July 2013 Windows 8 market share

Only doing slightly better at Vista's expense. Not good news as it seems most are not buying in hopes of Blue.

Windows 8 Grabs More Market Share, But So Do Older Versions - CIO.com

http://news.investors.com/technolog...ndows-8-market-share-barely-moves-in-july.htm

Phone news somewhat related I guess;

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/07/windows-phone-us-market-share-falls-to-4/

 

Yep, Wndows Phone seems to have peaked in April, and is now loosing marketshare. Not a good sign at all.

 

Looks like I'm one of the few who actually like Windows Phone :/.

I'm waiting until I get back on campus before I try out 8.1 Preview. Internet's too slow at home to download.

 

With Windows Phone it does count on who you ask but the numbers compared to Apple or Android just are not there yet. It would be nice to see a true third competitor out there but time will tell.

 

It's a lovely phone OS. Just doesn't have a lot of fart apps yet

 

Windows Phone's sales are growing. Loss of Microsoft's smartphone "market share" is due to corporations finally phasing out their Windows Mobile fleets, just like they're phasing out BB7 devices. Ignore that and just look at Windows Phone devices, and WP8's sales are increasing. They're still in the single-digit range, but Nokia's Lumia line now outsells Blackberry's entire lineup and is comparable to some non-Samsung Android OEMs (I think Nokia Lumia sales numbers are somewhat comparable to Sony Xperia sales numbers, for example). I think it's a viable third-place competitor; it just needs some more time to build momentum (and get a few key apps like Instagram that are still missing from its app lineup).

 

I have to upgrade my phones soon. I was due in march but the three phones are holding up at this time, all three Android. I am hoping with 8.1 M$ wakes up, if not I will upgrade to new Android phones, give up hope of a RT tablet and put Ubuntu on my N10 and slowly migrate to Ubuntu usage only on the DTR. At first I'll use windows 7 for productivity where Linux won't due yet but in short order I should be able to replace most if not all Windows work.

 

The only reason Windows Phone seems to be selling in China is because they are selling the phones for super cheap. But everyone I have seen with it has told me that they were disappointed and regretted buying it.

 

Eh, different expectations I suppose. Bought mine for $50 at an AT&T, but oddly enough the sales rep tried to convince me *not* to buy my Lumia 900 because "Windows Phone 8 is coming out soon". I said, "So?"

Anyway, maybe relevant? Real-world confessions from Surface RT owners: Who loves it and why | PCWorld (Windows RT)

 

I am confused. Why would changes to a desktop OS's user interface affect your decision of which smartphone OS you're going to use. Either you like Windows Phone better or you like Android better. How do changes to Microsoft's OS for desktops/laptops/tablet PCs factor in?

 

Wow, the fluff never ends in that article. I'll agree though, especially with Office and outlook, it would have been great to have a tablet I could synch with my desktop but again Windows 8 and productivity on non touch systems is not what I am looking for. Also I want my Aero Glass back! TBH I am not a huge game player with the tablet so no biggie there for me.

Albeit there is no real way to integrate the functions etc. I am not going to give M$ any of my money! Nor will I be a statistic in their favor. Also who is to say they can't do to my phone, one day, what they did to my desktop? While yes this sounds a bit overboard I feel their actions of late have been as well..........

 

Defonitely; going in blind without prior research leads to nothing but disappointment (regardless of the product we're talking about). For the phone, I wanted something cheap (2yr contract sub), had the apps I wanted, and I wasn't very interested in iOS or Android (in short, I find their interfaces very boring and uninteresting).

Checked out a Surface RT and despite the bad said about it, it was actually great for my wants/needs. Even the Touch cover was alright, though still overpriced. NBR loaded somewhat slowly though, oddly enough, whereas Google, Facebook, CNN, etc loaded just fine; probably due to the ads on this site (I'm disappointed that IE RT doesn't have an ad blocker). Really, that's my only compliant about the device.

 

If you switch to the v-bulletin default theme it loads much faster....

