Windows 8 passes 200 million license sales


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Windows 8 passes 200 million license sales

 

Microsoft has been rather quite about its risky Windows 8 bet. The company passed 100 million license sales of Windows 8 after around six months, but a year on the market came and went without any real update on its progress. ?We?ve surpassed 200 million licenses now on Windows 8, which is pretty stunning,? says Microsoft?s Tami Reller, speaking at a Goldman Sachs technology conference today. After a year of Windows 7 sales Microsoft was celebrating more than 240 million license sales, so it?s clear Windows 8 is moving slower than its predecessor.

 

Part of the slowdown is related to the general PC market, but Microsoft?s tablets haven?t caught on as well as Microsoft might have hoped. Tablet- and touch-optimized apps are few and far between, but Reller says it?s one of Microsoft?s top priorities. ?The number one priority of our developer team is to really get those apps populated,? explains Reller. ?We?ve had some good success, but more to do.?

 

Microsoft is also reacting to growing concerns over Windows 8 and its use on traditional desktop PCs. ?We?re being very thoughtful about what?s going well, what?s not going well and how do we change that,? says Reller. Microsoft isn?t ready to talk Windows 8.1 Update 1, but recent leaks have shown that the company is focusing on reducing the operating system?s disk usage, and adjusting its UI for mouse and keyboard users. ?We will make material movement on just the footprint of the OS and what that can mean on how we can run on smaller devices,? says Reller, referring to Microsoft?s future Windows plans. Microsoft is expected to ship its next Windows 8.1 update in April, as it continues to strike a balance for its millions of users.

 

Source: The Verge

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There's a lot Microsoft can do yet, however, they're taking all the wrong moves with Update 1. At least in regards to the taskbar being thrown where it shouldn't. Good to hear that sales are still going. 100 million new licenses sold in less than 10 months is pretty good.

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And before people come in here going "hurr durr OEM sales don't count/are deceiving" here's a little factual reminder:

MS have always used OEM + retail when talking about licenses sold. ALWAYS. If it wasn't deceiving back with Win 7, Vista and XP, then it's not deceiving with Win 8.

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There's a lot Microsoft can do yet, however, they're taking all the wrong moves with Update 1. At least in regards to the taskbar being thrown where it shouldn't. Good to hear that sales are still going. 100 million new licenses sold in less than 10 months is pretty good.

 

I don't understand what the issue is here with the option to pin modern apps to the taskbar. It's much more keyboard and mouse friendly and familiar to desktop users. I've been using the leak that came out last Friday since then and I REALLY like this change when using a mouse.

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It was never intended to.

 

Of course it was! Microsoft thought of it as heralding in the new touch based way of doing things, whether that be on a tablet, laptop or other system. To think they didn`t hope it would help boost sales of pc`s is way of the mark, they wanted to show what can be achieved with a touch screen interface on a larger device which they have achieved but it just needs refining...

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I don't understand what the issue is here with the option to pin modern apps to the taskbar. It's much more keyboard and mouse friendly and familiar to desktop users. I've been using the leak that came out last Friday since then and I REALLY like this change when using a mouse.

It doesn't look right. Metro applications were designed not to be included on the desktop, trying to shoehorn them there now isn't going to work out.

 

Of course it was! Microsoft thought of it as heralding in the new touch based way of doing things, whether that be on a tablet, laptop or other system. To think they didn`t hope it would help boost sales of pc`s is way of the mark, they wanted to show what can be achieved with a touch screen interface on a larger device which they have achieved but it just needs refining...

Windows 7 also didn't spur sales, if that didn't occur, then Windows 8 certainly wasn't going to either. The market is too saturated, and PC are lasting much longer than they previously did. The chances of the PC market reaching back up is slim to none. No OS is going to change that.

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Well the numbers are definitely down versus Win 7, but there are a couple obvious differences:

1. The PC market is in decline due to many external factors such as the growth of tablets and smartphones beyond anything serious issues with Win 8 itself.

2. Win 7 was the 'great' release to come after Vista, so there was a ton of hype around 7 and a quick adoption for those that had skipped Vista due to its poor reception. Win 8 didn't get that boost due to 7's highly positive reception.

So I think the numbers are ok, but MS needs to remain aggressive in addressing issues with 8 going forward. Regardless of what MS does with windows, the pc market will continue to decline until it hits rock bottom, so MS needs to do what it can to improve 8, ride out the decline, and push to improve its tablet and smartphone os experiences in order to see real growth overall.

There is a lot of work to do for MS, so they need to buckle down and focus, getting all the various teams working smoothly in support of each other and not in competition.

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It doesn't look right. Metro applications were designed not to be included on the desktop, trying to shoehorn them there now isn't going to work out.

 

Windows 7 also didn't spur sales, if that didn't occur, then Windows 8 certainly wasn't going to either. The market is too saturated, and PC are lasting much longer than they previously did. The chances of the PC market reaching back up is slim to none. No OS is going to change that.

 

The problem is that Microsoft banked on 'touch functionality' being something that would spur more sales and they would be there to take advantage of the demand for touch devices with a operating system that has touch functionality built in. The problem is that touch screens on laptops and desktops haven't spurred sales because it is a gimmick and few people are going to throw good money out the window for something that cannot be justified on any metric one could imagine. There will eventually be a bottom but one thing Apple has with Microsoft doesn't have is this - Apple is used to having a user base that keeps their computer for a long time so it is a non-issue for them but for Microsoft their survival has always rested on a fast turn which means when people are happy with what they have the bottom falls out of the market with only but a few remaining - those few being vendors who produce quality products that can last the distance (which is something I notice people are preferring - one good computer for 5 years or 3 crappy computers that barely last 18month before things go pear shaped).

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