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Major UK Retailers Mislabel Windows RT As Windows 8
Barence writes "Major British retailers such as Argos and Tesco are mis-selling Windows RT devices as Windows 8 PCs, PC Pro has discovered. The confusion over Microsoft's ARM-based version of Windows could lead to consumers buying the wrong machines, and the wrong software to go with them. Argos, for example, recommends Norton Mobile Security as an add-on for its mis-labelled Windows 8 machine, despite that product only working on Android and iOS."
They both suck. I loaded Win 8 in a VM yesterday and it is still the nightmare it was during the preview. Soon it will be be one icon that says "Do something (but most likely not what I want)" :)
In an effort to avoid confusion, MS should consider renaming it to "Window RT"
The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
I suspect Norton Mobile Security will not perform any worse on RT or 8 as it does on iOS or Android.
Linux has the same confusion. Ubuntu to Android, all labeled as Linux.
Of course Argos recommend Norton Mobile Security. The box is made of a much tougher card and helps the back of your device's display stay uptight when the hinge starts to fail.
Who didn't see this coming? Hands up, anyone? No?
In the spoon, there is no Soviet Russia!
So big box retailers aren't good places to go for computer advice?
I'd be shocked if I haven't heard so many blatant falsehoods coming out of the mouths of people in these stores -- they're often clueless about the products, and more worried about up-selling you to Monster Cable or something.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
MSFT should have made the OS look different enough that there wouldn't be this confusion on the tablet side and rejection on the desktop side.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
Argos, for example, recommends Norton Mobile Security as an add-on for its mis-labelled Windows 8 machine, despite that product only working on Android and iOS
The mislabeling of the Windows machine has nothing to do with this "example" of how the mislabeling is a problem. If it only runs on Android and iOS, the RT/8 label makes no difference as the software doesn't run on anything that says "Windows" in the name.
I'd love to jump on the bandwagon of merchant-bashing since they don't know an RT from their asshole, but that's a tough sell when the article lambasting them makes examples that don't benefit their case at all, but instead make the argument that whoever wrote this can't grasp the idea of simple examples any more than UK retailers can grasp that RT and 8 are different operating systems/
They want a similar look and feel to get people to start thinking of windows as being the same thing regardless of platform. They desperately want to embrace Apple's app store market, get rid of legacy software and get people to stop thinking of windows as only being for 'computers'.
The means to achieve this end is to make the different versions of windows look and feel the same to the 'average' person on the street - not the tech types. The result is that you have devices that for all intents and purposes look just like actual Windows 8 devices. The net result is that the store, which has average people and not technical people working in it, got confused.
It's a little bit like having two display cases of oranges, both look like oranges, both feel like oranges and both are labeled 'orange'. It's only if you pay careful attention, /and/ know enough to know better that you realize the difference between "Orange 8" and "Orange RT". The lay person doesn't pay that much attention or know enough to know better and Microsoft damn well knows it.
Argos is a general household good retailer, not a tech specialist. They sell just about everything - furniture, toys, kitchenware, appliances.
Personally, I'd want to open the desktop to third party developers and just call it Win8 for ARM, just like what NT for Alpha was called.
So, in other words, you don't like any of the things that make Windows 8 different from Windows 7. And I would agree with that.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
This is news?
The box clearly states what device it is.
The device clearly states what it is.
A consumer that can't/won't read the box probably has no need for a specific model.
All they likely want is web and email and games.
People who know what they want usually read the box at least.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
I like the new task manager. Once you install the free app Classic Shell, Windows 8 becomes an improved Windows 7 rather than a marketing platform for Modern apps.
Yeah, you know, I'm going to have to try that, in order to preserve intellectual honesty. I have a touchscreen laptop running Win8 pro that I'm looking to give away, as Win8 does nothing for me and it's too much trouble to reimage it with Win7. (Besides, the touch screen is pretty much worthless in Win7 anyway.) But before I do that, I need to install Classic Shell and reevaluate, or lose the right to bitch about it.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Newegg labeled their invoices for Win8, windows 8 RT. But according to them the RT was for the "ReTail" version. Created a lot of confusion.
Wuddooeyeno? IITYWYBMAD? Like nuts? eclecticallyincorrect.com
If you can tell me a few of the "extra steps" you're taking in Windows 8, I'll be happy to suggest keyboard or mouse shortcuts that will make you happy.
-David
That's like labling horse meat as hamburger! Oh wait...
It just adds to the confusion, making 8 even more of a disaster than it already was.
So it's a win :)
Sometimes it's better not having signature
Argos, for example, recommends Norton Mobile Security as an add-on for its mis-labelled Windows 8 machine, despite that product only working on Android and iOS
Well, some would say that being unable to install Norton is probably a good thing...
However a quick check (http://us.norton.com/norton-mobile-security) reveals that 'Mobile Security' for 'Android & iOS' rather unsurprisingly does not work on *any* version of Windows. Well, no shit.
Now, one could perhaps forgive the people at Argos making this kind of dumb mistake, but the Slashdot Eds?
Perhaps a car analogy next time, guys...
These tablets are being offered for sale at £549 (US $834.32) and £634 (US $963) respectively. The Kindle Fire HD costs from £159, the Google Nexus 10 costs from £319, while the Apple iPad costs from £399. Even if there were nothing else wrong with Windows RT, trying to sell tablets for between 150% and 350% of the price of the comparable market leaders was never going to work.
As it is, if you actually want a Windows RT tablet for some reason, you've got to know that there's going to be a huge fire-sale of these things, and soon. Why would anyone pay those prices?
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
Win 8 and Win RT both look like the same fisher price toys to me...both clumsy and colourful.
You sit around and wait a few minutes for the goods to be picked out of the small warehouse at the back, and then you leave with your goods. You don't see the box until you've paid for it and left.
Admittedly I've never been to Argos.
So its not mail order, right?
You go there, look at a catalog or screen, then they HAND IT TO YOU, and you leave WITHOUT checking?
Seriously, who does that for something costing this much?
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
And it's not ups, or "my bad" - it's done deliberately, because people avoid Windows RT like a fire. Otherwise they would not simply sell.
user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
but the EU and others will not like the app store lock in and app store censorship
Which would explain why they've slammed Apple (whose tablet marketshare is many times that of MS) for doing just that.
Oh, wait...
No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun