Good Rant ! !
Posted on 02/14/2014 10:53:20 AM PST by ShadowAce
Microsoft claims it has now sold more than 200 million Windows 8 licenses, in the first update to public sales claims it has offered since last May.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Thursday, Microsoft executive VP of marketing Tami Reller described the sales growth as "pretty stunning," although she added that Redmond has more work yet to do.
When Reller last spoke on Windows 8 sales, she said that Microsoft had sold 100 million licenses in the product's first six months of availability, which she said was on par with the sales figures for Windows 7.
But that was nine months ago, and the fact that only another 100 million licenses have moved since then indicates that sales of Windows 8 have indeed slowed, as many analysts have suspected.
Not that Microsoft's earlier sales claim meant there were 100 million people running Windows 8 on their PCs. A good chunk of those licenses were sold to hardware OEMs for use on devices that hadn't even been built yet, let alone shipped.
Back-of-napkin estimates suggest that the actual number of Windows 8 devices in use is about 40 per cent lower than the number of licenses Microsoft claims to have sold.
Reller made no comparison to Windows 7 sales in her Thursday comments, either, and with good reason. Microsoft managed to sell 240 million licenses for that OS in its first year – 20 per cent more than the number of Windows 8 licenses that have shipped at the 16-month mark.
Much of the blame for Windows 8's slower growth can be placed on the downturn in the PC market. And yet Windows 8 was designed to work on more types of devices than Windows 7 was – most notably tablets, which are reportedly selling like hotcakes.
In the past, Microsoft has tried to argue that if Windows 8 tablets weren't moving as fast as their Android and iOS cousins, it was the hardware makers' own fault. Industry insiders told The Reg that the software giant scolded OEMs for not building enough high-end tablets and Ultrabooks to show off Windows 8's features.
Redmond now seems to have reconsidered that stance, however. Reller told the audience at the Goldman Sachs conference that "right sizing" Windows so that it can run on devices with more modest specs is one of Microsoft's top objectives.
Another is getting more software written for Windows 8, she said.
"Bringing developers onto the platform, getting apps into the store, it couldn't possibly be a higher priority," Reller explained. "The number one priority of our developer team is to really get those apps populated."
Even given those efforts, however, it will likely be a long time before Windows 8's market share surpasses that of earlier versions. According to current figures from Net Applications, Windows 7 still commands more than 47 per cent of the desktop OS market, compared to Windows 8's roughly 11 per cent.
And nearly a third of all PCs are reportedly still running Windows XP, even though Microsoft plans to end support for that version in April. If those customers have held out this long, convincing them to upgrade to Windows 8 – and not Android, iOS, OS X, Linux, or even Windows 7 – will be a tall order. ®
I have to right click the “start” button. Left clicking just takes me to the metro screen.
I had a crummy Dell Inspiron 531 w Windows Vista, run by an AMD processor w 3 gigs of RAM. For some reason that was one of the fastest computers I’ve ever had. Getting around on it, even w Aero, was just zippy. Never experienced the supposed nightmares of Vista (after a few tweaks, of course).
My newer computer, w Win 7, has been a bit more of a pain to tame. Much more “power”, but less zippy.
I like Windows 7, Windows XP and even Windows Vista.
I do not like the Windows for homos and metrosexuals that they sell as Windows 8.
I have tried it on several machines and it couldn’t suck more.
Keep your important files on a flash drive for easy transport to a new system. My home Vista died suddenly in December. The motherboard went. But the Techs who built me the new Win 7 desk top were able to capture all of my files — lots of family pictures, Christmas card address list, etc. They can’t always do that, but I was lucky.
But XP will no longer receive upgrades and tech support in a couple of months. I just replaced my Win 98 computer in shipping with my old XP, upgraded to Win 7 and scrubbed of all its data. It’s a lot faster and (hopefully) stable.
I’m still using a Win98 laptop for payroll. I have to figure out a solution there because my payroll software is no longer supported.
Except for payroll, we are operating on a 100% Win 7 platform now.
I’m planning on it.
Looking for the right device(s) to save stuff to.
Not sure how to save old emails from Outlook.
Whenever I do get a new ‘puter, I want to forego saving and transferring EVERYTHING from the old laptop to the new desktop(to avoid the bugs and IE crap on it now).
I know a number of people who have converted from Windows 8 to Windows 7. Version 8 may be better but for the average Joe it is easier to use 7.
Windows 8 is enhanced Windows 7!
Yes I love 7. I hardly miss XP.
Another dark secret is OEM sellers install Windows 7 on machines, and ship those machines with Windows 8 discs, and Microsoft calls them Windows 8 sales. So their sales are waaay less than what they claim.
Looking forward to Windows 9, which is supposed to fix all the idiocy of Windows 8, making it more like Windows 7.
In reality Windows 8 is just Windows Me all over again.
Good Rant ! !
C: \ Users \ yer user name \ AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \Outlook \ Outlook.pst
If you use Outlook's Calendar, search for *.ics and save the result/s likewise.
On new or upgraded system, reinstall Office, then < File / Import / Import from another program or file / Personal Folder File (.pst) >
It's funny, the overwhelming number of people who bitch about Windows 8 "sucking" never looked at or tried it -- they're just repeating what their ignorant friends are saying or what they're reading on the chat boards.
I'll be the first to say Microsoft screwed the pooch big time mixing user interface metaphor's, however it's easy to get Windows 8 to boot to desktop and look/feel like Windows 7 -- only much, much faster.
I wouldn't go back to that slow-ass Windows 7 if you paid me.
thanks for the info.
I wish there were a transfer program that said what was what in plain english instead of trying to dicipher what it is and if I truly need it.
Not to mention if people purchased Win8 devices and “upgraded” to Win7
Following that procedure will import your Inbox & subfolders, Sent stuff, Contact list/s, etc, etc .. iow, all your old Outlook stuff to your new machine.
You can also check out MS's Windows Easy Transfer.
But even that will basically clone your current setup to the new box.
Unfortunately, at least in my experience, there's no good/easy/fast way to cull out junk you don't want transferred other than by nuking it on a per file/app basis prior to running Easy Transfer.
If you're feeling hinky about it and/or have important stuff you can't afford to have hosed up, it might be worth spending a few $ to have a reputable local tech do it for you.
But even then, backing up your current drive beforehand (or at minimum all your 'my' stuff) to some flavor of external media is good insurance against that awful sinking 'omg it's gone !' experience.
I’m quite pleased after moving all my boxes from XP to Win8. Use Classic Shell or Start8 to boot directly to desktop and it’s just like XP or 7 but more robust.
Why do manufacturers inflict the bad versions of windows on their customers? Why wouldn’t they continue to sell XP (when Vista was obviously a train wreck) or sell Win7 instead of Win8 now?
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