Windows 8 sales dissapointing

[+LogicalApex MVC]

What's wrong with Aero? By this I mean I haven't had any problems with it, nor anyone I know, the only thing I noticed was when I run PSP X, windows will change the theme to basic, but when I close psp it changes the theme back automatically.

Aero was frowned upon in the business community initially due to the perception that it would increase the cost of their hardware either via needing to add a dedicated GPU or refresh older hardware when upgrading to Vista/7.

To be fair, the business community has adapted to Aero not because they were wrong in their initial concerns, but because the market has adjusted to alleviate their initial concerns. For instance, Intel chips now have built in graphics that is more than enough to handle Windows' DWM. So the cost of decent basic graphics power has plummeted.

[Dot Matrix]

What's wrong with Aero? By this I mean I haven't had any problems with it, nor anyone I know, the only thing I noticed was when I run PSP X, windows will change the theme to basic, but when I close psp it changes the theme back automatically.

When Vista was first shown, it was criticized as unneeded eye candy, and many claimed businesses wouldn't ever use it. Same story when Windows 7 was shown off, keeping it default.

[The Evil Overlord]

When Vista was first shown, it was criticized as unneeded eye candy, and many claimed businesses wouldn't ever use it. Same story when Windows 7 was shown off, keeping it default.

Oh I see, hadn't thought of that, this pc is like 8 or 9 years old now, I built it as an XP gaming machine, it's mostly unchanged apart for the graphics cards seeing as my older card struggled when playing wow, so I didn't notice the Aero 'issue' (for lack of a better word)

When Vista was first shown, it was criticized as unneeded eye candy, and many claimed businesses wouldn't ever use it. Same story when Windows 7 was shown off, keeping it default.

Ok, I missed out Vista because it kept 'Searching' for .exe's everytime I tried to open anything (like messengers, for instance) so for that reason I never adopted Vista, I never even considered the whole Aero thing

[trek]

When Vista was first shown, it was criticized as unneeded eye candy, and many claimed businesses wouldn't ever use it. Same story when Windows 7 was shown off, keeping it default.

Users have the option to turn Aero on and off. Users had the option to turn the XP start menu off and revert to the old up until 7. Users have the option to disable metro (o wait...) :rolleyes:

[Dot Matrix]

Users have the option to turn Aero on and off. Users had the option to turn the XP start menu off and revert to the old up until 7. Users have the option to disable metro (o wait...) :rolleyes:

But many opted not to switch it off. The companies I worked for all left it on.

[Growled Member]

I think what he means is when Vista came out Aero was pretty hated, and now Aero is loved.

Pretty much with any new version of Windows, people will always hate parts (if not all) of it and then in a few months / years they'll start calling it the best thing ever. Just like when XP, Vista, and 7 were released people hated it and refused to change and now XP and 7 are like the best versions of Windows ever.

I agree but mainly those parts extended functions and didn't take away from it. It just did things differently and it took people time to evolve to those changes .Many feel Windows 8 takes a step back and takes away functions for the desktop user. Time will tell which side is right.

[trek]

But many opted not to switch it off. The companies I worked for all left it on.

And? My company enforces classic shell with GP. We have that option.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Oh I see, hadn't thought of that, this pc is like 8 or 9 years old now, I built it as an XP gaming machine, it's mostly unchanged apart for the graphics cards seeing as my older card struggled when playing wow, so I didn't notice the Aero 'issue' (for lack of a better word)

Businesses tend to buy only the low end hardware to keep their costs down around the board (both in hardware and electricity).

There was the huge snafu around Vista's launch that MS got sued over where they were certifying Intel's integrated graphics hardware as Vista compatible to handle Aero when it couldn't and they knew this. So you had many businesses being burned in the early days where they purchased Aero certified hardware that was severely under performing.

[Dot Matrix]

And? My company enforces classic shell with GP. We have that option.

Not gonna have that option much longer. The only shell going forward is DWM enabled. Having options is nice, but it keeps around unneeded code. There comes a time where you just need to let go of the baggage, and move forward. Not look back.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Not gonna have that option much longer. The only shell going forward is DWM enabled.

Yes, because the hardware has evolved well enough that the cost to have DWM capable hardware is nil and has been for a few years now. As I said earlier, businesses weren't shunning Aero because of looks, but because the added cost of capable hardware. Intel HD graphics being integrated into their CPUs is more than enough now. This wasn't the case when Vista launched and was just starting around the Windows 7 launch.

[Lord Method Man]

When Vista was first shown, it was criticized as unneeded eye candy, and many claimed businesses wouldn't ever use it. Same story when Windows 7 was shown off, keeping it default.

And what was the thing with Aero if you didn't like it oh that's right you could disable it if you wanted to.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Users have the option to turn Aero on and off. Users had the option to turn the XP start menu off and revert to the old up until 7. Users have the option to disable metro (o wait...) :rolleyes:

It has always been considered a classic hallmark of Microsoft. That the user was given the choice to enable or disable changes like this, at least for a couple of Windows versions. Metro is the first time they have made a change like this without allowing the user to enable or disable any parts of it.

Coincidentally, Metro is also the first new feature MS has added to Windows that has the potential to generate millions for them in additional revenue after the product has shipped; via the Windows Store for Metro apps both in terms of license sales and in app advertising. This has more to do with us losing the customization we expect from Microsoft than anything else. The defaults were set to see if Microsoft can secure this new revenue stream or not. Opting out of Metro opts them out of this additional revenue.

But lets keep reality out of all of this I guess.

[Dot Matrix]

And what was the thing with Aero if you didn't like it oh that's right you could disable it if you wanted to.

