Windows 8 a certifiable flop
theage.com.au
theage.com.au
I think that Windows 7 is the new XP: It's a great OS, with perhaps no obvious warts, so nobody really needs to upgrade, as wee needed to upgrade from Windows Me (Ugh!). It looks modern enough, is very stable (c'mon now, let's admit it) and simply does its job. For most people, why bother upgrade?
In time, of course, we'll see Windows 8 numbers improve, as people replace old computers. But most laptops now, are like Windows 7, and XP before it: They're good enough for most people, so why bother upgrade?
I can't see anything modern apps can do that normal desktop apps can't. The interface is dramatically different, and that can be a plus if the right app came along that you WANTED to use your fingers to control over a keyboard and mouse.
Off the top of my head, I could imagine a hardware/software combination that automates your house. A wifi connected controller box would use the power lines in your house to transmit information (like x10 does) to cheap replacement switches and outlets; letting you control what does and doesn't get power. Maybe the outlets track how much electricity your household devices are using and you can get a pretty graph. Maybe they use a threshold to determine when a device is in standby mode and give you the option to automatically cut it's trickle power. Maybe an IR breakout box lets you control your entertainment center. Some sort of wifi streaming box lets you stream audio from one room to another. Maybe a few wifi enabled cheap cameras you can mount around let you monitor your rooms. All of these features would be controlled centrally through a windows 8 modern device. I could see something like this being a good use of the simple design of metro applications. Wasn't there a Microsoft home concept a long time ago? What happened to that?
I hope Redmond devotes more energy to developing killer apps in the near future. I think they could turn this around if they get normal consumers inspired.
Meanwhile Android is feeling pretty clunky.
Funny, it was the average user that told me time and time again that they just wanted a normal Windows. Not this childish looking tablet UI. And the first order of business for me was to wipe that Tile Fest and install an OS that average user actually wanted to use.
As long as MS plows ahead with this unification nonsense of systems that are inherently different and are therefore by definition not able to be unified, Windows 8 and any iteration they put out in the future will see the same reception.
If what feels like 90% of the users tell you "once you install start8 and boot to desktop its not that bad", you should know that the Metro crap doesn't fly on desktop. But does MS listen? Hell no. Plow ahead with unification.
Whoever had this idea that systems which are so different from each should be "gifted" with an identical, non optional UI should have been fired a long time ago.
Remove the Tiles shit from the desktop version, apologize and promise to never do that again and then we can talk about me upgrading my desktop OS. But until that happens, it stays on Win7 and nothing of value was lost.
new machines are being churned out with windows 8 preloaded. it seems like its just a matter of time before it, or its progeny become accepted as 'the standard'... until mac or *nix seriously up their game (still we are saying this?) i don't see any alternatives - unless MS ship Windows 9 that does for 8 what 7 did for Vista.