Perhaps the fact that the more recent Windows OS haven't sold as well as perhaps MS expected is done to them not providing the consumer with the product they want. XP for example is still widely used. So it must have done something right.
Part of the problem is that the most recent OS pretty much ignored desktop and laptop users, which is Microsoft's largest user base. It's like selling clothes for men, women, and children, and then selling clothes just made for men. One shouldn't be surprised at the sudden drop in sales when most women or children aren't buying the merchandise. Windows 7 was a very successful product. Windows 8 isn't. Instead of Microsoft working on fixing that, they're slapping a button on it and calling it a solution.
Well it is a solution, perhaps not just the best solution. I've got one machine that runs vista, and one that runs Win7, both do what I need them to do so I see no reason to upgrade.
A generation behind? Most companies I deal with are still using Windows XP, let alone Vista or 7 or 8.
Yep, I work for a Fortune 100 company and we are always at least one version behind. A little frustrating for me at times but I'm sure much less frustrating entriprise wide versus going with the latest and "greatest".
But it doesn't dominate everything, if you've got a desktop you'll use the desktop just like in previous editions of Windows. While the 'Start Screen' replaces the 'Start Menu' it duplicates its functionality in every way so you're not really losing anything at all. And with Windows 8.1 you'll be able to avoid all the metro/modern elements altogether if you really want to.
I highly doubt that Microsoft will charge a monthly fee for simply using windows itself, office and some other productivity programs maybe. but there will be freeware alternatives out there anyway: (openoffice, gimp). I really do think Microsoft Screwed up the marketing and the focus of Win8, it would have been simple to have Windows detect whether a touch screen was present on device upon setup and if not boot to the desktop mode. Anyway, that being said, the OS itself isn't bad, but microsoft has sure given the "Apple can do no wrong crowd" ammunition.
Unfortunately, my wife's computer died on her, so I had to order her a new one. The best deal was on a Windows 8 laptop, so that's what she's using now. Personally, I think all the changes just make life difficult for anybody without a touch screen. I'm happy to hear about the start button, though. It's the least they could offer.
Just got my lovely new PC with Win7 - and now that I've configured and personalised it and everything's running smooth as silk, my happy is good. Although I did get rid of the start button, ironically enough.
Yeah, I've been using Windows 8 on my desktop since it was released, and I don't feel at all that I've "lost" anything since upgrading from Win7. I have no problems with Win8 at present.
You want to hear about something even worse? How about a device white list. Several computer manufacturers have incorporated a device white list into the BIOS. What it does is effectively make the computer cease to boot up if it finds an installed device that is not present in the white list. The most common violation is with network cards. Wireless networking is still a technology that is experiencing a rapid evolution. Just 3 years ago, speeds were less than half of what they're capable of now. But... you have laptops purchased by the likes of Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony, and a few others where those laptops cannot get an upgraded network card because the BIOS will reject it. Actually, some manufacturers have begun to pull back from this atrocity by providing a revised BIOS that either significantly expands the list or does away with it, but the big one who hasn't is Hewlett-Packard. So yeah... right now my laptop is restricted to a small set of 150Mbps wifi cards. I cannot upgrade to a 300Mbps version of a similar card by the same manufacturer. There's even dual band and 450Mbps speed wifi cards out there, but forget about being able to use them. To me, this is worse than mandating a subscription for some versions of the productivity software packages.
One thing that's annoying about Windows 8 is that it makes you enter in a bunch of personal information for Microsoft to access.