Windows 8.x Market Share Down

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According to the latest data available it looks like Windows 7 actually gained market share last month at the expense of Windows 8.

Windows 7 picked up 1.50 points of usage last month, and that seems to have come at the expense of Windows 8.x, which dropped 1.11 points over the same timeframe.
Click to expand...
 
Its hard to argue, windows 8 is flop.
Windows 10 is looking good, and its probably what windows 8 would have been had there been less disconnect at MS.
I have used windows 8 enough to say, yeah, is OK for some web surfing and such.. the second I try to do more, it starts to test my patience.
No I am not going to explain what, it just does.. and from 95 to 7, I haven't felt like that.
 
Same old thing. Microsoft rushed an OS to market, and now the one that is coming after it (Windows 10) will fix all (most) if its problems. They should really just have a six year release cycle, and just make the good OSes.

I am using Windows 10 right now, and I like it much better than Windows 8.X.
 
I like how Microsoft manipulated the data early on to make investors think it was the best selling OS to date. Truth be told, Microsoft was literally giving away the OS to OEM vendors and forcing them to install it.
 
Well, in the rest of the article before the stuff about Windows 7 unsurprisingly taking some of Windows 8.x's market share, you can also see there's some Internet Explorer 8 :eek: usage increase too. This kinda makes me think that there might be some linkage to businesses using Win7 with old browsers that work with un-updated websites and that some of the Windows 8 losses are just because of statistical errors either in previous months (counting more 8 than was actually being used) or this month (counting less 8 than is currently being used).

Either way, it's kinda sad that XP still has more than 2x the installs as 8 and 8.1 combined. In a few years, I betcha 8.x will look like Vista does now with like 3%.

Maybe the tablet/touchscreen fad on desktops and laptops is about to end too. I can't wait for that to be over so we can get back to having nice normal computers...without glossy plastic parts thanks, because that fad was filled with dumb just like the tablet/touch one is now and we don't need to revisit that again.
 
jpm100 said:
Linux Mint went up by +1 yesterday morning. :p
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That means you're in the 1% category on the chart! Everyone aspires to be a 1%er. :)
hC3855102
 
Let's get this thread up to 100 pages before the end of the day?
 
ha ha dot el oh double el

I can understand why Win7 got a bump: new systems replacing older ones in corporations will go with 7 because Win8 lol. But the XP numbers didn't really dip, which could mean that for Internet browsing systems at least, those holdouts aren't in a rush to upgrade OS or computers.
 
There are still so many idiots running XP. Guess where all that scam spam is coming from...
 
Liger88 said:
lol right? Remember everyone else has the problem, not Windows 8/8.1.
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Windows 8.x is too unfamiliar to many keyboard and mouse Windows desktop users and isn't polished enough to work well enough as a hybrid. Many people that are so called defenders have said this for a long time and I've personally made specific criticisms of usability issues for a long time. Full screen elements and certain mouse interactions like hot corners just don't play well for lots of folks.

That said, the defenders have pointed out that a lot of what's been said about Windows 8.x often not true. All of the claims of tons more mouse clicks to do things is often wrong. When issues like this arise its often because people were not familiar with what's there. And even now things that were fixed in 8.1 are still being reported as issues.

But it is obvious to me and most rational folks that 8 is a lost cause at this point and it's time to move on. But not everything in 8 is disaster. If you looked at the Windows 10 launch event, the modern UI isn't going anyway nor the hybrid design. Those things weren't the problem, it was the overall execution. Being able to run modern apps in windows, while that's obvious it's also a huge improvement from the desktop perspective. And these apps will still run just fine on tablets and with touch.
 
dgingeri said:
There are still so many idiots running XP. Guess where all that scam spam is coming from...
Click to expand...

I know one company that we hire to do business for us and still has 5000 XP units in the field on laptops and our new app won't run on Windows 7. They want us to troubleshoot it for them...nope.
 
dgingeri said:
There are still so many idiots running XP. Guess where all that scam spam is coming from...
Click to expand...

Just eliminated my 2nd to the last XP system at the office. Still have 1 virtual XP system to run some old apps/tools that won't work on anything newer, so it will be around for a long time.

