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Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Pass 10% Market Share, Windows XP Falls Below 30%

Posted by samzenpus on from the looking-at-the-numbers dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With the release of Windows 8.1 to the world in October, Microsoft ended 2013 with two full months of availability for its latest operating system version. While Windows 8.1 is certainly growing quickly and eating into Windows 8s share, the duo has only now been able to pass 10 percent market share, while Windows 7 seems to be plowing forward unaffected. The latest market share data from Net Applications shows that Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 made steady progression in December 2013, gaining a combined 1.19 percentage points (from 9.30 percent to 10.49 percent). More specifically, Windows 8 gained 0.23 percentage points (from 6.66 percent to 6.89 percent), while Windows 8.1 jumped 0.96 percentage points (from 2.64 percent to 3.60 percent)."

18 of 470 comments (clear)

  1. It doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Windows 8 is still a piece of shit, and most people got it because their device came preinstalled with it... they didn't choose it.

    1. Re:It doesn't matter by RDW · · Score: 5, Informative

      Classic Shell fixes most of the issues in Windows 8.x. The Windows 8.1 update doesn't really fix anything.

    2. Re:It doesn't matter by Stormwatch · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Did they kill the retarded Start screen yet? No? Then it's not fixed.

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
    3. Re:It doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      See the previous two comments... Microsoft didn't 'fix' anything - Classic Shell fixes it.

      Would you buy a user interface from this man?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAO2wk27Vmk

      "Derp, derp, derp"...

      Would you buy a shirt from this man?

    4. Re:It doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I still see a lack of a proper Start Menu instead of a jarring state change to a completely different UI, invisible and non-discoverable magical mouse movements based on a magical handful of pixels dotted around the screen, horizontal scrolling instead of scalable content or vertical scrolling (you know, that thing every mouse has a wheel for, unlike the other type), three different versions of Internet Explorer, control panels where most of the options have been hidden or completely removed, and a lack of any coherent thought at all ("It's for servers! It's for tablets! It's a desert topping AND a floor wax!").

      Of course the most horrifying part of it is that Microsoft intended Windows 8 & Windows 8.1 to look and act that way.

    5. Re:It doesn't matter by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My mother got a new laptop just before Christmas that came preloaded with Windows 8. Over Christmas, she installed the 8.1 upgrade. The amount of swearing did appear to decrease very slightly, but it still did things like pop up the People app for no obvious reason (e.g. when she was in the middle of filling in a password in a field in a web page) with no obvious way of closing it, or send her to the home screen without making it obvious how she got back to the doing-stuff screen. The only way I found to get from one of the randomly popping up Metro apps back to whatever she was doing was hit alt-F4. Hardly the most discoverable UI I've seen...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    6. Re:It doesn't matter by Cenan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What are those "most of the issues" you speak of?

      Is it the completely, un-mouse friendly interface to reach your settings, or anything at all actually?

      The completely retarded replacement of the start button with a shortcut to the equally retarded start screen?

      The utter lack of feedback from the UI? Is it working now!? maybe I missed the button - the scheduler knows, but why the fuck should it tell me, I'm just the user right?

      Or could it be that you're referring to the fact that I have to run a shell command to setup which programs start with Windows?

      Or that it feels like some smug 20-something year old asshole, fresh out of college, employed the entirety of his book learnedness to shit all over 30 years of UI design practices.

      The Windows 8 UI is entirely un-userfriendly, couple that with the fact that a good portion of the install base came pre installed and therefore without a fucking manual to ease to transition. Have YOU tried this 8.1 piece of shit? Because I have and I am not impressed.

      --
      ... whatever ...
    7. Re:It doesn't matter by MightyYar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree that the Start menu sucked*, but the Start screen sucks even more... you can hardly blame people for not wanting to use something that sucks more. More than just the Start Screen, the whole schizophrenic Metro thing is a PITA. True, you can take steps to actively avoid Metro, but that's another thing that sucks more than Windows 7. Personally, I put up with it for a year until I had a hard drive flake out. At that point, I realized how much less useful Windows 8 Backup was than Windows 7 Backup (no image???), and since I was reinstalling anyway I just loaded 7 on.