You can't disable the Start menu, so why do you want the option to disable the Start Screen?

[Shane Nokes]

:rolleyes:

its not supposed, Windows 8 is crashing and burning as we speak, its a massive failure because MS blindly followed the tablet trend.

Ok show me the stats then that prove your case. I want sales figures. :)

[DConnell Member]

Not everyone was born in this generation dude. You can't expect a 70 year old lady or man to understand something as technologically challenging as Windows 8.

My 76 year old mother is doing just fine with Windows 8. Others might not have as easy a time, but she at least is getting a feel for it.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Ok show me the stats then that prove your case. I want sales figures. :)

Unless Microsoft releases figures on how many users exercise their downgrade rights you can't get any solid data either way. Windows 8 will be a huge sales success since most users get their Windows license with a new computer, but without knowing how many downgraded back to 7 we are only dealing with cloudy estimations in either camp.

[Shane Nokes]

Unless Microsoft releases figures on how many users exercise their downgrade rights you can't get any solid data either way. Windows 8 will be a huge sales success since most users get their Windows license with a new computer, but without knowing how many downgraded back to 7 we are only dealing with cloudy estimations in either camp.

That's exactly my point. Until someone can prove it has failed or succeeded it is all supposition.

Hence 'supposedly' it has failed, based upon what specific people have said.

There is 0 proof, and all early indicators actually show a sales rate faster than Windows 7.

It took Windows 7 almost a year to reach the 10 sales per second mark.

It took Windows 8 about 4 days.

[Boz]

It took Windows 7 almost a year to reach the 10 sales per second mark.

It took Windows 8 about 4 days.

Um, well when you are almost giving away for free, it's natural you will reach a specific number much faster. Whether or not those people who bought still use it, is a whole different story.

Windows 7 was sold at a FULL price.

[Shane Nokes]

Actually Win7 had a ton of low-priced sales and recently-sold PC upgrades for the same price at launch.

[xWhiplash]

Actually Win7 had a ton of low-priced sales and recently-sold PC upgrades for the same price at launch.

I never saw Windows 7 for $40, let alone the people getting Windows 8 for just $15. I do not recall Vista having these prices either.

I only upgraded to 8 because it was $40. If it was more than a game ($70 or higher), I would have skipped it. And I do not think I am the only one that did this. So yes, if Windows 7 was available for the low price of $40 and even $15, I am sure it would have been much better than 8's sales.

[xWhiplash]

Agree, i paid $220 for Windows 7 Ultimate retail (not upgrade), which was a good deal at the time, and i never regretted that.

I kinda regret the $15 i just paid for windows 8. but then again it was only $15, which is like 2 happy meals at mcdonalds.

i couldnt even use windows 8 as windows 7, i was able to disable the start screen and skip directly to the desktop using classicshell, but it seemed sluggish and much slower than windows 7. I told my friend about that and he said the same thing. Was almost like running it in vmware, like a virtuallzation. Not sure if thats true, but i read that the desktop part is an app in windows 8, and not the core, so maybe thats why. not sure.

i just don't like it.

Which is crazy because i was stuck to windows 7 since the beta, ha.

Exactly. And you know what I have noticed? Yes with a SSD, it takes less than 2 seconds to boot. BUT, if I click the desktop tile, it takes an additional 15 seconds to load up. So it is really not that much faster than Windows 7. It is really irritating when I do this, it takes me to a solid screen, so I do not know if it froze, or is working on something...

So this makes it feel like the desktop is just dragging along which is very annoying since I need to use it in order to do my job.

[Joni_78]

Exactly. And you know what I have noticed? Yes with a SSD, it takes less than 2 seconds to boot. BUT, if I click the desktop tile, it takes an additional 15 seconds to load up. So it is really not that much faster than Windows 7. It is really irritating when I do this, it takes me to a solid screen, so I do not know if it froze, or is working on something...

So this makes it feel like the desktop is just dragging along which is very annoying since I need to use it in order to do my job.

It's not even faster at boot. If you compare full boot on Windows 7 & 8 to logon screen, Windows 8 is actually couple of seconds slower (Samsung 830 SSD, clean install, chipset drivers and Windows updates only)

[Dot Matrix]

You can always pin the desktop to the upper left most spot, and upon start, just hit 'Enter'. Takes half a second. ;)

[threetonesun]

Um, well when you are almost giving away for free, it's natural you will reach a specific number much faster. Whether or not those people who bought still use it, is a whole different story.

Windows 7 was sold at a FULL price.

No it wasn't. Hop back in your time machine and you'll find there was a discounted Windows 7 upgrade price after it came out as well.

[spudtrooper]

I went and used one of the TouchSmarts with Windows 8 at Best Buy just to see what it was like with a touch interface (the preferred input method for Windows 8). Because I had been following its development and watched the keynotes, I could navigate it fairly well (though some gestures I thought I had remembered were, oddly, not working). However, my girlfriend couldn't even figure out how to exit the app that was currently open. Without the intro process to tell her how it works, it was completely unusable. I'm sorry, but I don't see how one could consider that anything but a poorly designed user experience.

BTW, Windows 8 was designed so you wouldn't have to manage apps. In the developer preview there wasn't a way to close them outside of task manager. Now you can alt-f4 or you can drag them down. Windows 8 was designed so you don't have to do "chrome management" anymore and tasks would be managed/tombstoned/closed by the system.

Maybe you should have just bothered to learn something before you judge something? The forums/world/interwebs have been abuzz with how to approach windows 8 and the basic gestures/functionality that make it easier to use.