As for spam, you are thinking clueless home users.
Even if they switched to Windows 7, their systems will be infected within weeks.
Nothing's going to save them since they open email attachments, click through the warnings and click on links they shouldn't. I've seen it too many times.
 
it's sad how ms messed this one up, windows 8.1 is a great OS with a terrible front end... metro needs to DIAF on the desktop

that being said once you install classic shell windows 8.1 is actually pretty nice, hyper-v and ad management integration is really good
 
pcjunkie said:
I know one company that we hire to do business for us and still has 5000 XP units in the field on laptops and our new app won't run on Windows 7. They want us to troubleshoot it for them...nope.
Click to expand...

That's the only way XP is going to go away, when companies have no choice because they can't buy new systems that run XP, or they need to run a new application that doesn't work on XP.

I work for a software company and the current version of the product is only supported on Windows 7 or higher. If you use XP, you are on your own, no support. Same with Server 2003, no support, must be Server 2008, 64 bit or better.

Of course from an IT standpoint, I have old applications/tools that don't work on anything later than XP or Server 2003. It's not worth replacing $10K worth perfectly good of equipment when I can just fire up an XP VM when I need to change some settings. As for the Server 2003, hopefully the old software will be replaced by next year, and I can finally eliminate the last couple servers.
 
So Windows 8's biggest competitor is Windows 7, and not OS X or Linux?

lol i just think that's hilarious.

But I guess Microsoft wins either way.
 
There's one thing I find off about this article ... the writer failed to say where he scraped up his info from \ where he got all his data from ... there's nothing in detail about what period of time he was getting his info was this just for the month Sept 2014 or year to date ... did he get his info from say Netmarketshare and StatCounter ? I only say this because his data looks just like Netmarketshare and StatCounter data.... and their data gathering is questionable at best , I say this because both companies show Vista has increase in market share this year .
Netmarketshare
Oct 2013 Nov 2013 Dec 2013 Jan 14 Feb 14 Mar 14 Apr 14 May 14 June 14 July 14 Aug 2014 Sept 2014

XP 31.24 31.22 28.98 29.23 29.53 27.69 26.29 25.27 25.31 24.82 23.89 23.87
Vista 3.63 3.57 3.61 3.3 3.1 2.99 2.89 2.9 2.95 3.05 3.02 3.07
Win 7 46.42 46.64 47.52 47.49 47.31 48.77 49.27 50.06 50.55 51.22 51.21 52.71
Win 8 7.53 6.66 6.89 6.63 6.38 6.41 6.36 6.29 5.93 5.92 6.28 5.59
Win 8.1 1.72 2.64 3.6 3.95 4.1 4.89 5.88 6.35 6.61 6.56 7.09 6.67

StatCounter data.
Oct 2013 Nov 2013 Dec 2013 Jan 14 Feb 14 Mar 14 Apr 14 May 14 June 14 July 14 Aug 2014 Sept 2014

XP 21.28 20.53 19.79 19.21 18.57 18.61 17.16 16.17 16.3 15.15 14.29 14.4
Vista 5.62 5.16 4.3 3.97 3.79 3.67 3.57 3.52 3.37 3.52 3.32 3.14
Win 7 54.89 55.13 54.8 54.32 55.2 54.68 55.11 55.06 55.03 55.33 55.67 54.86
Win 8 8.15 8 8.13 7.93 7.91 7.85 7.81 7.61 7.57 7.51 7.33 6.85
Win 8.1 0.32 1.18 2.22 3.19 3.87 4.48 5.24 6.17 6.7 7.45 8.25 8.95
 
Terminus said:
So Windows 8's biggest competitor is Windows 7, and not OS X or Linux?

lol i just think that's hilarious.

But I guess Microsoft wins either way.
Click to expand...

Not really. Their investors aren't happy with the lack of revenue. Sure they're still raking in the cash but not like they'd promised/hoped.

