Windows 8 adoption rate almost at a standstill, far behind Windows 7

[CentralDogma]

In the month of February, according to Net Applications, Windows 8 gained 0.4% of the desktop market, moving from 2.26 to 2.67%. In comparison, Windows 7 had a market share of over 9% after four months of public availability. A growth rate of 0.4% is absolutely horrendous, and ? if we assume that PCs are replaced every five years ? actually below the natural attrition/replacement rate. If growth of 0.4% wasn?t bad enough, it?s also worth pointing out that it?s down from 0.5% in January ? yes, Windows 8 adoption is slowing down.

...

At this point, it isn?t entirely clear how Microsoft intends to spur the adoption of Windows 8. It?s a bitter pill to swallow, but Windows Vista actually enjoyed faster growth than Windows 8 ? and we know all too well how the Vista story played out. Despite selling Windows 8 at a massively discounted price of $40 for three months (it?s now $200), and sales boosts from Black Friday and Christmas, it?s clear that Windows 8 has failed to take off.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/149762-four-months-in-windows-8-adoption-is-almost-at-a-standstill

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[ViperAFK]

40 dollar deal is the only reason I upgraded, otherwise I would have stayed on win7.

[zhangm Supervisor]

What does the chart look like with the raw numbers instead of percentage of worldwide PCs?

[ctrl_alt_delete]

did extremetech make that chart? I wonder where they got there data from. maybe I didn't read properly I actually just skimmed article. I wonder where they got their data from.

[+Warwagon MVC Popular Post]

discounted price of $40 for three months (it?s now $200)

$200 for Windows 8?

[Mulrian]

Wow I knew it was bad but I didn't think it was this bad. Just makes you realise how good Windows 7 is and how well it did on launch.

[simonlang]

if steve ballmer wasnt such a good friend to gates, his head would have rollen already ...

[f0rk_b0mb]

Microsoft forked themselves with this one. I"m sure Windows 9 will correct a bunch of the issues people are having. *ducks*

[Snake89]

I don't really see people leaving windows 7 until the next advancement in computer hardware itself. Since PC's over the past few years haven't really gotten that much faster when it comes to OEM desktops. So in general the only people who do upgrade are those people who love new tech, An that's only a small percent.

No reason to upgrade when everything on your current system works great.

[Order_66]

But but..... it sold 60 million copies, how can this be true wtf?? /s

[Order_66]

No reason to upgrade when everything on your current system works great.

At the retail level people are avoiding windows 8 machines because of the hostile user interface, 90% of the time that's the first thing they look at when buying a new machine, and is also the main reason why they avoid it altogether and sales of macs have gone up because of this as well.

People always want to upgrade but sadly when it comes to the average consumer there is currently nothing to upgrade to because of windows 8 and its dominance at retail.

[johnporter29]

Windows 8 is so diabolical it should be taken off the shop shelf and removed from every PC/Laptop on on sale today /s

[MorganX]

1) Like the Modern UI or not, Windows 8 is a recommendable upgrade to Windows 7.

2) The main problem is, some of the changes MS made for its own needs to irritate many. The problem is there's not compelling reason to endure that on the desktop if you're happy with Windows 7, and why wouldn't you be, all the games are and are continuing to be written for it and all the meaningful apps are for it, including Office 2013.

3) The Surface RT has failed to win over the "consumer" users, defined as those buying iPads and cheap Androids to play games, email, browse and yes, to Facebook and Twitter.

4) I believe MS missed, is missing the mark because they have incorrectly read the market. The consumer tablet market is not people migrating from PCs. It is people who otherwise would not have a PC of any kind. PC users add-on a tablet. Because MS believed the desktop user was a dying breed (it is quite the opposite) they made decisions that alienated many of them. Which has been in the past, MS reliable bread and butter.

5) The potential of Windows 8 and even the Modern UI is quite exciting, but the problem is the decision makers at Microsoft IMO. If they backtrack a little and give loyal desktop users some of what they want (really what is that anyway, other than the start menu for which there are alternatives. that deserves a thread if we can avoid zealots on both sides tainting it with their stink.) this thing can turn around.

6) MS has overestimated the desire for touch on a desktop PC. It's really non-existent. What's driving it? Microsoft's need to penetrate the tablet and phone market. I believe the hybrid UI can work if they make improvements and provide strong full featured core Modern UI apps.

I'm going to create a topic on what improvements I would like to see. Because I think improving Windows 8 is better than going back to Windows 7. And that includes having to go back to Windows Media Player Classic to sync a Windows Phone 8 with a Windows 8 desktop. Absolutely ludicrous and inexcusable.

Windows 8's number will continue to grow by default, but it may never be "popular" if something doesn't change.

40 dollar deal is the only reason I upgraded, otherwise I would have stayed on win7.

$14.99 x 3 here. 2 new Desktops and a laptop. But I'm glad I did. There's nothing wrong with Windows 7, and plenty of irritation with Windows 8, but I can't go back. The Desktop Environment is too good.

[Order_66]

Microsoft forked themselves with this one. I"m sure Windows 9 will correct a bunch of the issues people are having. *ducks*

If Ballmer is still running the show then I wouldn't bet on windows 9 being any better than 8.

[Snake89]

1) Like the Modern UI or not, Windows 8 is a recommendable upgrade to Windows 7.

