWL needs to be installed in Windows 7 compatibility mode for games to work because MS hasn't released the Windows 8 version yet.
 
[citation][nom]Soda-88[/nom]It's quite sad how majority of the moaners and whiners would be willing to spend 2,5-8 times more (Windows 8 Pro is $40, Windows 7 Home Premium is $100, Windows 7 Ultimate is $320) for quite a few less features at worst or same features at best with the reasoning of not willing to install 3rd party start menu such as Classic Shell which is free, even though the first thing they'll do on the Windows 7 is install a 3rd party browser. Classic Shell also has the options to completely disable all the Windows 8 specific 'corner' functions in desktop mode such as Charms menu and you can set it to boot directly to desktop.Windows 8 Pro is by far a superior OS when it comes to features than 7HP which most of the people moaning would get instead.The only real complaint I have on 8 is that GFWL needs to be installed in Windows 7 compatibility mode for games to work because MS hasn't released the Windows 8 version yet.[/citation]

Did you ever stop to think that maybe people don't want to have to go through hoops to just get a start button? If you'd get out of attack dog mode, and read what people are saying in here, you'd see that people are mainly upset that we don't have a CHOICE in Windows 8, that it forces us to do much stuff to undo the things that really shouldn't be on your typical desktop PC to begin with. If we have issues with that, what do you think about Joe Consumer out there? Is it any wonder Windows 8 is failing? I mean, there literally is no reason to go from 7 to 8, unless you just have to have the "new thing".
 
I see the Metro Interface for about 5 seconds a day. Uninstall the default apps for video picture and sound. Right click over the left top corner charm bar and stop it from coming up and you pretty much end up with a traditional Windows experience. The Metro Interface is really just a souped up Start Menu. Ironically when it comes to finding applications buried in your system the Metro Interface finds and displays them much more effectively than the traditional Start Menu.

I do miss Aero.



 
Windows 8 Pro will fare well in the enterprise world because it is the first Microsoft OS that works snappy on mobile devices. Of course many of the enterprises that just moved from XP to Win7, will not make the effort to spend any $ in Win8 upgrades for their desktops as it requires re-training of the users, testing of applications, and so on...
but the IT professionals amongst us who were forced by some VIP users to order iPads or who choosed iPads to fulfill some business requirements because there was no decent other solution available on the market at that time will now be able to acquire Windows 8 tablets for those needs.
The AD integration, same software and security suites as the workstation, limited user training requirements (you only need to teach them the differences vs their workstation/laptop and their new Win8 device) will weight in the balance. iPads and Android tablets in the enterprise were better than nothing, but not very good in term of manageability it was a pain in the *ss. Win8 will eventually suceed.
 
[citation][nom]otepep[/nom]Windows is great get use using these control and will not have problem. You will even find that windows more intuitive than windows 7.[/citation]
None of those shortcut keys you listed will make Windows 8 stop connecting to Microsoft servers without my explicit permission. None of those shortcut keys you listed will make 32-bit software that stopped working on 64-bit Windows 8 work again.

Actually, the only shortcut key you need to remember for Windows 8 is Winkey + D.
 
[citation][nom]Pherule[/nom]None of those shortcut keys you listed will make Windows 8 stop connecting to Microsoft servers without my explicit permission. None of those shortcut keys you listed will make 32-bit software that stopped working on 64-bit Windows 8 work again.Actually, the only shortcut key you need to remember for Windows 8 is Winkey + D.[/citation]

I think you're going to need to cite where Windows 8 phones home without permission. I have been following the OS since the developer preview and I don't recall ever seeing this complaint before. I also haven't had one single issue with 32-bit software running on the 64-bit version... Are you sure it's not just crap software? I mean, There is nothing different in 32-bit software aside from being limited to smaller memory registers.
 
[citation][nom]jblank[/nom]Did you ever stop to think that maybe people don't want to have to go through hoops to just get a start button? If you'd get out of attack dog mode, and read what people are saying in here, you'd see that people are mainly upset that we don't have a CHOICE in Windows 8, that it forces us to do much stuff to undo the things that really shouldn't be on your typical desktop PC to begin with. If we have issues with that, what do you think about Joe Consumer out there? Is it any wonder Windows 8 is failing? I mean, there literally is no reason to go from 7 to 8, unless you just have to have the "new thing".[/citation]
Please explain to me how is installing 3rd party start menu different from installing 3rd party browser, cause everyone on here are doing it without thinking twice about it. It's stubbornness at it's finest. Here's how mine looks: http://i.imgur.com/traSa.png I spent whole 3 minutes installing it and setting it up if I don't count photoshopping Windows 8 logo to replace the silly YMCA icon that comes with Classic Shell.