 

But it was on the default theme (I didn't log into NBR on the tablet). It might have been a fluke, and it doesn't impact my opinion of the Surface RT much.

 

The notebook review default style is not the v-bulletin default style. The notebook review default style absolutely sucks for speed, annoyingness, and wasted space.

 

Windows 8 has a few nice things going for it too: better SSD management (as in you can send the TRIM command on demand and schedule it), the Pro version includes Hyper V Client, I prefer the new task manager. Yes, the first time it launched in "dumb mode", but it's "smart mode" is better than the one in windows 7 imo.

I wouldn't use 7 on my touch/pen enabled devices (Elitebook 2760p and Thinkpad Tablet 2), for those I prefer Windows 8. For the record, I still think a touchscreen on a traditional notebook is mostly useless, on a tablet, tablet PC or convertible device, it is another matter.

 

I had a touchscreen notebook for a little while. Definitely has pros and cons. It can be fun and fast navigation but ergonomically for me it would stress my shoulder too quickly. The bouncing lid isn't too much fun either, always felt like I was going to break the thing or put my pen/finger through the LCD.

 

My daughter just called from her husbands phone. Hers is now gone with a cracked screen. So now I am forced really early to start the phone upgrade process. Since Windows 8 shows no promise of fixing DWM or gadgets on the desktop I am forced not to give them ANY money and get Android phones. I know it is only three devices but all these small missed sales add up. Also as mentioned before this sets my tablet and then PC OS track towards Linux.......................

Edit; as they say about the best laid plans, but I did hold out as long as I could...............

 

Here is some other related news;

Windows tablets gain market, but Surface still struggles | PCWorld

Smartphone Market Share Stories Benefit Android And Obscure Everyone Else - Forbes

Windows Phone 8 Nearly Doubles Market Share | Top Tech News

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2045...re-market-share-but-so-do-older-versions.html

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetel...s-up-its-tiny-share-of-the-smartphone-market/

http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Windows-Phone-8-Market-Share-Up/story.xhtml?story_id=021001N2LKQX

Edit and slightly off topic; Updated to three Androids myself, For me and my daughter Droid Razr Maxx HD's as the older ones still uses SD cards and my son in law a Casio Commander. I just hope M$ realizes the paths it sets people on can have long term effects................

 

I remember that you were against Windows 8 in earlier day when we discussed about it a few months back. Do you have change of mind?

 

Windows 8 - Manage Wireless Networks?

 

The biggest problem here is M$ wants the machine running the OS to be more like a simple device rather than the full powered PC. This has been happening on every OS iteration. The problem in removing control(s) is the base OS is still the same so we need those controls. Be it that they are removed, harder to get too or almost impossible to figure out. This then tends to force more and more third party apps to remedy the issue(s). As these problems come to the light of day it just makes it that much harder for the OS to become dominant.

The other problem here too is the casual user can become confused. If they perceive the OS is screwing with their network security with no apparent fix they will tell 10 others who will tell 10 others etc.. The same is true if you tell those casual users they must use CLI. Windows 8 can then undeservedly get a bad name for something, while complex, is controllable and fixable...........

 

I was never against Windows 8, I was always in the I don't really care whether I use 7 or 8 camp. It does some nice things and other things that I like less compared to 7. If someone who doesn't like Windows 8 makes a good point, I'll say so, same for someone who likes it; if the point they make is something I agree with, I'll roll with it. I see no reason to upgrade a Windows 7 machine to Windows 8, but I see no reason to downgrade a Windows 8 machine to Windows 7 either. I thought my position has always been pretty clear.

 

Ok, I respect your opinion. That is a nice machine you got there. I hope you don't have to haul it around. I always upgrade machine to newer OS if it is possible. New OS always better than its predecessor.

 

Even as someone who likes Windows 8, I find that blanket statement pretty darned hard to defend.

