[dkediger]

All my corp purchases the last year have been with Win 8 licenses but downgraded with a Win 7 install. I can flip those back to Win 8 in very short order. It really isn't the interface that's been the problem.... It's been 3rd party support for IE11. That is starting to break free, two of our major OEMs have now endorsed Win8/IE11.

I've stated before, and will stand by it here, that Chromebook falls into the classic 80/20 problem: It can do 80% of the work pretty effectively, but that last 20% is pretty inefficient, of not impossible. Google as well has a history of being disinclined to really commit to that last 20%. I say that as a long time Google Apps Business user. It's the same reason broad iPad use in the corporate world has stalled.

[fatclue_98]

I'm dropping my $.02 on this topic because I see too much Chicken Little all over these boards. First, Microsoft's products are not for everybody and that's a good thing. Ten years ago the tech world was stagnant and it was XP or Mac's Tiger. Love 'em or hate 'em, Google shook the cobwebs out of Apple and Microsoft's board rooms. Not because they came out with a better product - they didn't. But because they gave consumers an alternative. Palm and BlackBerry didn't think they were going to be knocked off their perches and paid the price. I think you can see where I'm going with this.

2014 will be a good year for Microsoft in spite of what their competition does. WP8 is maturing right before our eyes and it's still in its infancy. Windows 8 is slowly gaining traction because let's face it, they're the only game in town. 95% of worldwide adoption affords MS the space to tweak their system without losing share. I'm a long time Mac user and I rarely go near my desktop anymore. I recently caved in and got a Surface RT even though the reviews and the complaints told me not to. All I can say is I'm sorry I waited so long. I was part of the problem. I should have tried it out for myself instead of reading into people's b***h list. I've read the horror stories about 8.1 Preview and I went ahead on my 520 anyway. I must be leading a charmed life 'cause I don't see what all the fuss is about. I'm loving 8.1 and have no intentions of trying anything else....for now. At the end of the day I'm an OS addict and something will pique my interest, but it better be good.

[Ultimate Insider]

Microsoft should do one thing that windows/rt/phone version 8.x should be last for 10 years. I mean from 8.0-8.9. That way, cost of back porting and supplying security patches for the old versions must diminish. If they skip to windows/rt/phone 9 next year, it would be a big mistake. And every new year there would be a new 8.x version, completely free of charge for updating and upgrading from the earlier version of 8.x.

[tgp]

All my corp purchases the last year have been with Win 8 licenses but downgraded with a Win 7 install. I can flip those back to Win 8 in very short order. It really isn't the interface that's been the problem.... It's been 3rd party support for IE11.

IE11 (or any new IE version) has been the biggest problem for us at work too. We're not a large company, but some of our clients are. Usually the biggest issue with an OS upgrade is not as much the OS itself as the new version of IE that comes along with it. If a new version of IE is released between OS releases, we usually cannot upgrade for awhile.

[BobLobIaw]

Please cheer me up and tell me that Windows Phone will rise to glory, as it deserves; that people will realize Windows 8 is, in fact, much better than Windows 7; that Xbox One is the most ambitious and innovative console to hit the market ever; that IE, Office, OneDrive, and Bing will get the proper respect they deserve, and that public perception of Microsoft as somehow being less cool than Google and Apple will change.

This should cheer you up: despite all of the accurate potential doom and gloom that you have identified, you are still using the Microsoft ecosystem. So are many others. Maybe the masses will someday realize that you are on to something. That should give you hope. Cheers!

[BobLobIaw]

I'm dropping my $.02 on this topic because I see too much Chicken Little all over these boards.

Good post. Internet boards typically are short on sober and long on Chicken Little.

[Revi Bennett]

Well it use to be blackberry and now its iphone and samzung. Consumer market are VERY frickle. But half students with macbook, where do you go to school, scilion valley. And outlok and gmail has equal amount of active users.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

[smoledman]

Now another double blow. Rare cancelling any further Kinect games and Twitch going to Google. That's the gaming gods sending MS a message.

[Michael Alan Goff]

Windows 8 start screen is not going over well with consumers and you know it. Windows 8 is turning to Windows 7.5 now. I would be beyond hesitant to let someone get a slow POS Windows laptop instead of paying $199 for a laptop that will be fast and have linger battery life.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

Actually, I don't. I know the internet hates it, but a majority don't care either way.

[A895]

Actually, I don't. I know the internet hates it, but a majority don't care either way.

Yes they do. I get told all the time by any normal consumer how they dislike Windows 8. And if it is going so well, why is Microsoft backpedaling?

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

[Michael Alan Goff]

Yes they do. I get told all the time by any normal consumer how they dislike Windows 8. And if it is going so well, why is Microsoft backpedaling?