And who mentioned about having to upgrade from 7 to 8. I said it's dumb spending 100-320$ on something when you can get that and more for 40$.

Plus, I'm sure a Joe Consumer won't be installing Windows himself, be it 7 or 8.
[citation][nom]Pherule[/nom]None of those shortcut keys you listed will make Windows 8 stop connecting to Microsoft servers without my explicit permission. None of those shortcut keys you listed will make 32-bit software that stopped working on 64-bit Windows 8 work again.Actually, the only shortcut key you need to remember for Windows 8 is Winkey + D.[/citation]
Ever heard of local account?
 
Even cow chips have more redeeming qualities than the windows 8 Metro/Modern UI cum Adware/appstore that M$ has attempted to garde school paste onto The windows 8 OS! Third Party PCs sold by Third Party PC OEMs should not have this obviously monopolistic CrapWare attatched to their OSs! Microsoft should not be able to dictate that any New or used Third Party PC hardware should ever be required to be sold with any M$ OS version, or NOT ever be required to be designed Just for the purpose of only using one companys OS, over any other companys or groups OSs! (Third party OEM PC hardware and the users that buy third party OEM PC hardware are not the property of Microsoft, and should be protected by the Antitrust regulations, that are ment to prevent this sort of obviously monopolistic behavior). IT IS TIME TO BREAK UP MICROSOFT!!!!
 
Not surprised. Modern UI is designed for touchscreen, and there's still so many laptops and desktops with one. Neither people nor companies see the point in upgrading.

Plus in my opinion coming from Aero Glass to the new UI with plain colors and blocky windows seems like a downgrade.
 
[citation][nom]jblank[/nom]Dale, you're just wrong on a million levels. How is removing Start and forcing a Metro Tile screen an improvement? Can we at least have an option? This has zero to do with embracing technology, it's about having a choice and not being forced into an OS doing less or being given less, than its predecessor. They can take Kinect and all the motion crap and shove it, because until these things are perfected (and we're a long way from that) it most certainly will NOT be more practical than using a keyboard and mouse.[/citation]

To be honest, it's Microsoft giving people choice in keeping legacy systems that have made Windows into the bloat that exists today. Touch is the future even if you don't like it. That doesn't mean that the mouse and keyboard are going away, but they ARE becoming less important. So what MS has done is create an interface that will help people make the shift in a relatively painless way (And yes, we know, Metro is the devil, blah, blah, blah. Go back to Windows 3.1, that's the true windows, none of the start menu malarchy! Give me my pure desktop back!). 32/16-bit needs to go. Parallel/serial supports needs to go. Legacy BIOS support needs to go, but it won't because of people like you who refuse to embrace progress.
 
I just upgraded to 8 instead of 7 because of the huge difference in cost. I was reticent to do so because of the complaints I heard on Tom's. They are exaggerated.

Everyone here wants the Start menu back. The Start menu was never good. It took two actions to get to a list of programs. The list was not alphabetized or organized by frequency of use. Subfolders were frequent and created a third list, a very awkward interface.

The mechanics of interaction with the Start menu are horrible. You need to hover, which is the worst GUI interaction ever invented, or navigate a very long list with arrow keys.

The Start Screen in 8 is completely fine. Out of the box, Windows has left off very important tiles such as exploring drives, accessing the control panel, or shutting down. It makes it hard to navigate at first, but you can pin anything you want to the start screen and make beautiful tiles with 3rd party applications. The concept is great, but there are flaws with how it runs out of the box.

More importantly, you can easily bypass the Start screen and just use Win + Q and type to search. You don't need to touch the mouse at all. I find it much easier to access my programs in 8 than XP or Vista.

To those who trust Tom's articles and community to guide you, know that there is a severe bias in these comments against Windows 8. I guess that it is due to the perceived threat of a post-pc era that Windows is enforcing with the Metro UI. My desktop has never been better!
 
:::yawn::: Lets wait until SP1 comes out, maybe then I'll care to hear about Windows 8 again. If Microsoft isn't mentally retarded, they'll bring back the Start Button and enable Boot to Desktop without having to buy something like Start8 to do it.
 
[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]:::yawn::: Lets wait until SP1 comes out, maybe then I'll care to hear about Windows 8 again. If Microsoft isn't mentally retarded, they'll bring back the Start Button and enable Boot to Desktop without having to buy something like Start8 to do it.[/citation]

You mean windows blue. I think the service packs days are over. Microsoft stated that we are going to get a yearly OS upgrades kind of like how apple does it. Windows OSX lol. Long live service packs
 
I said it over and over again on this site Windows 8 will sell less the vista their OS sucks for tablets and its to confusing for the average consumer vs android and IOS. On top of that like most people will say(besides Microsoft fans) windows 8 sucks on desktops and laptops so what is left?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom