Windows 8 Even Less Popular Than Vista

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Windows 8 Even Less Popular Than Vista

Posted by Unknown on Monday December 31, 2012 @08:02PM from the even-gnome3-is-more-liked dept.

New submitter NettiWelho writes with even more bad news for Microsoft. From the article: "Windows 8 uptake has slipped behind Vista's at the same point after its release. Windows 8 online usage share is around 1.6% of all Windows PCs, which is less than the 2.2% share that Windows Vista commanded at the same two-month mark after release. Net Applications monitors operating system usage by recording OS version for around 40,000 sites it monitors for clients. The slowdown for Windows 8 adoption is a bad sign for Microsoft, who experienced great success with the release of Windows 7. Data was measured up to the 22nd of December, so there is still time by the end of the month for Windows 8 to claim a higher percentage of the user base."

19 of 791 comments (clear)

That's not the HTML you're looking for by Kazymyr · 2012-12-31 20:06 · Score: 5, Funny

Misses a "<"

--
I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet -Stanislaw Lem
It's not dead. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 20:09 · Score: 5, Funny

It's resting.
1. Re:It's not dead. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-12-31 21:36 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I imagine Microsoft may just release a patch that fixes everything into a "classic" view to gain more sales.
  What amazes me is that(at least at time of writing) they don't even offer a group policy setting that lets their whiny corporate customers set all their definitely-not-touchscreen boring typingboxes to go directly to desktop by default.
  It isn't terribly tricky to script an invocation of "explorer.exe shell:::{3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}" on login; but the fact that they don't just offer a GPO setting to switch strongly suggests that somebody at Microsoft is hitting the kool-aide far harder than is advisable.
  I just don't understand it. With Vista, the mystery was how they'd managed to get so little done in 6-odd years of development, the core product just kind of sucked. With Win8, they essentially have the (generally well-liked) base of Win7, with a bunch of modest improvements in various areas, and then Metro. All they'd have to do is make it optional(or get really crazy and have it default on or off depending on whether the device has a touchscreen or not...) and everybody would stop whining more or less immediately. It's just sort of baffling.
2. Re:It's not dead. by whoever57 · 2012-12-31 22:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It isn't terribly tricky to script an invocation of "explorer.exe shell:::{3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}" on login; but the fact that they don't just offer a GPO setting to switch strongly suggests that somebody at Microsoft is hitting the kool-aide far harder than is advisable.
  At they highest levels of Microsoft, they are convinced that providing the same "user experience" to mobile users as desktop users will be Microsoft's salvation. Somehow they think that this will force adoption of mobile devices running Windows (they think that users will demand Microsoft mobile devices because they look the same as PCs). That's why they don't want to allow people to make PCs easy to configure such that they are different to mobile devices.
  