 

You don't have to defend it. I run it on my network. It has been proven. I don't know about other people, but I have smooth transition migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 8. I do it in large scale like thousand machines and up. Tablet with Intel Atom even runs surprisingly well. Try that on Windows 7. That is just small example. Dell Latitude 10 becomes a big hit in my organization. People drop iPad left and right for this baby.

 

So Windows ME trumps 98SE and Vista kicks XP's butt?

 

Vista is better than XP. Hardware manufactures just could not catch up at that time. Vista was ahead of its time back then. Don't forget that Windows 7 that you love so much was built on Vista. I can't comment on Windows ME because it was my time. I was just a kid back then. I was afraid that you were going to ask about Windows NT and Cisco Works.

 

Got to love your post's. You have to remember these are from incarnations of the "Windows OS" being compared, not Cisco. Also in your signature;

"Dell Studio XPS 1645
Core i7 720QM|8GB DDR3-1333MHz|ATI 4670 1GB|15.6" 1080P WLED|Bluetooth 370| Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit "

Just Say'n................

 

I too liked Vista better than XP. :wink:

 

Microsoft's marketing strategy is effective on some, apparently.

 

I had been using XP since its release date. I had jumped on the Vista hate bandwagon even when it was called Longhorn. I had no intention of ever using it. However, almost a year after release, I got two free copies of Vista Ultimate. I delivered one to my father to install on his Mac workstation, and the second copy I installed on my desktop. I was very happy with it. It was a lot more stable and secure than XP was, and it was prettier too. On my laptop I wasn't sure about it because battery life was a little lower with Vista than with XP, and performance was down a little bit. But after switching between them several times, I decided to stick with Vista due to its improved stability.

 

LOL! I don't know that I have a lot of fans here in this forum. I am too lazy to update my signature, and I don't want to sound like a show off if I add too many machines like Dell XPS 12, 13, 15, Latitude, Precision, OptiPlex, PowerEdge or my hypervisor or etc. I just come here to have fun. People would hate me if I show too much details, so I try to be modest. They are just computers, and I am their master. They are just the instruments for me to be succeed.

Let me get back to the topic. At that time, Windows 7 was the best thing we have. Windows 8 wasn't born back then. Please don't overanalyze my signature. It is all about knowledge not the machines.

 

Fan? Wow, there are no words and the ones I can think of off hand would get me banned from the site..............

Edit; when it comes to market share, the topic of the post, it is all about the machines..................

 

You are the reason why I love this forum. I would like to let you know that I enjoy your post here. Windows 8 market share will increase eventually. Just give it time. People are slow to adopt new technology. I am just quick to learn new technology, and I have fun with it. Heck, MS stock down 9% and I even buy one myself. I believe in the company business plus it pays better than CD rate. It is a good investment.

Technology is up and down all the time. Nobody is invincible in this business.

 

I don't doubt that Vista addressed serious shortcomings XP was up against; though it was delayed . . delayed . . . delayed, you just knew it wasn't going to be perfect, even awful. Also realize that there is quite a challenge financially getting those new products adopted. But Microsoft (and others too), have a really bad problem when they refuse to acknowledge what people want. It is well known now that you'll get everything that you don't want, and nothing you do want. In addition, get saddled with something that is just downright hard to use, learn and switch to for the average person. And, I lament the lack of help documentation and support, ugh.

I think maybe the whole issue boils down to trust. While that may have ebbs and flows, distrust is picking up again. That may be a good thing and hopefully a push for more modular interface options.

 

Usually a good idea to buy low, then sell high . Hopefully Microsoft rebounds so that you and I make a decent profit off of it.

The under-the-hood changes in 8 are certainly impressive, and I don't think anyone is here to argue against that. The UI seems to be the #1 problem for most people, myself included. If 8 kept a desktop-only UI (or, at least gave us a "Metro off" switch in the beginning), I would have upgraded immediately. Though windows 7 does everything I need to do with a computer, so it really would have only been a nice-to-have upgrade.

Technically, Windows 8 still allows you to get work done, and the Xbox One still technically allows you to play games. But yeah, they way those are implemented were awful imo, especially the Xbox One.

