nsane.forums Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Windows 8 is passing two big milestones this week. On Thursday, Microsoft released its quarterly financial results, and hidden inside the numbers are clear indicators of the new operating system's impact on the company's bottom line. Tomorrow, meanwhile, marks the three-month anniversary of Windows 8's October 26 release date. The world has had plenty of time to live with the new OS, and now we can more comfortably score whether it's a success or failure. Has the OS stepped up its game since our none-too-cheery one-month progress report? Let's just say that Windows 8's school grades still aren't quite meeting expectations. Sales The multi-billion dollar question: Are people actually buying Windows 8 and Windows 8-powered laptops, desktops, and tablets? The answer's far from cut-and-dry, because Microsoft refuses to provide many concrete details. The company's quarterly earnings report showed the Windows division earning $5.88 billion in the holiday quarter, a staggering 24 percent increase over holiday 2011, but Microsoft maddeningly refused to provide specifics beyond that total. We still have no idea how many Surface tablets are in consumer hands, for example. At CES, Windows business head Tami Reller said that the company has sold more than 60 million Windows 8 licenses—but that figure includes licenses sold to manufacturers like Dell and Lenovo, making it an unreliable tool for figuring out whether everyday people are actually buying Windows 8. Third-party research firms paint a dreary retail picture. Computer sales have actually dropped precipitously since Windows 8 hit the streets. NPD reports that holiday sales of Windows notebooks dropped a whopping 11 percent in 2012, while both Gartner and IDC say that overall PC sales dipped in the fourth quarter by an estimated 4.9 and 6.4 percent, respectively. Net Applications says Windows 8's user adoption lags behind Windows Vista's. All that corresponds with talk from executives at HP, Acer, Asus, Fujitsu, Newegg, and others, who have universally said that Windows 8 is off to a slower-than-expected start. "To really know the state of Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Surface, additional granularity is required," says Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "We really need to know how many Windows 8 licenses and Surfaces sold through retail. The biggest unknown is why Windows 8 revenue looked good while all [manufacturers] had shaky quarters." Software sales of Windows 8 will no doubt slow going forward as the pricing of a Windows 8 Pro upgrade is set to increase from $40 to $200 in February. Windows 8 has also largely been a dud in the enterprise arena, a few large exceptions aside. When Reller was asked about enterprise adoption of Windows 8 at CES, she explained how BYOD Windows 8 devices should work just fine alongside a Windows 7 deployment. Grade: C- (Hey, 60 million licenses and $5.88 billion is nothing to sneeze at!) Usability I'd like to say there has been some change here since launch, but alas, there hasn't. The modern UI still throws everything you knew about Windows out the window. There's still no Start button on the desktop. And usability experts still convulse and shriek obscenities if you mention Windows 8 by name. (Our one-month Windows 8 report card has a long list of specific complaints, if you're interested.) We found the modern interface different, but not overly burdensome. To hear the online masses screaming it, however, in the context of Windows 8, "UI" might as well stand for "unintuitive." It's true that Windows 8 and its hidden controls aren't nearly as user-friendly as Windows 7 out-of-the-box, and since usability complaints have stayed vociferous since launch, we can't grade this highly. You'll get the hang of Windows 8's interface eventually, though—assuming you give it a chance to grow on you. Grade: C Public relations and reception Microsoft has blanketed the world with pop-up stores, Windows 8 ads, and that catchy Surface tablet commercial with the borderline-creepy dancing schoolgirls. (Seriously, look at their faces!) The company's advertising efforts have been utterly slick and nothing short of stellar at getting the Windows 8 word out—though they've been less impressive at imparting the differences between Windows 8 and Windows RT, as Samsung recently emphasized when it declined to launch its RT-powered Ativ Tab stateside. The public reception to Windows 8 has been thoroughly mixed, if not quite completely downcast, and Microsoft's refusal to break omerta about usability concerns and sales numbers have led to an abundance of negative press and feverish analytical hand-wringing. To top it off, the surprising departure of longtime Windows prez Stephen Sinofsky just two weeks after the launch of Windows 8 cast a dark cloud of negativity across an operating system many already regarded (rightly or wrongly) with skepticism. In short: We've been impressed to see such heavy Windows 8 branding appear in NFL football broadcasts—talk about a premium marketing spend—but it's clear the Microsoft media blitz hasn't been delivering ROI. Grade: C- Windows Store All those colorful live tiles on the Start screen are generated by new-style Windows 8 apps—apps found exclusively in the official Windows Store. Heck, Windows RT tablets only run new-style Windows 8 apps. That makes the Windows Store the Atlas of the Live Tile-equipped world, hoisting an