Source: Windows 8 sales 'well below' expectations

[Blacksite]

Windows 8 is off to a slow start. That's according to a "trusted source at Microsoft" who told Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows that sales of the new operating system are "well below Microsoft's internal projections" and have even been spoken of as "disappointing."

This mystery source said Microsoft is placing the blame on PC makers, noting that the shortcomings are due to an "inability to deliver" on their behalf. Microsoft recently began competing with its partners by launching its proprietary Surface tablet line.

Microsoft has officially sold 4 million copies of Windows 8, with Surface sales described as "modest." Last week, longtime Microsoft executive and Windows president Steven Sinofsky left the company after 23 years.

via Gamespot.

I'm not surprised. I've heard nothing but bad things about the new OS.

[Vulgotha]

The biggest problem is how radical of a departure it is from the traditional desktop. IF they had opted to use the new interface as an optional thing, instead of forcing everyone to boot into it, things might be different imo.

Because when you're practically giving away the latest version of Windows and the sales are "disappointing" you're doing something wrong.

I appreciate alot of the changes they made in Win8, especially performance wise. But I don't like the Metro UI being crammed down my throat, and I don't care for the increasingly walled garden approach of Microsoft.

PC should be an open platform.

[Blacksite]

PC should be an open platform.

Pretty much what I was going to say.

I also think the Metro UI looks boring. I can see how user-friendly it would be for tablets and smartphones but it looks out-of-place on PCs.

[F34R]

Yep, I won't even get it for free... so the sales have to follow suit lol.

[Ryunosuke]

I think it was a mistake not to release Surface Pro along side the RT version or at least one with an atom processor. I think he wait is going to turn away a lot of impulse buyers that would have bought the Surface Pro(even at a high price).

I was going to buy one myself but ended up talking myself out of it. I decided on a Nexus 7 and a Wii U. I figured between these I will get a lot more out of my money (even saving some) and that the Nexus 7 would fill most of my needs for a tablet(or at least what I was wanting one for).

Edit: Don't know why I was thinking it said Surface(guess due to looking into tablets so much this past few days).

[Fijiandoce]

i don't like it, my parents can't even use it. no one i know appreciates it over 7... what kind of market research did they do?

i know my small sample size doesn't mean much, but next to never do we have such similar dislikes.

as a tablet operating system; yes, i like it. but for a desktop computer...

I appreciate alot of the changes they made in Win8, especially performance wise. But I don't like the Metro UI being crammed down my throat, and I don't care for the increasingly walled garden approach of Microsoft.

PC should be an open platform.

^This pretty much.

i only know one person who has win8, and it came pre installed on a new PC. you'd never guess what the first conversation we had was....

i shit you not when i quote this:
"where is windows"

[F34R]

My little sister, 11 yrs old, got a new laptop for xmas from her grandparents (maternal)... it was loaded with Win8. It was abysmal to see how much she had to learn to use it for pure basics.

[brebaz]

The biggest problem is how radical of a departure it is from the traditional desktop. IF they had opted to use the new interface as an optional thing, instead of forcing everyone to boot into it, things might be different imo.

Because when you're practically giving away the latest version of Windows and the sales are "disappointing" you're doing something wrong.

I appreciate alot of the changes they made in Win8, especially performance wise. But I don't like the Metro UI being crammed down my throat, and I don't care for the increasingly walled garden approach of Microsoft.

PC should be an open platform.

Pretty much this. Well said.

[MATRIX 2]

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/27/3...llion-licences

[F34R]

Meh, that just means that businesses that are selling those computers have "purchased" those licenses. 40 million people haven't bought a license. Sorry.

[MjW]

Personally I won't even bother with win8. I'll probably have to deal with it at work anyway, that's enough. Next month I move to an iMac.


TA-pa-TA-pa-taPAtalk

[F34R]

I decided NO for the iMac based on the enormous prices for the ram upgrades...lets go to the apple thread and i can hammer apple.. ....anyways. On to trashing more of Win 8 .

[MATRIX 2]

Meh, that just means that businesses that are selling those computers have "purchased" those licenses. 40 million people haven't bought a license. Sorry.

#1 This is how MS has always reported numbers, funny how people didn't have a problem when they released Windows 7 numbers this way.

But when 8 is on track to displace 7, people throw a fit, hmm.

#2 Why do you assume business pc's come preloaded with 8? They don't seeing as MS still sells Windows 7 to OEM's and end users. So so much for that theory, lol.

Personally I won't even bother with win8. I'll probably have to deal with it at work anyway, that's enough. Next month I move to an iMac.


TA-pa-TA-pa-taPAtalk

There is a simple saying: Adapt or die. I think you will find this to be the case with Windows 8 and future versions of windows. Better to adapt now then to suffer later.

[F34R]

#1 This is how MS has always reported numbers, funny how people didn't have a problem when they released Windows 7 numbers this way.

But when 8 is on track to displace 7, people throw a fit, hmm.

#2 Why do you assume business pc's come preloaded with 8? They don't seeing as MS still sells Windows 7 to OEM's and end users. So so much for that theory, lol.






There is a simple saying: Adapt or die. I think you will find this to be the case with Windows 8 and future versions of windows. Better to adapt now then to suffer later.

Read my post again... "businesses that sell them..." That means, Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, etc. Those are "businesses that sell them". They are ALL preloaded with Win 8. So there isn't any assumption that business pc's are Win 8 preloaded.
I don't see where people are throwing a fit based on Win 8 displacing Win 7.

[MATRIX 2]

Read my post again... "businesses that sell them..." That means, Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, etc. Those are "businesses that sell them". They are ALL preloaded with Win 8. So there isn't any assumption that business pc's are Win 8 preloaded.
I don't see where people are throwing a fit based on Win 8 displacing Win 7.