 

I used to trust that M$ would at least try their best to give the end users what they wanted. Even though it may add some dialogs. While vista was early they put the coding time in to fix it. To me that same drive, to fix it, is not there nor do I trust that they will.

The fact that with 8.1 supposedly they are listening? Well again I do not see it nor do I trust they are actually listening. Yet again M$ is doing what they want despite user input. This will create further consumer distrust. I just do not know where the tipping point lies for M$ to wake up and catch themselves before they fall.

 

Technically it's usable.

Here's an example of someone who's gotten burned.

A guy, this would've could've been me at a point in time, let's say has minimal computer setup experience and has learned a few things, most painfully, on Vista, but whatever.
This guy works heavy duty construction with drive times to and from work 3-4 hours. Tired, dirty, and hungry. Phone calls need to be returned. Bills need to be paid. Life's maintenance needs attention, like truck, laundry, cleaning up. Then some entertainment and sleep, then restart. Rinse and repeat everyday.

The computer with Vista broke down. Time for a new one. Made the decision and it has W8 on it - cool, it's new, they would've fixed stuff. Made it easier to do those little tasks more naturally, intuitively. Be able to get all those surfing, family and friends pictures off the old system and onto the backup drive someone gave as a gift.

It sits, rarely touched. Can't find file manager. Doesn't know how to find the backup drive with pictures on it. Doesn't know how to turn it off. Wonders why there isn't a start button with the simple menu that could be customized. Videos wont play. Lost in a sea of changes to the interface.

The father has been a programmer since punch cards and reels. He's still on XP but just got 7.

Helpless.


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Addendum:

I have the equivalent of a $5000.00 laptop computer and a $300.00 OS.

Microsoft can't be bothered to include a simple alarm notification with sticky notes or any alarm for that matter, or a simple way to turn off the LCD only.

No big deal? I need reminders to tell me to stop, get away from this thing, ranging from over strain to a simple task that doesn't need a 130.00 outlook program (which BTW won't even do that without setting a full blown task reminder and has to be open)
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Further, with 7, I'm hyper vigilant over the explorer delete and focus problem. I learned that lesson the first day with it after deleting 2GB worth of data - accidently, permanently. Lucky for backups. They still haven't fixed it and it is well known. Who "really" needs to delete from the left pane?

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Yeah well after 25 years of being a loyal upgrader. I won't even upgrade office like that anymore. Done with it.

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Yeah, even with office they now want to get on that 365 program, come on now. I was lucky as a friend had no choice to get a win 8 machine recently but at least I found office 2010 for her. FYI her and her family HATE windows 8 but it was what they could afford...............

 

Well, you can still get a stand alone copy of Office 2013, the higher price is a bit ridiculous though, but the option is there. I got a 365 subscription as a part of an upgrade (2010 university to 2013 university) and I have to say that 2013 is pretty nice. I don't mind the subscription model as long as there is a reasonably priced stand alone version available too.

I find the 365 subscription works well for me (the extra 20 GB of skydrive is nice), but considering I got 4 years for 90$ (price for 2010 university), it was pretty cheap.

 

Ahh, yes, that one... Good thing I'm not using Windows Explorer anymore!

 

For constantly charging you every year just to use the program is alot wasted time and money when one time pay and you own it for life...and install when you needed and is with you when you move your laptop to another location and don't get wifi that is the one constant people forget no wifi you can forget 365....it's not going to help you....

 

Now, in August of 2013, when you compare Vista SP 2 with XP SP3, yes, Vista is better. A little too late though. However, when Vista was released it ran like a three-legged-dog with a bout of diarrhea, and was buggy as hell.

Not that XP on its release was anything to write home about, which is why I held on to W2K for dear life many years after XP was introduced.

Oh they caught up alright, the real issue was that the *huge* percentage of customer base just wouldn't ditch their perfectly-running XP machines in order to get the (supposedly) "latest and greatest" from MS...

I'm not forgetting anything. W7 is what Vista should've been in the first place.