entire ecosystem of expectations on its back. Unfortunately, the Windows Store is a very, very mixed bag. On one hand, the app library is growing at a decent clip, going from 5000 apps available worldwide on October 26, to 20,000 available one month after launch, to 39,153 apps available as of January 23. (The first two checkpoint totals came courtesy of analyst Wes Miller's now-defunct WinAppUpdate.com; the latest total was taken from MetroStore Scanner, another Windows 8 app-counting website.) A small handful of big-name apps have hit the Store in the last couple of months—including Dropbox, ESPN, Vimeo, and Yahoo Mail—and the e-shelves are getting just packed enough that we were able to compile lists of the best Windows 8 music, video, gaming, travel, and business apps. It took some deep digging, though. Both the overall quantity and quality of apps available in the Windows Store disappoint when compared to competing mobile ecosystems. Many notable big-name apps are still missing. Many of the apps that are available are quick-hit repackagings of Web apps or otherwise insipid fare, and even the best modern-style Windows 8 apps generally aren't as full-featured as their desktop counterparts. The Windows Store still doesn't do a good job of pointing users towards particularly awesome apps, either. More worrying, MetroStore Scanner's data shows the pace of new app submissions grinding to a crawl. After hitting the 20,000 app mark near its one-month anniversary at the end of November, the Windows Store smashed the 35,000 app barrier on December 27. Between December 27 and January 23, however, only around 4000 new apps were added to the marketplace. That's bad news for Microsoft, which needs exponential catalog growth—including a surge in high-quality apps—if it wants the Windows Store to be a selling point for the operating system. Microsoft isn't blind to the fact. "While the number of apps in the Windows Store quadrupled, we clearly have more work to do," ZDNet reports Microsoft CFO Peter Klein saying during the company's quarterly conference call. "We need more rich, immersive apps that give users access to content that informs, entertains, and inspires." Grade: C- Areas to improve In our one-month report card for Windows 8, we urged patience. After such a harsh holiday season, there's the tendency to panic, but Microsoft still cautions that this OS was built for the long haul, not the short term. "Clearly with a project this ambitious, it's not just one selling season, it will be the product of multiple selling seasons, and more progress to come," Windows business head Tami Reller said at CES. She's right, of course, and her comments are echoed by Wes Miller, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft. "It’s still early in the game, and Microsoft is pretty dedicated to making this happen, and will continue advertising to try and make it so," he told me via email. Windows 8 still has breathing room. Both Gartner and IDC expect at least 350 million PCs to ship this year, and the overwhelming majority of those will ship with Windows 8 installed. Better yet, Windows 8 is faster and better than Windows 7 under the hood, and many of these lackluster grades could easily be improved with some minor tweaks. The Windows Store will only get better as time goes on. Many of the usability concerns could be squashed by releasing an update that restores the Start button and enables and option to boot straight to the desktop. If Microsoft does all that, a lot of the negative reactions currently bandied about could disappear overnight, leaving Windows 8's promotional future in the capable hands of those oh-so-slick TV commercials. Sure, Windows 8 may not make the dean's list quite yet, but if Microsoft pays better attention and does its homework, the operating system could still be honor roll-bound in the future. Windows RT, on the other hand, teeters on the brink of disaster—but that's another story. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tezza Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 :lol:(No offence meant) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeSmithG Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Fail.If you don't have what we want, you fail.Microsoft give us a freakin start button and ting.Then I will gratefully install windows 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMANTICGUY50 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 FAIL!!! Would not take it if you gave it to me. Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mray88 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 At first I was finding some things to like about Win 8, and made a few posts here that were supportive. However, now having used it for a few more weeks I've come to the conclusion it is indeed a major FAIL. I think the change came with realizing the workflow on this OS just plain sucks! Everything, but everything, takes a year and a day to navigate around and locate. Some elements that are just so dead simple on other OS's, don't work here at all. Right click crashes even worse than Win 98??? You got it! Want to drag a file to copy it elsewhere??? Good luck getting the icons to land where you want them to land!! Enjoy disappearing progress windows in Explorer??? Well, greetings to Win 8!!! More and more I realize it's just a major pain.Just about the only continuous plus, and it is a good one, is that boot times are fantastic. But the time I gain booting up quickly is more