  --
  The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
3. Re:It's not dead. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 23:37 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Correct. The only way they think they can possibly win the smartphone/tablet markets now, is to leverage their Windows PC monopoly. The only way they can do that is to make the Windows PC look like the Windows smartphone/tablet, force people to get used to it, and then hope that will translate to a preference for Windows on the portable devices.
  It's actually not a completely misguided strategy.
  Well, it is misguided in that Microsoft should actually try to win markets by making better products. But they have never been good at that. Their entire success is based on leveraging their Windows PC monopoly, so this strategy is "do what works".
  With any luck, all this will do is start the ball slowly rolling (if it isn't already) on the eventual decline of the PC stranglehold. People have predicted this many times before, but things are a bit different. Smartphones and tablets with iOS and Android are now a huge market and huge user base. OSX on the desktop is actually reaching a noticeable size. And Microsoft is doing their best to alienate ISVs who are increasingly looking to these other platforms (and even Linux-on-PC) to escape.
4. Re:It's not dead. by serviscope_minor · 2012-12-31 23:52 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  It isn't terribly tricky to script an invocation of "explorer.exe shell:::{3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}" on login;
  And this is why Linux will always fail on the desktop. While users have to type shit like that it will never be adopted to the masses and Windows will continue to... oh never mind.
  I have actually now tried Windows 8: after my mother in law's computer broke I helped set up the new one.
  Seemed a bit meh, to be honest. A bit of a random mishmash of two unrelated GUI concepts. Also she decided to remove most of the animated tiles because they're generally pointless (something I happen to agree on). We were both a bit baffled that some of them uninstall cleanly because they're "apps" and some take you to an apparently unrelated place in the new equivalent of add/remove programs because they're "programs" not "apps". It really feels like two operating systems which only barely work together.
  A lot of weird stuff too, like having to find magic corners/edges that do things. It was kind of OK after a lot of random clicking around.
  They also seem to have tried to implement a slightly confusing and rather ruimentary window management scheme of some sort for tiling or virtual desktops or something. It feels very primitive. I think I'll stick to fvwm.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
5. Re:It's not dead. by RDW · 2012-12-31 23:54 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Astonishing isn't it? They've taken an excellent product (by MS standards) and done their best to bury it under a silly hybrid UI setup. Take 10 minutes to install Classic Shell, configure it to boot straight to the desktop (start menu enabled, hot corners disabled), re-register the file types that have been hijacked by Metro apps, and you have arguably the best conventional version of Windows to date - fast booting, integrated antivirus, upgraded task manager, ISO mounting, and a nice clean theme, etc.
  Basically all the bad press could have been avoided if they'd made Metro and the start menu globally optional without third party solutions. IT departments (even if they get past the reviews) will take one look at the default configuration and its unpredictable switches between desktop and Metro, think support calls, and file the whole thing as 'Do Not Want'. That MS are already making noises about Windows Blue for 2013 suggests they've realised there's little chance of widespread corporate adoption for Windows 8.
6. Re:It's not dead. by gbjbaanb · 2013-01-01 00:27 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  it quite probably will, people buy a Windows 8 tablet and then find they cannot run Windows apps on it (as they bought the ARM version, 99% of consumers won't know the difference beyond the price, battery life, and the considerable weight of the Pro version).
  BBC Click did a review of Win8, and you can expect them to be as impartial as you're going to get - certainly compared to the other reviews on sites that also have "sponsored by Microsoft" articles. They weren't too complimentary whilst still being polite (its at the start of the programme, first 7 minutes).
  They also did a review of Surface - they did not like it, basically. (14 minutes in, 4 minutes long, just past the nice bit with the raspberry pi and Mike Powell at 9:30). they really showed how useless the keyboard is too - see 15:20 in for the demo....
7. Re:It's not dead. by MysteriousPreacher · 2013-01-01 02:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Tell them it's a new life coaching/project management/quality methodology designed to align their deliverables with their metric milestones and increase partnership with cloud stakeholders.
  
  --
  -- Using the preview button since 2005
8. Re:It's not dead. by Simulant · 2013-01-01 02:47 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  What you say is true but even when we avoid the annoyances that Metro brings, the improvements in Windows 8 STILL aren't worth the cost and hassle of upgrading. Those of us who care about the truly useful improvements in Windows 8 have had access to free and decent workarounds for years. All-in-all, they are pretty minor improvements. I can find no must-have, killer feature in Windows 8.
  
  Windows 8, minus Metro, would have made a great service pack though.
Incredible by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 20:09 · Score: 5, Interesting

I didn't think it was possible to make something worse than Vista, but Microsoft did it. They really are out of touch with consumers by trying to ram this crappy UI down their throats. Looks like there's a lot of resistance. 2012 wasn't a very good year for Microsoft. 2013 should be even worse.
Maybe because sales of PC have been going down by prasadsurve · 2012-12-31 20:16 · Score: 5, Interesting

Most of the consumers are preferring to buy Tablets over PC so I guess the numbers of new Windows 8 PC are bound to be down as well. The fact that Windows 8 is horrible is probably just icing on the cake.
Re:FIRST!! by Kagetsuki · 2012-12-31 20:33 · Score: 5, Funny

No sticks. With Windows 8 you get a bunch of uncomroftable tiles, but no sticks.
Re:Microsoft - the company with two left feet by Runaway1956 · 2012-12-31 21:37 · Score: 5, Insightful

Define "top rate" please. Somehow, I think you've discounted all those unethical business practices.