ME was a Sandy-grade-disaster. NT was perfectly fine for its day.

 

Time to answer some of my fan posts. As you can see that ajkula66 dissects my post line by line. I got to love that guy. LOL! Anyway, let me answer your first. MS stock has been flat for past couple years. I hold their stocks only for dividend only. I don't think I am going to make money out of MS anytime soon. I am there for a long run. Yeah, everyone tells me to buy low and sell high just like you said. LOL! I am not actually day trader, so I buy stable stock. GE is also a good one if you ask me.

You can kind if boot to desktop in Windows 8.1, but I don't think I am going to do that on my network. Users are be able to adapt to new UI just fine. Actually, helpdesk calls have been a lot less than it was, so I take it a good sign in my environment. 8.1 will natively supports wireless display too. That is what I have been waiting for. I guess just a handful people in this forum complain about Windows 8. They are very hard to please.

 

Yes sir! merlin is at your service today. I had a rough day today as usual. I can see that you are my big fan, which is good. I like you too. To answer your concerns or questions. I deployed Vista back in the old day. It was better OS than XP even before SP2. I just have to give it more memory, which is rare at that time. Most people were still on either 512MB or 1GB of RAM. 2GB was a new norm back then.

I don't know if you care about SMB version 2 or self maintenance feature on Vista, but Windows XP didn't have it back then. It is kind of pain to manage XP in large network. Vista made my job a whole lot easier actually. I can't discuss about NT and Windows ME. I know a thing or two about NT, which are PDC and BDC and that's it. Newer server generation has read-write domain controller now. I just have to distribute FSMO role correctly, and I am set.

From what I observe, you are a type of user who slow to adopt to new technology. Well, your characteristic is probably opposite to mine too. I am quick to jump on new technology.

 

When I went from Access 2003 to 2010 that is when I fully realized how badly things had become. I had managed to not upgrade anything for nearly 9 years.
The simple, &Access that could be put into a label name control to make "A" the Alt + A hot key for quickly moving to that control no longer functioned. It is supposed to but doesn't. It's documented and doesn't. It's NOT recommended to write some code because they might fix and it will crash the program, probably because you know, two separate code can't operate on the same object at the same time. Oh but Access 2003 has such bad security problems you can't go back. BTW, if the file stays as 2003 the hot key will function correctly when opened in 2010. The problem is still there - hasn't been fixed.
Oh wait, yes it has: In Office 2013. Please upgrade.
To me it is a slap in the face.

I don't even want to get started on this pseudo Ribbon BS. The only feature I like is the context menu appearing on selected hover - but I can right click just as easily.

The problem with them now is they have no intention of ever realizing a rock solid interface. This is because I think NT/XP was such a success.

I'm not an expert with this stuff or very good at predicting the future. It would seem to me that kernel development should be a priority for them. Modularize so that there can be interface competition. Have certifications for them if necessary. But stop this nonsense of foisting gimmicks and tests on paying customers.

 

Hate the ribbon as well but such be life for 2007 and above. I still do not use the Docx or other .XXXx extensions. I still know some people on the older office software. These subscription models though should help M$ out if Win8 doesn't take off at least then creating a steady stream of funds.................

 

Vista ran like a V-8 with 6 out of 8 cylinders taking a day off on my T43p with 2GB of RAM back then. The same machine (well, OK, heavily modded since then) runs W7 like a charm, even nowadays. Heck it ran even W8 just fine, I just wasn't crazy about it for other reasons.

I don't know. Our IT guys managed XP on tens of thousands of computers nationwide just fine until we upgraded to W7 company-wide.

Not at all. I just prefer to use the setup that works for me, until something better comes along. I'll test just about anything and everything that comes out, but it doesn't mean I'll keep using it if it offers no tangible benefit. New technology per se doesn't impress me one bit.

For *my* purposes, W8 offers nothing that would make me move away from W7. The same held true with Vista over XP.

 

I'm overly cautious about trying new software, could you recommend a good replacement?