It is mildly amusing however that XP still has greater penetration than Vista and both iterations of 8 combined! :D
 
pavementeater said:
There's one thing I find off about this article ... the writer failed to say where he scraped up his info from \ where he got all his data from ... there's nothing in detail about what period of time he was getting his info was this just for the month Sept 2014 or year to date ... did he get his info from say Netmarketshare and StatCounter ? I only say this because his data looks just like Netmarketshare and StatCounter data.... and their data gathering is questionable at best , I say this because both companies show Vista has increase in market share this year .
Netmarketshare
Oct 2013 Nov 2013 Dec 2013 Jan 14 Feb 14 Mar 14 Apr 14 May 14 June 14 July 14 Aug 2014 Sept 2014

XP 31.24 31.22 28.98 29.23 29.53 27.69 26.29 25.27 25.31 24.82 23.89 23.87
Vista 3.63 3.57 3.61 3.3 3.1 2.99 2.89 2.9 2.95 3.05 3.02 3.07
Win 7 46.42 46.64 47.52 47.49 47.31 48.77 49.27 50.06 50.55 51.22 51.21 52.71
Win 8 7.53 6.66 6.89 6.63 6.38 6.41 6.36 6.29 5.93 5.92 6.28 5.59
Win 8.1 1.72 2.64 3.6 3.95 4.1 4.89 5.88 6.35 6.61 6.56 7.09 6.67

StatCounter data.
Oct 2013 Nov 2013 Dec 2013 Jan 14 Feb 14 Mar 14 Apr 14 May 14 June 14 July 14 Aug 2014 Sept 2014

XP 21.28 20.53 19.79 19.21 18.57 18.61 17.16 16.17 16.3 15.15 14.29 14.4
Vista 5.62 5.16 4.3 3.97 3.79 3.67 3.57 3.52 3.37 3.52 3.32 3.14
Win 7 54.89 55.13 54.8 54.32 55.2 54.68 55.11 55.06 55.03 55.33 55.67 54.86
Win 8 8.15 8 8.13 7.93 7.91 7.85 7.81 7.61 7.57 7.51 7.33 6.85
Win 8.1 0.32 1.18 2.22 3.19 3.87 4.48 5.24 6.17 6.7 7.45 8.25 8.95
Click to expand...

Damn non edit ... Meant to say vista dropped and then gained under NetMarketShare ..
but Anyway data fluxes to much to and the Ars article is just lacking on details ... err something like that... :p
 
W8, Microsoft Store, media app, new vocabulary, every time I get comfortable a new effort on my part gets stuck, figure, figure, research, what?,
So a lot of manufacturers are offering W7 as an alternative to W8 for us neoLuddites.
My reading also says W8 OEM will not be enthusiast friendly to motherboard changes.
Traditionally Microsoft Licensing agreement with W7 was reasonably flexible.
I do not see this mentioned much?
 
Wolf-R1 said:
Not really. Their investors aren't happy with the lack of revenue. Sure they're still raking in the cash but not like they'd promised/hoped.
Click to expand...

This doesn't make any sense considering that Microsoft's stock price is up over 60% since Windows 8 launched. In fact, some would say that Microsoft's ability to do well financially in spite of Windows 8 is kind of a good thing. Selling/licensing copies of Windows and desktop software in general (games might be an exception) is a dying business. Regardless of great any particular version of Windows may or may not be it's a business model that no one thinks is sustainable indefinitely.
 
nutzo said:
Just eliminated my 2nd to the last XP system at the office. Still have 1 virtual XP system to run some old apps/tools that won't work on anything newer, so it will be around for a long time.

As for spam, you are thinking clueless home users.
Even if they switched to Windows 7, their systems will be infected within weeks.
Nothing's going to save them since they open email attachments, click through the warnings and click on links they shouldn't. I've seen it too many times.
Click to expand...

Good points. I know which users are the smarter ones because they don't bring back their PC the next day all full of crapware going, "I don't know what happened. It was working fine yesterday."

I'm trying out the Technical Preview at work right now. I don't see a whole lot that is different from 8.1 Update 1 besides the inclusion of the Start menu.
 
MrCaffeineX said:
I'm trying out the Technical Preview at work right now. I don't see a whole lot that is different from 8.1 Update 1 besides the inclusion of the Start menu.
Click to expand...

Windowed modern apps, the virtual desktops and task manager and new snapping capability, it's already a significantly different desktop environment than either 7 or 8 out of the box if you use the features.
 