      * The Start Menu was a stupid holdover from the Program Manager in Windows 3, which itself sucked. The idea that every installed application needs to be installed again in another place is just plain dumb. IMHO, Macs had a better solution in the early 90s, so it seems odd that they went the way they did. Smart people work at MS, so I assume it had to do with compatibility or performance on the limited machines of the time.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    8. Re:It doesn't matter by rapiddescent · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That's why they fixed most of the issues in Windows 8.1. You should try it.

      Would love to try it, but after Dell updates and Windows Update had a fist fight on the new christmas present laptop for mum-in-law it meant that neither update system could complete all the updates thus leaving the OS in a position that it would not offer 8.1 in the store. Coupled with no obvious way to back out of the problem (no install DVD, and install-creator fucked up 3 times) - I gave up and she got Linux. It's not all Microsoft's fault - Dell's tools simply didn't work, however, there shouldn't be competing methods that you can't obviously switch off for doing things like this.

      The funny thing is she doesn't even know she has Linux. She used to use Thunderbird, Firefox and libreoffice on Windows XP and so it just looks the same for her.

    9. Re:It doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actual fixes are nonexistent.

      Installing Windows 7 (or Linux) is a fix.

    10. Re:It doesn't matter by VortexCortex · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Tried going the W7 route on a few systems. Driver issues suck. No USB or Ethernet or WIFI out of the box after downgrading to W7. Instead of using another machine to get the drivers I just popped in a Debian LiveCD and used Firefox on the WIFI to D/L the W7 drivers into the windows partition. Turns out inept windows developers can't even compile a USB and Ethernet driver properly. It all works fine on Linux out of the box, no special BS to do to get things working, but now I wait for the moronic devs for the windows drivers who didn't test the W7 drivers on their support site to get around to fixing it.

      The thing works in W8. I've made my own drivers for my custom hardware projects. You literally just have to re-compile the damn thing for the right OS. If I had the windows driver source code I could do it myself. The team they outsource to create the Linux drivers was far less retarding than the Windows morons -- which supposedly has a larger market share... Really though? Each MFG has a different windows driver? Why? They all use a common set of chipsets, so one driver meets many separate devices -- typical windows inefficiency. Linux avoids this somewhat since they write drivers for the hardware, not the vendor. So either it's intentional ineptitude to drive W8 adoption, or just bat-shit insanity. I'd say screw dual booting this bastard, and just use Linux, running Windows in a damn VM like I always do (if needed) -- But the machine isn't for me. Had similar problems thrice now on different hardware vendor lines. If I didn't know better I'd think it wasn't a conspiracy.

    11. Re:It doesn't matter by nctritech · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The disabling of the "legacy boot menu" ability by default is ridiculous and makes any serious problems with Windows 8 frustrating to fix, as now we can't tell customers to slap F8 repeatedly, we have to tell them to force the machine off in mid-boot TWICE to get the menu and access safe mode. A number of older software titles don't work properly, especially older games. But you want to know what the absolute biggest problem I ended up having with Win8 was, and why I ultimately threw it out?

      THE FUCKING CHARM BAR.

      I have a laptop with Win8 from the factory and every time I'd slide my finger onto the touchpad from the right edge (a habit I didn't know I had until this) the stupid bar would appear. It happened constantly and infuriated me every time. IT'S NOT A TOUCHSCREEN, IT'S JUST THE DAMNED TOUCHPAD. Who thought this was a good idea?! I have dual monitors set up with the laptop, and the bar would steal focus and I'd have to dick with the pointer to make it go away so I could get back to work!