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

To be honest, Microsoft is trying to fit in with the cool internet crowd. So they're going to listen to the loudest voices on it.

[mayconvert]

Computers:
People hated Vista and Windows 8 because they were both unfinished products when released.
That DID push many to go to Mac computers. I work at Apple and I can not tell you how many people came in and said:
"I am ready to buy my first mac" and I of course ask them what got them interested in Macs. Their reply 100% of the time is "Windows 8 is horrible and they are tired of getting Viruses."
I love OSX. It's an awesome OS. But, I have been using Windows forever and I had Windows 8 beta soon as I possible could. I love Windows 8 and 8.1 update made it even better.
However, MS should have delayed Windows 8 until it released with all the features that are in 8.1 update. They lost Many many people to OSX because of rushing half baked software out the door.
I blame Ballmer for that crap. Ballmer is a COMPLETE *****.

Tablets:
RT sucks, sorry, but it does. and ipad or android tablet is better.
Surface Tablets. Love them, they are just awesome, but they cost too much.
If I want a "laptop" and I am going to spend $900+ on one, I am getting a Mac.
If I am a normal person just looking for a laptop, I am going to buy a traditional $500 dell. Half the price of the tablet.

Phones: App Gap. WP only issue after 8.1 hits. Unless they figure out something there, the phone division will crash and burn within the next 2-3 years. MS isn't going to keep pumping money into the phone market if they can't get above 2% market share.

Games: don't do Xbox or PS4. I game on Windows 8.1 Desktop.

Services:
again, MS screwed the pooch here as well. Outlook ( from Office ) is the biggest piece of trash ever invented.
I have Outlook from office on my Mac. and I also have Windows 8.1 running on bootcamp partition.
Contacts won't even sync from outlook to outlook. I even have an Outlook.com email address. The only way to get contacts into outlook.com email was to import them from Google Gmail or enter them each one at a time ... LAME.

And again, I am sorry, but i.e. does suck pretty bad. I use Chrome on OSX AND Windows 8.
I tried to love i.e. honestly, but every time I try to like it, it crumbles and I hate it even more.
Not that chrome is the worlds best or anything, but it IS better than i.e. (safari is also better than i.e)
I use chrome a lot because of the android phones I get from time to time. (right this minute I have a Nokia 520, iPhone 5s and LG G2 android phones) Chrome syncs my mail contacts and calendar super easy, and it works on all 3 platforms.

I love outlook.com email. I have tried to get EVERYONE to get an outlook.com email address over gmail.
I have 2 outlook.com email address and I am no longer using gmail or anything other than a place to store contacts and browser favs.
Bing. I look at the pictures each day, use google to search...

OneDrive is the BEST. I have it on all 3 of my phones. LOVE IT!!!!

MS isn't going anywhere any time soon. but they need to pull their heads out of their butts and FIX some crap.

[Ordeith]

Chrome is consistently the worst of the big three browsers on Windows. No credibility there.

[fatclue_98]

If Vista was so horrible and so many people switched to OSX, why is Microsoft still at 95% worldwide usage? Vista was worlds better than XP but it was too different. 8.1 is much lighter than 7 but it too is a radical departure from people's comfort zone. Even a 49 year old such as myself understands that nothing lasts forever. Where I come from that's called progress. Maverick is essentially Panther with a few tweaks, just like iOS7 isn't radically different than iOS4. No wonder people complain about staleness from Apple.

[mayconvert]

Chrome is consistently the worst of the big three browsers on Windows. No credibility there.

Then why does sites that glitch and won't go back when hitting the back button work fine on Chrome but not either one of the browsers on Win 8.1?

To say chrome is bad is just not facing facts. i.e. sucks.

[mayconvert]

If Vista was so horrible and so many people switched to OSX, why is Microsoft still at 95% worldwide usage? Vista was worlds better than XP but it was too different. 8.1 is much lighter than 7 but it too is a radical departure from people's comfort zone. Even a 49 year old such as myself understands that nothing lasts forever. Where I come from that's called progress. Maverick is essentially Panther with a few tweaks, just like iOS7 isn't radically different than iOS4. No wonder people complain about staleness from Apple.

Vista was complete garbage. I build all of my own gaming machines and have use ever single version of Windows ever made.
Vista was TRASH. Nearly ZERO driver support when it came out. It was a massive memory hog and had memory leaks out the ***.

LOL panther with tweaks. You obviously are just trolling and have NO idea what you are talking about.