Ok, but to assume that most consumers will shill out extra $$$ for Windows 7 on a consumer laptop (you can only downgrade 8 pro, most consumer computers ship with the standard version) is a bit of a stretch.

[F34R]

Ok, but to assume that most consumers will shill out extra $$$ for Windows 7 on a consumer laptop (you can only downgrade 8 pro, most consumer computers ship with the standard version) is a bit of a stretch.

Again, assumptions? What does your post have to do with me? I didn't say anything about people buying win 7 instead of 8. Look... 40 million licenses "sold"... that doesn't mean 40 million people bought win 8. That number is represented largely by retail stores selling computers. Period. Sure, people have bought the upgrade, or the full version of the software, but that is in such a minority for sure.

[A7MAD]

I'm liking Windows 8, it's stable and uses less resources than Windows 7 did which is also stable.

I got it for $15 and I'm happy with it.

/me waits for Vulgotha and the Mrs. Doubtfire flipping the bird .gif

[Fijiandoce]

from what i've seen, Win8 is alot 'slower' to use: Fitts's Law slower...i know it performs better.

[F34R]

I'm liking Windows 8, it's stable and uses less resources than Windows 7 did which is also stable.

I got it for $15 and I'm happy with it.

/me waits for Vulgotha and the Mrs. Doubtfire flipping the bird .gif

I dunno, if I can find it for that cheap, I might give it a try. Maybe.

[Fijiandoce]

i got some hands on today xD

Tablet Win8... FREAKING EPIC!!

PC Win8... meh!

This was the tablet that was running win8 and it was slick. i WILL get me one of these!

played around with the PC version and it feels weird...everything seems so far away. movements are too big. the metro (or whatever they've decided to rename it), as far as im concerned does not need to be on a PC: it sucks sweaty monkey balls.

this desktop OS was made with for a tablet. it's clear to see after using both of them as the PC version feel unintuitive by comparison
there is a lot of needless motion on the wrist

[Dave-The-Rave]

Microsoft need to get their heads out of their asses, and blaming the computer manufacturers is a dick move. They should have done some proper research before trying to force this on the public, I don't know a single person who wants it.

Its basically Windows 7 with some shitty touch interface on top of it and no one had a touch monitor anyway! We all saw this "Vista 2" coming. Bring on Windows 9.

EDIT: Trying to to cross the OS over different format is just stupid, Keep the PC OS separate from your tablets in future.

[F34R]

i got some hands on today xD

Tablet Win8... FREAKING EPIC!!

PC Win8... meh!

This was the tablet that was running win8 and it was slick. i WILL get me one of these!

played around with the PC version and it feels weird...everything seems so far away. movements are too big. the metro (or whatever they've decided to rename it), as far as im concerned does not need to be on a PC: it sucks sweaty monkey balls.

this desktop OS was made with for a tablet. it's clear to see after using both of them as the PC version feel unintuitive by comparison
there is a lot of needless motion on the wrist

What makes it epic?

[Fijiandoce]

What makes it epic?

it's essentially win8 in the palm of your hand.

the particular tablet i was playing around with had a keyboard dock and pen/stylus thing. when you're using it as a tablet, the OS makes sense. even more-so with the setup i was playing around with.

you can type on the keyboard for ease of use then once done, pull the tablet off and you're away. still working on the OS

however, using it on a desktop does not yield the same experience. as i said. fitts's law was strangely absent from the designers minds.

where as my finger is capable of moving across the entire screen, moving the mouse around is no where near as fluid. to liken it to something; moving the mouse felt like gaming. i had to lift the mouse up to adjust my wrist to keep the cursor still so i could finish my motion

this is using metro (or whatever they've renamed it to) though... it really has no place on a PC T.T

[MATRIX 2]

Microsoft need to get their heads out of their asses, and blaming the computer manufacturers is a dick move. They should have done some proper research before trying to force this on the public, I don't know a single person who wants it.

Its basically Windows 7 with some shitty touch interface on top of it and no one had a touch monitor anyway! We all saw this "Vista 2" coming. Bring on Windows 9.

EDIT: Trying to to cross the OS over different format is just stupid, Keep the PC OS separate from your tablets in future.

Lol, are you trying to be taken seriously with this post?

Computer manufacturer respectfully share part of the blame for failing to supply their new form factor pc's in adequate quantities on time for the launch. Also for just taking many previous PC's that ran windows 7 and selling them with windows 8 hoping that they would sell just because of that.

And trust me, nobody does more research on these sorts of things than MS.

Windows 8 is a significantly improved OS over windows 7, as was vistaa post SP1 compared to XP. Oh and windows 9 isn't going to drop the "modern" start menu.

Besides did you expect MS to sell you an OS with the same essential interface since windows 95 for the next few decades?

And btw, what exactly are you doing on windows that involves you being in the start menu so much. The Desktop works the same way as it did in windows 7 so there isn't any issue there.

As for the future of computers, sales have shifted to favor laptops much more significantly than desktops. And within laptops the trend is to smaller, more portable devices, many of which have touchscreens. (or will in the future). Touch is in the future of traditional computing, we won't be solely tethered to keyboards and mice.

And having a common interface across multiple devices is a smart thing in the long run. Also its a better strategy to unifiy the base components of OS's across devices.

What do you think the ios ui will look like in 5 years? I bet it likely stays the same. So much for that strategy.

But go ahead in revel in the archaic eras of computing history.

[Blacksite]

I don't see anything wrong with sticking to the more traditional desktop interface, if not for the simple fact that I wouldn't have to worry about getting a bunch of fingerprints on my screen. And it's not like the keyboard, mouse, and start menu were ever broken. Apart from a performance boost, I don't really see a compelling reason to make the switch.