than lost 5 times over in what I have to spend with poor execution and crappy workflow. I know some folks here have expressed positive thoughts about Win 8, but I must say I'm no longer going to be one of them. It's just a pain in the ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nautilus Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Like it or not, 90% of the OS is vastly improved while being faster and smoother. The general opinion that I've seen is that Windows 8 kinda sucks at first impression,but longer exposure tends to soften the opinion to the point where people start liking it.Once you get past the Metro layout, it's not all the different from Windows 7 underneath.The "Metro" GUI takes a lot of getting used to but it does have it's attractions,the jury is still out here but I would recommend taking a peek, you never knowand it's pretty cool to experiment and test things out.It's pretty clear that Win 8 was designed for touch screens, such as tablets, but it still works well with a mouse and keyboard. All in all I really like it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nIGHT Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 The ramification of windows 8 rating is actually a good way to evaluate how it performed on various aspect.Though we can add more on its category of rating to further scrutinize the product performance,the ultimate verdict on windows 8 status are all the combined feedback and assessment.of all users/consumers, re-sellers and investors.But sadly, It is already a predictable outcome that it all fails in all aspect of the category. Microsoft should recoup its loss market demand and lost profit due to this "reinvention" of its new OS product (Windows 8 ).It may be in the form of a fix ( Windows Blue) or a new major product version of its Windows OS product (Windows 9)that reinstate its lost product stature. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesiPirate Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 FailFailFail.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreativeThinking Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Like it or not, 90% of the OS is vastly improved while being faster and smoother. The general opinion that I've seen is that Windows 8 kinda sucks at first impression,but longer exposure tends to soften the opinion to the point where people start liking it.Once you get past the Metro layout, it's not all the different from Windows 7 underneath.The "Metro" GUI takes a lot of getting used to but it does have it's attractions,the jury is still out here but I would recommend taking a peek, you never knowand it's pretty cool to experiment and test things out.It's pretty clear that Win 8 was designed for touch screens, such as tablets, but it still works well with a mouse and keyboard. All in all I really like it...I thinks so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Fail in terms of new technology, I felt it is stepback compare to Windows 7. Plenty of Windows 7 features should be incorporated into Windows 8 but instead got left behind. I can count number of times I used Metro in one hand after I start using Windows 8 since early december.Pass in terms of affortability I think it is only OS I ever bought period. US14.99 promo code makes it reasonabily priced for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xpmule Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 If people do not like it then that is the end of the story.. trying desperatly to discredit people who do is just plain stupid.me ? no thanks i'll pass and i have a rather large list of reasons why but i will keep that to my self to save the arguments..I'm waiting for the comments to come like when Sheldon bashes Windows Vista numerous times on The Big Bang Theory.He says bad things about it on TV lots.. one time he said he insulted B. Gates and he got punched in the face by Bill for it lolThere is just way too many people from all walks of life that hate win 8 with a passion to dismiss them all as idiots..This guy at ZDNet sums up how i felt about windows 8.. http://www.zdnet.com/from-windows-8-to-windows-7-why-i-downgraded-7000006922/Anyway if people like it fine but bear in mind if we don't our options are limited.all my WMC upgrade keys MS emailed me just expired and i never used any of them lolMS knew damn well this was gonna happen.. and they couldn't care less what people thinkthis is a marketing stradegy to get a strangle hold monopoly on consumers (the lowest common denominator / mom & pop, facebooker's etc)Since Win 7 makes them look so good there is NO risk for them to do Anything with windows 8.The REAL huge and interesting thing is going to be when Win 7 has aged more and Windows 9 is close to a release.The situation then will be totaly different than now.. and god am i scared of what kind of whacked out stupid crap they will do to win 9 :oMy bet is they try and take away traditional non modern apps and the desktop so that it is completly gone by win 10.and then their noose around the consumers neck is tight enough.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonar Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Speed: PassGUI: FailI went back to Windows 7. With the right tweaks can run just as fast as windows 8 with no nags.Editfor got to mention windows 8 lasted around 2 weeks on my laptop befor i said enough is enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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