Windows 8 -- Just shoot me now.

[PatJ]

As a follow up to many of the comments about Windows 8 - a news article today on TV reported that PC sales are off 14% tablet sales are up - and the reason for the change is that people don't like Windows 8.

Looks like Microsoft didn't think this one through before implementing the change. The report went on to say that the change is dramatic enough to be considered the demise of personal computers. That will put a nasty kink in Microsoft's profit margin.

[crfriend]

Actually, the Windows 8 idiom is very well suited to a tablet device -- it just stinks for folks who have a conventional PC or laptop and who are used to the older idiom. I suspect Microsoft saw this coming and decided to try and force the issue.

Folks have been predicting the demise of the "classic" PC for some time now, and tablets and such devices are now making inroads on the conventional PC. I do not believe that they will kill the PC altogether as real keyboards are very useful tools, as anyone who has ever tried to really type on a tablet screen will likely attest to. However, tablets are just fine once you relegate the user to a "consumer" of "stuff" and not a producer.

I've used an iPad before -- as a consumer of information -- and they work nicely in that millieu. However, I actually create and produce a lot of work, 99+% of which makes its way from my brain to the machine via the keyboard -- and that keyboard is something that I would not be able to do without.

[Jack Williams]

Yes, I'm really pleased this machine has a proper full sized keyboard. Even though my typing prowess is something else again!

[PatJ]

Regardless, a 14% reduction in sales has to be a major impact - not only on Microsoft's products, but on the Personal Computer manufacturers profit margin as well.

In the highly competitive market place - some manufacturers may choose to discontinue their PC line which will then impact not only choice of available product, but prices of the same products as well.

The supply and demand equilibrium may not permit favorable prices for consumers.

[Sinned]

What's the traditional company going to use for its accounts and other processing? The Win8 tablet type interface doesn't work so well for that type of work. Does that mean that there will still be the PC and tablet dichotomy?

[crfriend]

What's the traditional company going to use for its accounts and other processing? The Win8 tablet type interface doesn't work so well for that type of work. Does that mean that there will still be the PC and tablet dichotomy?

The "traditional" PC isn't going to go away in the professional setting where folks are expected to do data-entry (although that is diminishing through scanning and improving OCR techniques), but where it might cause a problem is with the price of general-purpose computers in the consumer (as in buyer) space. For the media-consumer, the tablet will win because input is much less of a problem.

The net result will be a rise in the price of a conventional device and possibly declining prices of tablets. If the rise in price also brings with it an improvement in quality, that'd be nice, too.

[Sinned]

Not Bin8 as such but how I hate Windows Update. You can't really turn it off because there are updates that are required, I guess and hopefully some of the many security holes get plugged. I delay the updates as long as I can but then you only need to leave the machine unattended for a little while and then it goes and starts the downloads and once that has happened the damage has been done. This happened yesterday and once I had rebooted the machine I found that the look and feel of Exploder had changed. Bit of a shock that's all as I wasn't expecting it. Couldn't be bothered to try and change it back. What's the point as the next update would only change it back again? HOW I HATE WINDOWS!!!! Come back UNIX, all is forgiven.

[crfriend]

Come back UNIX, all is forgiven.

Give me RDOS or AOS any day of the week. Failing that, TOPS-10. Heck, even MVS/XA is better than what we have today. Yes, what a dream it was, and what a nightmare it has become.

[Big and Bashful]

Not Bin8 as such but how I hate Windows Update. You can't really turn it off because there are updates that are required, I guess and hopefully some of the many security holes get plugged. I delay the updates as long as I can but then you only need to leave the machine unattended for a little while and then it goes and starts the downloads and once that has happened the damage has been done. This happened yesterday and once I had rebooted the machine I found that the look and feel of Exploder had changed. Bit of a shock that's all as I wasn't expecting it. Couldn't be bothered to try and change it back. What's the point as the next update would only change it back again? HOW I HATE WINDOWS!!!! Come back UNIX, all is forgiven.

On Windows 7 you can tell it not to download, to download but not install and to install automatically, I keep an eye over what it wants to update and keep things like Explorer updates and the Bing desktop off my machines. Just hide the update with a right click and it won't bother you again. However, I have no idea what Windoze 8 does and I never want to find out. I like Win 7 and it works well. Also, the one surplus laptop I was going to upgrade as a test bed didn't meet with the Windows Hate requirements, so I can't even play with it to see how despicable it really is.

[Tackleberry]

Last month I bought a new laptop and it has Windows 8 and its bloody awful

[Uncle Al]

Classic Shell will help you eliminate the shock effect
of the screen, when you don't have a 'touch screen'.
I understand there are some other 'features' available via
Classic Shell, but since I don't have Win8(and NEVER going to Win8),
I don't have to worry so much. Still getting a 'grip' on Win7.


Uncle Al

[Sarongman]

The most annoying thing about Widows 7 on my laptop is that I can't keep Adobe Flash player stable and, it is nowhere to be found when needed. I have no trouble with dowloading photos and uploading music on my old machine which has no trouble using XP Pro.

[Jock]

I've had an iPad for quite some while and really love it, but as Carl says, primarily for data output. For my creative writing, accounts, etc, it's the good ol' keyboard for me. Curiously the iPad has altered my "interface" and I quite often try to do something on an ordinary PC by touching the screen. D'oh!
I'm basically a Mac user, as are most of my clan, but I have a fairly new WinLaptop for those pesky websites that don't admit of anyone outside of Windowstown. I bought a copy of Win7 at a reasonable price and this does OK for me on the rare occasions its needed. Its also handy to check compatibility of documents across platforms.

At the end of the day the computer guys want to keep you upgrading to keep your money pouring into their coffers. So every while (and it seems to get shorter) there is a new OS and the old perfectly acceptable version promptly disappears.

And just how many more "feature" can you cram in an OS

[Sinned]

Apparently Win8 has the facility to downgrade to Win7 so that even though users may activate this option the OS "sale" goes towards the Win8 figures. So MS can say that sales of Win8 are holding up and comparable with Win7 sales. What are needed are figures for what OS are activated rather than sold to get a true comparison. There's lies, damn lies and statistics, as they say.

Having said that there are lots of companies still using XP as it's so stable and if there isn't the need to upgrade then why do so?

[skirtingseattle]

Because Windows XP mainstream support ended April 14, 2009 (that's relevant for all regular home users and small businesses - they had better be running a newer Windows OS instead of XP). It will also end in less than 1 year for all Enterprise customers (extended support is available via Software Assurance). That means no more patching of the OS for discovered vulnerabilities after that date. This is not an option for any business that wants to mitigate the risk of running computer systems that are vulnerable and can't be patched. Personally, I think you should be able to continue to buy any version of the Windows OS as long as it is still covered by mainstream support, but Microsoft has a financial incentive to sell their latest OS.

Concerning Windows 8, I agree that the decision to force such a radical change for laptop and workstation users was a major strategic error on Microsoft's part. They should have created two start up options: one with an updated version of Windows 7 with Start button and all, and one with a tablet-touch interface, then set the default start up option that matches the hardware - but give users the option to change or toggle between the two. It will be interesting to see if Windows 8.1 will re-introduce the Start button. If not, for those users who have Windows 8 and would like to get back to a Windows 7 user experience, check out these software options, ClassicShell was mentioned earlier in this thread (some are free):

Start Menu 8
Start8
Pokki
ViStart8
Start Menu X
StartIsBack
RetroUI
ClassicShell

Chris