--
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Re:I could have had a Windows 8 laptop by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 21:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

I got called in to help my Mother's barely computer-literate friend with her new super-duper Windows 8 laptop.
Good grief. What a nightmare. What normally takes a few minutes with 7 (slap on Firefox and a few other progs. done) took half a day and I even had to do a factory reset when the lappy decided my user account didn't have enough privilege to run UAC ("Please enter your administrator password" - WHERE?!?!?) The funny part was when I got a call a day later telling me the machine didn't work, it was stuck on "Some picture of a skyscraper". Ah, that would be the lock screen. How do we get rid of that? Errr, move the mouse down to the bottom of the display, click and drag the picture up thus revealing the password box underneath. ARE YOU SERIOUS MICROSOFT!?!??! Yeah, I know this makes perfect sense on tablets. She wasn't using a tablet, so WTF?
Based on this one exposure I'm betting millions of average people will currently be tearing their hair out over the Win 8 monstrosity. Telling them they can download hacks & fixes & third-party tools isn't going to help. Telling them to forget half their Win 7 controls and just remember various keyboard shortcuts isn't going to help, either.
As for the Metro GUI. Good grief. I've been overlaying different-sized windows since the days of my Atari ST. Metro seems to be either full-screen, or a kind of triptych tiling system. Not so handy for anyone with a display bigger than nine inches (i.e. 99.9% of Windows users).
Re:A couple things that kept me from upgrading... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-31 22:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

Installing a start button replacement is not the answer. This will only help windows 8 to have more market share. Understand their stated intention is to do away with the desktop and non-metro apps completely. If you are using windows 8, even if you have modified it to be identical to windows 7, it still registers as a sale to them and thus supports there ultimate goal of turning windows into a cobbled cellphone OS on your desktop where you have to sign into an account and download software exclusively from an App store.
Please stop telling people to use these damned tools. Tell them the ultimate answer to the problems with windows 8 is to downgrade.
Do not let them put you in the pot and bring it to a boil slowly.
Re:A couple things that kept me from upgrading... by RDW · 2012-12-31 23:06 · Score: 5, Interesting

Lastly, you dont need the start button if you learn how to use whats there.. Thats like complaining when going from Win 3.1 to 95. They got rid of my Program Manager I wish they gave me a way to turn it back on..
They did, from 95 up until XP SP1 ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/142255 ). Of course back then they actually had people who thought about the impact of new interface design on users:
http://www.sigchi.org/chi96/proceedings/desbrief/Sullivan/kds_txt.htm
At one point in the design of Windows 95 they considered having two separate UIs, the windowed interface we know and a separate, simplified interface they thought might be suitable for beginners, and which seems to have featured a set of tiles that launched the various applications. Although the design "tested well, because it successfully constrained user actions to a very small set", it was abandoned because "If just one function a user needed was not supported in the beginner shell, s/he would have to abandon it (at least temporarily)", learning "would not necessarily transfer well to the standard shell", and "users had to learn two ways of interacting with the computer, which was confusing". I wonder if the Windows 8 design team were aware of this document..?
Re:Microsoft - the company with two left feet by Tough+Love · 2013-01-01 00:50 · Score: 5, Insightful

Microsoft's decline started on Bill Gates' watch. Maybe Ballmer will preside over the "fall" phase. Maybe Ballmer's next trick will be learning to play the fiddle while playing with matches.

--
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Re:It's not dead by RDW · 2013-01-01 04:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

If there had been some EASY and OBVIOUS way to get rid of the METRO interface and go back to a Classic Shell she might have been happy with it, but after an hour of trying to do anything useful she wanted it boxed up and she has already returned it for a refund.
The Classic Shell I use is a third party addon:
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/
It's a useful project that has been adding back features removed by MS from Vista onwards. Their start menu actually pre-dates Win 8 - it's more configurable than the standard Win 7 menu.
Of course, it's crazy that downloading something like this is even necessary!