      Touchscreens on home computers have begun to destroy everything good about them. I still have yet to meet anyone who is willing to sit there with their arm outstretched constantly to do work on a flipping touchscreen. I'm also a "square" monitor throwback: my 1600x1200 monitor is more versatile than a widescreen of the same inch diagonal which tends to come in 1366x768 or 1400x900 resolutions and be very annoying when working with vertical data (spreadsheets, SQL queries, etc.)

    12. Re:It doesn't matter by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Turns out inept windows developers can't even compile a USB and Ethernet driver properly. It all works fine on Linux out of the box, no special BS to do to get things working, but now I wait for the moronic devs for the windows drivers who didn't test the W7 drivers on their support site to get around to fixing it.

      Netgear now hands users off to a spyware third party before they permit driver downloads at all. Never buying another Netgear product. Couldn't download the drivers without enabling all scripts. So I haven't. I think I will buy some more hardware rather than turn on scripts. And I hope Netgear dies of ass cancer in a fire.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:It doesn't matter by seanvaandering · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bought my wife a brand new laptop with Windows 8.0 preinstalled for Christmas. Today I caught her back on my desktop computer when I came home from work...

      "Hey honey - something wrong with your laptop?"

      "No, i'm just sick and tired of it always shutting down (Windows updates to 8.1, etc, been updating every day since she turned it on) and the mouse is too sensitive (shes used to a desktop optical mouse) and I can't find my desktop! (the new interface is confusing)"

      This is supposed to be Microsofts target demographic - and she already hates it, not even a full week after using it.

      I almost couldn't believe that I had to download VLC because Media Player won't play DVD's because Microsoft didn't include the codecs? Why the hell did manufacturers install a DVD payer in the machine.

      This Operating System sucks balls. I for one will never be upgrading my main system - ever.

  2. Re:Windows XP still at 28.98% by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and 10.49% of all PC users are running disastrously new systems.

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  3. Glass have water by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 5, Insightful

    put it another way: WinXP is still roughly three times as popular as Win8, and even Unity is probably more popular than WIn8 but no meaningful is data available.

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  4. Re:Windows XP still at 28.98% by symbolset · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I knew I was going to see this here. Disastrous12 year old software. For the record system builders were stilled allowed to install XP on new netbooks up until October 22, 2010, and new machines were still being cleared from inventory Christmas 2011. So it is still pretty new to a few people. Up until three years ago it was still new software. That is not very old for a desktop installation.

    But that doesn't play into your "not Microsoft's fault stupid people won't update their software every decade" theme you have to have going on here, does it? Now it's a matter of people getting jacked out of what they paid for sooner than a reasonable expectation, on hardware that won't even run the upgrade. Completely screws up your flow. Now it's not their fault. Sorry for ruining your party.

    --
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  5. Just had my first experiences with 8 ... by Ihlosi · · Score: 5, Interesting
    ... over Christmas break. And no, I don't like it. Even after the "upgrade" to 8.1, I don't like it.

    The UI is a mess. It's completely alien to anyone coming from XP/W7, and the features that supposedly make it touchscreen-friendly are completely counter-productive to anyone who doesn't intend to use a touchscreen (for example people with a 27-inch screen that sits two arm-lengths away). Hotspots in particular - just moving the mouse cursor somewhere causing an action is an absolute no-no and very counter-intuitive. How is anyone supposed to know that moving the mouse cursor to the top right corner does something special and right-clicking in the lower-right corner has a completely different meaning than right-clicking anywhere else on the screen? Actions should be initiated by mouse clicks on visible UI elements, not by mouse movements to magic areas on the screen.

    And the app store is a mess. I only knew the app store for Symbian and thought it was a mess since Symbian is officially dead and buried (app store full of nonsense crapware, X varitions of the same app with each author hoping you'll miss the best one and install his instead, etc), but the windows app store suffers from the exact same problems.

    Oh, and it doesn't come with solitaire. And the solitaire from the app store (for which you nee an "MS account") is an overloaded piece of bloatware. Luckily, XP solitaire still runs on W8. This saved the day.