And to make fun of iOS when WP can't even get facebook to make an app for the OS, microsoft has to make their own version that is about equal to what I used on iOS back in 2008.

it's ok to like what you like but to just pull random crapola outta yer arse like all that above.... SMH

[mayconvert]

If Vista was so horrible and so many people switched to OSX, why is Microsoft still at 95% worldwide usage? Vista was worlds better than XP but it was too different. 8.1 is much lighter than 7 but it too is a radical departure from people's comfort zone. Even a 49 year old such as myself understands that nothing lasts forever. Where I come from that's called progress. Maverick is essentially Panther with a few tweaks, just like iOS7 isn't radically different than iOS4. No wonder people complain about staleness from Apple.

I never once said that when VISTA came out people started switching to macs. I said Windows 8 has turned away a LOT of people.
I never once said MS lost 50% of their market share over night. I said People Are switching. Corporate users alone will keep MS at a very high market share because a company isn't going to switch their entire operation over to macs when what they have is working.

Look at what the original poster said. 50% of the entire campus is using Macs, not windows PCs.
Heck, go look at how many macs are at Google headquarters, nearly 100%. (logical since google and MS hate each other)

In the last 2 weeks I have sold over 300 mac computers, and half of those were graduation presents. When the back to school specials kick back in around the end of June, I average 2000 mac sales per month for 4 solid months. I am One person at One Apple Store.

[A895]

To be honest, Microsoft is trying to fit in with the cool internet crowd. So they're going to listen to the loudest voices on it.

It's not the internet crowd, normal consumers have a hard time switching to a touch based OS on desktops. That's the problem. I highly doubt it's because of the internet.

[tgp]

Chrome is consistently the worst of the big three browsers on Windows. No credibility there.

It's interesting how consumers seem to gravitate towards the most awful experiences available. Chrome might consistently be the worst browser, yet it happens to have the highest market share of all browsers. In the same way, Android is often said (here on WPCentral) to be the worst mobile OS out there. Yet 4 out of 5 smartphone users choose Android. Why do we do that to ourselves?

If Vista was so horrible and so many people switched to OSX, why is Microsoft still at 95% worldwide usage? Vista was worlds better than XP but it was too different. 8.1 is much lighter than 7 but it too is a radical departure from people's comfort zone.

Vista was better after a couple service packs, but it was certainly bad at release. Windows 8 at least worked for the most part out of the box.

[Ordeith]

Chrome has 1/3 the market share of IE. Credibility loss again.

[fatclue_98]

Vista was complete garbage. I build all of my own gaming machines and have use ever single version of Windows ever made.
Vista was TRASH. Nearly ZERO driver support when it came out. It was a massive memory hog and had memory leaks out the ***.

LOL panther with tweaks. You obviously are just trolling and have NO idea what you are talking about.

And to make fun of iOS when WP can't even get facebook to make an app for the OS, microsoft has to make their own version that is about equal to what I used on iOS back in 2008.

it's ok to like what you like but to just pull random crapola outta yer arse like all that above.... SMH

You're right, I don't know jack. I only have a PowerPC eMac running 10.4 (working perfectly since 2004) and a newer Intel Mac. Windows 7 had even less driver support than Vista when it came out and there are still some legacy apps that don't have 64-bit support. You like iOS, that's fine. I like it too, in fact I love Apple products. But keep an open mind and less fanboy-ism. There are some things that OSX does better than Windows, particularly graphic-intensive tasks like AutoCAD, but for everyday browsing, emails, etc. it's not worth the added expense for these common tasks. Windows may not be better, but it does the same job for a lot less. I don't know about you, but I work for a living. I can't afford to be a fanboy, it ain't good for my finances.

[tgp]

Chrome has 1/3 the market share of IE. Credibility loss again.

I suppose that depends on where you get the statistics. According to this site Chrome's market share is double IE's:

[Jas00555]

I suppose that depends on where you get the statistics. According to this site Chrome's market share is double IE's:

That includes tablets, where IE is only available for 5% of those devices. For PCs (where you can have IE or Chrome) IE is at ~60% and Chrome is at a little under 20%.

[Ordeith]

I suppose that depends on where you get the statistics. According to this site Chrome's market share is double IE's:

LOL, stat counter.
It also matters what you count. Stat counter has been shown to be highly susceptible to Google's prefetch usage in chrome that highly inflates the requests a site will see from individual chrome visitors. People who parrot that site are just validation seekers.

[Michael Alan Goff]

Then why does sites that glitch and won't go back when hitting the back button work fine on Chrome but not either one of the browsers on Win 8.1?

To say chrome is bad is just not facing facts. i.e. sucks.

Chrome has caused my MBA to Blue Screen on Windows 8. IE never did that. It has caused Kernel Panics for people. Chrome is a horrible browser that doesn't conform to standards.

It's not the internet crowd, normal consumers have a hard time switching to a touch based OS on desktops. That's the problem. I highly doubt it's because of the internet.

And yet I know people who can barely use a computer and only asked me "how do you shut down" when it comes to using Windows 8.