Windows 8 sales fall short of Microsoft's internal projections
Initial sales of the Windows 8 operating system are said to be "well below" Microsoft's internal projections.
Citing a "trusted" source, Paul Thurott of Supersite for Windows said Windows 8 is off to a weak start, but Microsoft doesn't believe sales have been affected by the software itself. Instead, the thinking in Redmond, Wash., is said to be that PC makers have offered "lackluster" designs, along with limited availability.
That disappointment with Microsoft's PC partners is said to have further reaffirmed the company's strategy with the new Surface tablet, which is the first computer designed and manufactured by the company itself.
Thurott surmises that the initial disappointment of Windows 8 is related to a number of issues, including a slumping economy, confusing range of device types, and the touch-centric interface of Windows 8 Metro.
"The net effect of all this stuff, I think, contributes to a wait-and-see approach with Windows 8," he said. "And that is exactly the opposite of what Microsoft and even the broader industry should want at this time."
Word of disappointing Windows 8 sales came after it was announced that the head of the project, Steven Sinofsky, was leaving the company. Reports have said he was ousted by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who allegedly had the backing of company co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates.
Sinofsky's departure has been compared to the recent purported firing of Scott Forstall from Apple. Forstall was in charge of Apple's flagship iOS operating system found on the iPhone and iPad, but also oversaw the transition to iOS 6 and Apple's new Maps application, which was regarded as a disappointment.
Citing a "trusted" source, Paul Thurott of Supersite for Windows said Windows 8 is off to a weak start, but Microsoft doesn't believe sales have been affected by the software itself. Instead, the thinking in Redmond, Wash., is said to be that PC makers have offered "lackluster" designs, along with limited availability.
That disappointment with Microsoft's PC partners is said to have further reaffirmed the company's strategy with the new Surface tablet, which is the first computer designed and manufactured by the company itself.
Thurott surmises that the initial disappointment of Windows 8 is related to a number of issues, including a slumping economy, confusing range of device types, and the touch-centric interface of Windows 8 Metro.
"The net effect of all this stuff, I think, contributes to a wait-and-see approach with Windows 8," he said. "And that is exactly the opposite of what Microsoft and even the broader industry should want at this time."
Word of disappointing Windows 8 sales came after it was announced that the head of the project, Steven Sinofsky, was leaving the company. Reports have said he was ousted by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who allegedly had the backing of company co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates.
Sinofsky's departure has been compared to the recent purported firing of Scott Forstall from Apple. Forstall was in charge of Apple's flagship iOS operating system found on the iPhone and iPad, but also oversaw the transition to iOS 6 and Apple's new Maps application, which was regarded as a disappointment.
Comments
That's true but MS has no one to blame but itself for positioning the Win OEMs to race to the bottom for scraps.
So, I guess we will see MS making their own computers soon as well. After the shift to making their own phones, tablets, and computers MS will rename themselves, Pear.
When I picture Ballmer and Gates, I see this brash a hole getting what he wants and Gates doesn't have the balls to stand up to him. Sinofsky shouldn't have been fired, Ballmer should be. What good thing has he done since taking over?
Quote:
Originally Posted by whoda
Microsoft to OEM: Its not us, its you! lol
So, I guess we will see MS making their own computers soon as well. After the shift to making their own phones, tablets, and computers MS will rename themselves, Pear.
When I picture Ballmer and Gates, I see this brash a hole getting what he wants and Gates doesn't have the balls to stand up to him. Sinofsky shouldn't have been fired, Ballmer should be. What good thing has he done since taking over?
But what will happen to HP, Dell, etc?
Quote:
Originally Posted by whoda
…Sinofsky shouldn't have been fired, Ballmer should be. What good thing has he done since taking over?
Balmer seems to be one of the world’s richest incompetent idiots!
A LOT of people HATED OS X - because it meant buying ALL new software and OS X was REALLY buggy. I know - I was at HP using a Mac G3 Tower doing design work for HP.
And then came the jump of OS X from G3/G4/G5 Macs to Intel Macs.
So can't ring the death knell for Windows 8 quite yet.
From the looks of it, all the pre-black Friday sales of Win8 PCs are pretty much sold out - I'm watching the Best Buy ones right now.
This one will be a slow-upswing.
No~. An OS with a worse usability change than Vista and uglier, more complicated UX than Bob isn't doing well?
Stop. The. Presses.
Originally Posted by LuxoM3
A LOT of people HATED OS X - because it meant buying ALL new software…
Subtle, bu~t I still caught it.
I went right out and bought a couple copies of Win 7 OEM just to have around for any new office PCs we might need in the future. I certainly don't want to be stuck having to deal with Win 8 from the looks of it.
I haven't actually gone down to the Microsoft Store to try it, but I don't think people are going to respond very well to such a radical change even if it is a slight improvement. Most Windows users are ok with the way Windows was. They have learned to get around the interface just fine.
Most Windows people don't usually upgrade their machines anyway so Windows 8 sales are going to be almost exclusively new PCs and we've been hearing for a year or more that PC sales are down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
…Sinofsky's departure has been compared to the recent purported firing of Scott Forstall from Apple. Forstall was in charge of Apple's flagship iOS operating system found on the iPhone and iPad, but also oversaw the transition to iOS 6 and Apple's new Maps application, which was regarded as a disappointment.
