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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."

21 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Whats the difference? by Waveguide04 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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)" :)

    1. Re:Whats the difference? by FunPika · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Windows RT doesn't even have the desktop mode and locks you into a walled garden of Windows Store apps.

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      After years of not using a signature, I am going to make one to say the following: Fuck Beta
    2. Re:Whats the difference? by dc29A · · Score: 3, Informative

      Windows RT doesn't even have the desktop mode and locks you into a walled garden of Windows Store apps.

      It has a desktop mode.

    3. Re:Whats the difference? by dc29A · · Score: 2

      For a few office apps only so no that doesn't count.

      Indeed.

    4. Re:Whats the difference? by s.petry · · Score: 2

      Funny but that list is mostly emulators to connect to other servers so that you may actually be able to work (VNC clients, Putty, X emulation, etc..). A good chunk of those are *Nix utilities emulators like VIM.

      I'm sorry, but in 2013 anyone touting Quake 2 as a port is laughable.

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      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    5. Re:Whats the difference? by Stormthirst · · Score: 2

      This is why I'm not touching Win 8 with a barge pole. The OS should work out of the box without me having to install additional add ons just to get it to behave in a comparatively sane way.

    6. Re:Whats the difference? by DavidD_CA · · Score: 2

      Windows RT indeed has a desktop.

      It has Windows Explorer.

      It has Internet Explorer.

      It has Control Panel.

      It has Microsoft Office 2013.

      And they're all so close to the Windows 8 versions that if I showed them to you, you'd think I was using a Windows 8 (non-RT) device.

      Quit spreading lies.

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      -David
    7. Re:Whats the difference? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      Unless you want crazy 'enterprise' features like "Office Macro support" or "Domain Authentication"....

    8. Re:Whats the difference? by hairyfeet · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Why is he labeled troll? I mean seriously who doesn't know that Windows 8 sucks? Its the first MSFT OS since WinME I won't allow in my shop and I'm making as much wiping it for Win 7 as I did wiping Vista for XP which was quite a lot.

      And please do NOT give us that "Oh its just 7 with a start screen" bullshit because that is what it is, bullshit. I'd love nothing more than to talk to some of the internal devs of Win 8 because i truly believe that "refresh your PC" was NOT put in there to help users but because they knew there was serious flaws they couldn't fix before RTM. I haven't had to reinstall a single Windows 7 system that the user hadn't gotten infected, with Win 8 I've probably made a good $800 in the past couple of months from folks bringing their laptops in for me to do just that with Win 8 as it shits itself a LOT.

      Frankly the confusion over Win 8 VS Win RT is just the stinky tip of a shit iceberg, the whole damned thing is just a mess. Oh and "keyboard commanders" don't bother replying, you are full of crap and here is a study proving it. The simple fact is when you HAVE to be a keyboard commander and memorize a shitload of keyboard commands on an OS that MSFT designed for keyboard-less touch tablets? Something has gone horribly horribly WRONG.

      Lets cut through the bull, Win 8 and WinRT is gonna be on every "worst of" list come Dec and the fact that even the fricking retailers don't know the difference should just show how badly thought out the whole thing was. I only hope that after ballmer shits out "Windows Blue" and the board sees its just as fucking stupid and pointless as Win 8 (you are focusing on touch, when more than 98% of the PCs DO NOT HAVE TOUCH and the OEMs are saying "We can't sell the touchscreens as nobody wants 'em" and you don't see that as a problem? Really?) they will punt kick his fat sweaty ass like a 40 yard field return and bring somebody in there with a functioning brain...fuck put ME in charge and I'll double the numbers in 2 years or you won't owe me a dime!

      Spin off mobile, make Metro OPTIONAL on systems that aren't ARM and focus on a "it must be simple and work no matter what" mantra, oh and toss the mess that is Win 8, build the optional metro on the much more solid Win 7, and add services that will allow you to monetize those that stick with previous builds. hell I can think of two just off the top of my head, make deals with the media companies to make any laptop with an HDMI out and Windows Media Center into a media powerhouse and use the MSFT servers to allow home users and SMBs with a thumbstick remotely access their PCs from anywhere.

      But any other corp would look at the facts, Win 8 bombed, WinRT bombed, numbers falling, users not even able to shut the damned thing down without knowing shit they have no reason to know, and see the whole direction is a failure. Instead we get what we see in TFA, where even the retailers don't know WTF you are selling or the differences between the models. What a fucking mess.

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      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  2. Window RT by Andrio · · Score: 5, Funny

    In an effort to avoid confusion, MS should consider renaming it to "Window RT"

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    The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
  3. No problems with Norton Mobile Security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I suspect Norton Mobile Security will not perform any worse on RT or 8 as it does on iOS or Android.

  4. Seriously... by doob · · Score: 2

    Who didn't see this coming? Hands up, anyone? No?

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    In the spoon, there is no Soviet Russia!
  5. For Example... by denmarkw00t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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/

    1. Re:For Example... by jonbryce · · Score: 2

      The point is that there are two problems with Argos's listing for that Samsung slab.

      1. The describe it as running Windows 8, when it runs Windows RT. People will buy it expecting to be able to run normal Windows software on it, and will be disappointed.
      2. They encourage people to buy Norton Mobile Security with it. That program won't install on either Windows RT or Windows 8. They claim it will work on Android and iOS. I struggle to understand how it will install on a non-jailbroken iDevice, or how it can be anything more than a placebo with side-effects on either platform.

    2. Re:For Example... by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Maybe Microsoft shouldn't have called it 'Windows', then people wouldn't have expected it to run Windows software.

      Do you really think they wouldn't have the same problem if it said 'Windows RT' instead of 'Windows 8'? How many non-tech users do you know who have any idea that a computer running 'Windows' might not run Windows programs?

    3. Re:For Example... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

      There wasn't significant confusion between the Windows CE and 95/98 or Windows Mobile and XP/7.

      Well, that was primarily because nobody *used* Windows CE or Windows Mobile.

  6. Blame Microsoft by onyxruby · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:Blame Microsoft by onyxruby · · Score: 4, Informative

      Here is a side by side of the two versions of the Surface I found with a quick Google search. Without reading the descriptions can you tell which one is which simply by looking at them? There are differences, and if you know what to look for you can tell them apart. However for the lay person who plays with one they simply aren't going to do so.

  7. Re:UK retailer retarded, film at 11. by icebike · · Score: 2

    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.

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    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  8. Come on, Tesco! by TechieRefugee · · Score: 2

    That's like labling horse meat as hamburger! Oh wait...

  9. Re:Really? by nukenerd · · Score: 2

    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

    I don't think you know Argos (in the UK anyway). They cannot be accused of giving advice because basically they do not say anything about what they sell.

    You go in, choose an item from the catalogue at one of the booths, enter its number into a terminal, put in your credit card to pay, then wait 5-10 minutes until your item comes up on a screen as ready for collection. You then go to a counter and someone (this is the only human contact) who knows absolutely nothing about what is in the box, and makes no pretence of doing so, hands it over a bare counter and gets you to sign a receipt. If you were to ask this person a question they would take your item straight back and move to dispensing the next customer's box.