Who says it's a recommended upgrade to windows 7? No one did. That's just your own point of view.

[MorganX]

At the retail level people are avoiding windows 8 machines because of the hostile user interface,

Way too harsh. C'mon. When consumers look at it, it's cool and colorful and then, they can't do anything. I mean, do you know how much of a difference it would make if there were an official Facebook app pre-loaded? Dedicated apps are faster to access and perform better, and are just more fun to use than a browser for this sort of thing.

Why didn't Microsoft make sure there was a plethora of games by porting all of their Microsoft Studios XBLA games to Modern UI? On type of app that is always run full screen regardless of the UI, is games.

Microsoft isn't stupid, they know all that's missing or not fully functioning. They're just determined to try to force people to accept what they want to do like it or not, fully functioning or not. You might be able to bully competitors, but you can't bully consumers. Especially in a bad economy. Thank goodness the plumbing for the desktop OS and the Server and Server Apps are AAA+

Now more than ever, consumers who are not pleased need to tell Microsoft what they want/need in Windows 8.

[f0rk_b0mb]

If Ballmer is still running the show then I wouldn't bet on windows 9 being any better than 8.

Yeah lets hope they bring Gates back or get someone with a ****in brain.

[MorganX]

Who says it's a recommended upgrade to windows 7? No one did. That's just your own point of view.

No kidding Sherlock, it's my post. And I said it is recommendable, not that it was recommended. That implies my opinion. In your anti-Windows 8 Zealotry, your forgot to read properly. Some of you guys are as bad as the SuperFan Zealots.

[johnporter29]

Way too harsh. C'mon. When consumers look at it, it's cool and colorful and then, they can't do anything. I mean, do you know how much of a difference it would make if there were an official Facebook app pre-loaded? Dedicated apps are faster to access and perform better, and are just more fun to use than a browser for this sort of thing.

Why didn't Microsoft make sure there was a plethora of games by porting all of their Microsoft Studios XBLA games to Modern UI? On type of app that is always run full screen regardless of the UI, is games.

Microsoft isn't stupid, they know all that's missing or not fully functioning. They're just determined to try to force people to accept what they want to do like it or not, fully functioning or not. You might be able to bully competitors, but you can't bully consumers. Especially in a bad economy. Thank goodness the plumbing for the desktop OS and the Server and Server Apps are AAA+

Now more than ever, consumers who are not pleased need to tell Microsoft what they want/need in Windows 8.

Bring back or give the option to bring back the start menu / button and most of the silly histeria about Windows 8 will go away, but we all know that this will not happen either in the lifespan of Windows 8 or in Windows 9.

[The Evil Overlord]

So which one is it? Is it a success or not?

There are so many threads not only here, but elsewhere about this, I'm not even sure what to believe anymore

[Lastwebpage]

Maybe too many users believe forums, blogs and Websites, today? I can't remember that Vista or Win 7 got this Kind of bad advertisement.

About the price. 40$ + 200$ =240$/2=120$, in my opinion MS would sell more OS for 120$ over the complete sell cycle.

(I upgraded to Win 8, because of a new PC that require a 64 bit OS, my old win 7 was 32bit. I am an "isolated case" ;) )

[Snake89]

No kidding Sherlock, it's my post. And I said it is recommendable, not that it was recommended. That implies my opinion. In your anti-Windows 8 Zealotry, your forgot to read properly. Some of you guys are as bad as the SuperFan Zealots.

I'm not Anti-windows 8 at all. I'll be getting a Surface Pro when it drops down in price. But when it comes to desktop windows 8, yeah it's not really all that cracked up to be, or else people wouldn't be complaining the lack of start menu etc.

[techbeck]

Been using W8 trial on a non touch device for several weeks. Just testing and trying to get used to everything. Didnt care for it then. Then I recently was able to mess around with a Surface Pro for a week and I still dont care for it. Only bought the upgrade since I got the cheap deal.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

So which one is it? Is it a success or not?

There are so many threads not only here, but elsewhere about this, I'm not even sure what to believe anymore

Well, if the adoption rate is correct in the OP...and you consider Vista wasn't very successful (and according to the OP the adoption rate is below Vista)...and you consider that these numbers (if accurate) are when Win8 was selling for a really cheap price....

then I think you can induce that Win8 is a failure. Will be interesting to see the adoption rate over the next few months now that it is full price. Hopefully Microsoft will learn from this mistake and not alienate the desktop users by forcing tablet features in future Windows version.

Though I consider myself pro-Microsoft...I am actually happy to see such a poor adoption of Win8.

[RiverCampher]

MS has recently woken up to the idea of non-corporate software being sold as a 'service' with the 365 live. Instead of going for a 3 year release schedule of operating systems, it should concentrate on one single instance which should be continuously patched up and you pay for 'extra features' based in a subscription model where it's cost is minimal, say $15 per year for the OS, or $50 per year for OS plus office, etc.

Development of the new revisions needs to be far more socially interactive. Developers from other areas, such as gaming are speaking to their customers through kickstarter and facebook. MS needs to speak and respond to complaints, criticism and take in ideas for their direction, rather than be the silent giant.

This is what I want from the next Windows. Probably too much to ask/hope for as they'll just continue in the 'old ways' of single stand-alone releases.