Wouldn’t it be nice to read a piece that didn’t contain a reference to iOS 6 maps?
It might be fair to say that the typical buyers of Windows computers may be in a more vulnerable economic position than typical Mac buyers.
I guess you don't have young children, the Pear is already taken by iCarly. Lol
http://icarly.wikia.com/wiki/Pear_Company
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuxoM3
It's a BIG transition for PC owners. I remember when Apple went to OS X from OS 9 in the early 2000s.
A LOT of people HATED OS X - because it meant buying ALL new software and OS X was REALLY buggy. I know - I was at HP using a Mac G3 Tower doing design work for HP.
And then came the jump of OS X from G3/G4/G5 Macs to Intel Macs.
So can't ring the death knell for Windows 8 quite yet.
From the looks of it, all the pre-black Friday sales of Win8 PCs are pretty much sold out - I'm watching the Best Buy ones right now.
This one will be a slow-upswing.
The OS9 - OSX transition was not a major UI paradigm shift like Microsoft is planning with their new UI formerly know as Metro which doesn't offer any advantages and adds many drawback over Windows 7 for non-touch PC.
Microsoft is going the wrong way to force the Touch oriented UI on desktop computer, I fail to see any value in a window less Windows 8 for workstation and heavy duty applications.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacManFelix
Wouldn’t it be nice to read a piece that didn’t contain a reference to iOS 6 maps?
But this gives me the opening to tell my first iOS maps story. This past weekend I had to travel an hour (and across state lines) to a co-worker's house warming party. I used the Map app on my iPhone 4s, and it compared favorably to my experience using a stand-alone GPS and was an improvement over the pre-iOS 6 Map app. We got there on time without any confusion. A collegue who was traveling a similar route got there late and complained about Google maps having them "exit route 270 for 0.1 miles and then getting right back on" before directing them to real exit when it came up*. Score: iOS 6 Map 1, Google Maps 0.
*My theory was that Google was directing them around a dead skunk in the road, but it could have just been a map bug.
'Instead, the thinking in Redmond, Wash., is said to be that PC makers have offered "lackluster" designs, along with limited availability.'
That's right, instead of blaming your newly restyled OS, blame everyone else. Despite the hardware designs looking like their previous Win 7, & MacBook Air (inspired by Intel???) look-a-like counterparts.
Every time I see a PC running Win 8, I think it looks like it's a toy aimed at young kids, with all those primary coloured blocks.
And the slide into irrelevance continues.
MS is done. The competition's already run away with the market. It's a slow bleed that began years ago. All that money. All that R&D, with barely anything to show for it. Meanwhile Apple with only a fraction of MS' resources, has bitch-slapped them up and down the market for years now.
MS desperately needed Windows 8 and Windows Phone to be huge hits. That's not happening. MS knows how to generate cachet and "cool" like I know how to speak Aramaic. Not happening. MICROSOFT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND INTERFACE DESIGN. This has been the case since Day 1. It took Apple to get the ball rolling for the rest of the industry when it came to UI. This is a key point. MS is all red-tape, administration and colossal inefficiency. An enterprise solutions provider masquerading as a consumer tech company.
Not to mention that that Surface thing doesn't even know whether it's coming or going.
Windows Phone = dud
Surface = dud
Windows 8 = dud
Sinofsky didn't leave because he was "hard to work with" or some nonsense like that. He was ALWAYS hard to work with, and yet he's been there forever. He was given the boot because someone at a higher level needed to take the fall for all this failure, because Ballmer sure as hell wasn't going to take any heat. Bet on that situation not lasting very long, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
MS knows how to generate cachet and "cool" like I know how to speak Aramaic.
LOL
Exactly. PC market isn't about quality or user experience. It's about sales numbers and how low can you go! I too want an inexpensive system, but only to a point that it works..
However, Microsoft is also to blame, for forcing a touch-centric OS onto desktops and non-touch laptops. The proverbial toaster+fridge comes to mind on this one.. They REALLY needed to bake Windows 8 UI some more on non-touch based systems..
They also shot themselves in the foot with 2 releases. x86 and ARM(RT) editions. It has been confusing customers. A tech-head like me gets it, but the average customer only knows one thing.. I want it to work with my stuff. They don't care about the processor architecture, as long as it's fast and does what they need.
There is a reason it's called OS X and iOS.. it's district, obvious, and recognizable that they are different types of systems with different application requirements.
I'm shocked.
Well, not really, it isn't like anybody didn't predict this, including me, on various past threads here.
I've always claimed that many PC users are unsophisticated people who are not accustomed to Touch interfaces or any new, innovative tech. Apple users have been using the best trackpads on the planet for more than a decade now. Making the jump to iOS Touch screen devices was no big deal for Apple users. Microsoft is merely trying to follow along in Apple's footsteps.
How many windows users still use some old, outdated version of Explorer to browse with still? These are not exactly cutting edge people that we're talking about here. There's also the issue that Windows 8 is pretty ugly looking, with those puke worthy color schemes. I also thought that the commercial for the Surface was pretty dumb.