MrCaffeineX said:
I'm trying out the Technical Preview at work right now. I don't see a whole lot that is different from 8.1 Update 1 besides the inclusion of the Start menu.
Click to expand...

For a lot of users, this is the biggest difference. Just because they don't use the other features. If you get into the other stuff, there is a bit more difference.

There is more coming with Windows 10, though. This is just an early beta release. Great stuff for consumers and enterprises. I think with 10, it will be the OS that enterprises upgrade to after skipping 8. But, if they went with 8, it'll be a sweet and easy upgrade.
 
FLECOM said:
it's sad how ms messed this one up, windows 8.1 is a great OS with a terrible front end... metro needs to DIAF on the desktop

that being said once you install classic shell windows 8.1 is actually pretty nice, hyper-v and ad management integration is really good
Click to expand...

I really don't see what's so great about it. The fast boot up is just a form of hibernation, the performance differences are negligible, Hyper-V is inferior to free alternatives for non-Windows VMs, and they started charging extra for media center and requiring 8 Pro for it while simultaniously dropping their TV tuner certification program. I really don't like being nickle-and-dimed for features that were bundled with Vista/7 Home Premium, especially when the OS doesn't have anything new to make up for it. The whole Modern/Metro thing is a waste of resources and the flat GUI is ugly (though admittedly that's subjective).

As far as I can tell Windows 8 is just 7 repackaged to support touch and squeeze more money out of users. From nickle-and-diming for core Vista/7 features, to Bing/cloud integration, to pushing a UI nobody wants to sell apps (with in-app ads in the bundled apps, no less)... you can tell that a marketing douchebag was running the company when this turd dropped.

Sad thing is that if they had quickly responded to criticism about the UI from users (or their own damn internal testers) they could have avoided a lot of negative press and had a more successful product. Why not have rolled out Modern UI as a cool optional feature for touch users? Greed. They wanted that app store revenue. They've only managed to tick off a lot of users.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
Sad thing is that if they had quickly responded to criticism about the UI from users (or their own damn internal testers) they could have avoided a lot of negative press and had a more successful product. Why not have rolled out Modern UI as a cool optional feature for touch users? Greed. They wanted that app store revenue. They've only managed to tick off a lot of users.
Click to expand...

There was a lot of complaints about that - they didn't respond to criticism from people with Windows 8. They ignored it. Sinofsky was stubborn and he HAD to have that UI in there, regardless of the push back. Even in some groups, people are hesitant to provide much feedback to the product group due to the lack of response with 8. I still provide feedback as much as I can, though. Even if it just gets a look and nothing happens, at least it was brought to their attention and not just "someone else will do it".
 
MrCaffeineX said:
I'm trying out the Technical Preview at work right now. I don't see a whole lot that is different from 8.1 Update 1 besides the inclusion of the Start menu.
Click to expand...

There's still some stuff I don't care for, but the inclusion of the Start Menu might just be enough to make it usable in the office.
Hoping for an enterprise version that doesn't try any force you to connect it to a email account. Don't like that you have to setup a Microsoft email account just so you can connect to the store to update some of the pre-installed apps.
 
nutzo said:
Don't like that you have to setup a Microsoft email account just so you can connect to the store to update some of the pre-installed apps.
Click to expand...

From what I understand you'll be able to setup private stores.
 
pcjunkie said:
I know one company that we hire to do business for us and still has 5000 XP units in the field on laptops and our new app won't run on Windows 7. They want us to troubleshoot it for them...nope.
Click to expand...

Chatting with a Verizon tech a few months back, he was running XP on his Toughbook. When I asked he said it was standard, all techs used the same. How many techs do you think Verizon has?
 
nutzo said:
Just eliminated my 2nd to the last XP system at the office. Still have 1 virtual XP system to run some old apps/tools that won't work on anything newer, so it will be around for a long time.

As for spam, you are thinking clueless home users.
Even if they switched to Windows 7, their systems will be infected within weeks.
Nothing's going to save them since they open email attachments, click through the warnings and click on links they shouldn't. I've seen it too many times.
Click to expand...

Even if they switched to Windows 7, their systems will be infected within hours.

FTFY
 
Taking bets on when Windows Technical Preview exceeds Windows 8 market share :D
 
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