Microsoft blasts PC makers: It's YOUR fault Windows 8 crash landed

By Crisp
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Grand Master

Crisp

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Posted (edited)

Microsoft blasts PC makers: It's YOUR fault Windows 8 crash landed

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Exclusive Microsoft blames PC makers for underwhelming Windows 8 sales over Christmas, The Register has learned. The software giant accused manufacturers of not building enough attractive Win 8-powered touchscreen tablets.

But the computer makers are fighting back: they claimed that if they?d followed Microsoft?s hardware requirements and ramped up production, they'd have ended up building a lot of high-end expensive slabs that consumers didn?t understand nor want.

The Reg has learned Microsoft provided clear and specific guidance on the hardware it wanted inside any machine running Windows 8 so as to show off and utilise the operating system's new capabilities, such as the touch-driven interface. Microsoft also gave its advice on the mix of high and low-end form-factors manufacturers should build, namely Ultrabooks, hybrids and simple laptops.

The Redmond giant had held a competition between competing computer makers, and the PCs it deemed the best were to be promoted under two labels: Hero PCs and Featured PCs. Microsoft wanted 10 Hero PCs to advertise globally and promised to pay retailers to display and promote 20 PCs on the Featured list.

However, the wheels came off that plan: Gartner said last week that during Q4 2012 Windows 8 didn?t make a ?significant impact? on PC shipments and other analysts said sales of Windows 8 are lagging Windows 7.

Now Microsoft is planning to reboot its launch of Windows 8 next month. On Tuesday the company gave 9 February as the date for the US and Canada unveiling of the Intel-powered Surface Pro tablets. But sources tell us Microsoft is actually preparing for a February ?relaunch? of Windows 8.

The Windows Pro Surface was planned to emerge in January, 90 days after Windows 8 and ARM-powered Windows RT Surface devices went on sale. That has clearly slipped.

Our well-placed source said that bad sales combined with PC makers ?ignoring? Microsoft's advice has left Redmond executives fuming.

?Microsoft is very frustrated with major OEMs who didn't build nearly enough touch systems and are now struggling to find parts and ramp up. Microsoft says they provided very specific guidance on what to build,? our insider said.

Source and more

Edited by Calum
Added a 'rumour' tag to remove the possibility of misguidance and the possibility of false accusations being made. What The Register's article says has not been confirmed at all by anyone.
Grand Master

The Evil Overlord

Posted
Posted

Riiiiight!

And had nothing to do with the fact that not everyone wanted or liked (NOTE: I said not everyone) it?

Or the fact that touch screens (over 22 inch) are still a little on the pricey side?

edit.. I just read my post... Crisp, that was not an attack directed towards you

Grand Master

Glassed Silver

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Haha, wtf...

I'll take what they've had please.

Glassed Silver:ios

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nekkidtruth

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Not taking either side on this one however, it really drives me insane to see the front page of <insert any electronics store here>'s flyer with a ridiculous number of non-touch devices with Windows 8 on them. I don't believe any Windows 8 device should be touchless.

Grand Master

bandit_liberty_rumble

Posted
Posted
I don't believe any Windows 8 device should be touchless.

I'm assuming Microsoft would then have had trouble to sell any Windows 8 devices at all, going by what the article says:

Those who did buy Windows 8 PCs ultimately bought the cheap laptops not high-end Ultrabooks or hybrids.
Grand Master

Nick H. Supervisor

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So wait, Microsoft was expecting that Windows 8 would only be a success if they could get the manufacturers on their side? Ok, that in itself can make sense, but if your whole plan relies on that then why not discuss the hardware guidelines with them so that an agreement can be reached? From the sounds of it such a discussion wasn't had and instead Microsoft thought the manufacturers would just roll with it.

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nekkidtruth

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I'm assuming Microsoft would then have had trouble to sell any Windows 8 devices at all, going by what the article says:

Except that there are plenty of "cheap" devices that have touch. It's not impossible. Besides that, most of the high end devices don't even have touch. The entire thing is a mess as far as I'm concerned.

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dvb2000

Posted
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And the geniuses at Microsoft are jacking up the price in February too.

I wonder when they will kill it and release Windows 9 with start button & desktop and dump the failed metro experiment on desktops/laptops

Grand Master

The Evil Overlord

Posted
Posted

And the geniuses at Microsoft are jacking up the price in February too.

I wonder when they will kill it and release Windows 9 with start button & desktop and dump the failed metro experiment on desktops/laptops

To each, their own bud, I mentioned in another thread that there should have been 2 versions of 8. 1 for touch, 1 for old 'desktop' users

Grand Master

+Anarkii Subscriber²

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And the geniuses at Microsoft are jacking up the price in February too.

I wonder when they will kill it and release Windows 9 with start button & desktop and dump the failed metro experiment on desktops/laptops

I would rather them release Windows 8.5 - which dumps metro and has the desktop and is for desktop machines only.

Any windows device with touch can stick with Windows 8. That would be more... intelligent, something that Microsoft doesn't seem to have much of lately.

Grand Master

theyarecomingforyou

Posted
Posted
I would rather them release Windows 8.5 - which dumps metro and has the desktop and is for desktop machines only.

Any windows device with touch can stick with Windows 8. That would be more... intelligent, something that Microsoft doesn't seem to have much of lately.

I'd rather see them play to the strengths of the desktop form factor by allowing Metro apps to be run in a window and to behave similar to any conventional desktop application. The desktop should be the primary user experience for desktop users, with the Start Screen only appearing when the user launches it (? la Start Menu). The Control Panel and PC Settings interfaces should be merged or duplicated in their entirety, as having to switch between the two is simply bad UX design. The Start Screen should have more customisation options, like the ability to freely scale the size (fully independent of resolution, which is important in the high-DPI era) and more flexibility with tile placement (like allowing columns that are three-small tiles wide).

I'd rather see Windows move forward than for Microsoft to just run back to what worked with Windows 7. Oh, and Microsoft should open up the Metro platform so that it's not a walled-garden, as requiring all Metro apps to go through the Windows Store is overly restrictive - Microsoft seems to be trying to copy iOS, as Android doesn't do that. Most of the negative press from developers stemmed from the Windows Store and it didn't take a genius to see the hostility coming. Windows 8 had some very good ideas but the ham-fisted implementation and greed with the Windows Store significantly soured the experience.

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Grand Master

Dot Matrix

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Posted

I'd rather see them play to the strengths of the desktop form factor by allowing Metro apps to be run in a window and to behave similar to any conventional desktop application. The desktop should be the primary user experience for desktop users, with the Start Screen only appearing when the user launches it (? la Start Menu).

That's highly impractical. The desktop - the entire desktop - would have to be redesigned for use with touch.

Grand Master

The Evil Overlord

Posted
Posted

_Snip_

I'd rather see Windows move forward than for Microsoft to just run back to what worked with Windows 7.

~Snip~

I agree with you, although sometimes in order to move forward, you have to take a step back, (Not saying this is the right course here tho)

Grand Master

bandit_liberty_rumble

Posted
Posted

That's highly impractical. The desktop - the entire desktop - would have to be redesigned for use with touch.

Microsoft could let developers include additional (non-touchable) views in their applications that are hooked up to the existing application model to be utilized when the app is put into windowed mode for use on the Desktop.

Grand Master

theyarecomingforyou

Posted
Posted
That's highly impractical. The desktop - the entire desktop - would have to be redesigned for use with touch.

Either that or you could have two separate interfaces. That's up to Microsoft to decide, but the implementation in Windows 8 is a mess (even though I still prefer it as an operating system to Windows 7).

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