PC sales Suffer Biggest Slump in years

[QuantumIguana]

I still have Vista on my desktop at home. It came with the computer, and I've been too much of a cheapskate to update.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I still have Vista on my desktop at home. It came with the computer, and I've been too much of a cheapskate to update.

If that PC still works for you, then why bother upgrading? As long as your PC does everything you need it to do in a reasonable amount of time, then that is good enough.

[Dulin's Books]

there was a shutdown bug when the logon is disabled. that bug has been gone since the release preview or before.

as for

Originally Posted by twobob

Windows

etc etc

How can this be worse than that? I am aghast.

every one of those links i checked were from last year during the betas. the last one was even from January and the article is actually quite wrong.

its first paragraph is actually (apparently unbeknownst to the author) about Win Phone 8 who spends the rest of the article talking about MS killing the desk top which is hasnt. of course MS was talking more about the new environment than the standard one. as it was/is new there was/is more to new to learn/share.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by taustin

Win7 needs less processing horspower than XP did. Win8 needs less because less is expected of it at any given time.

I ran the test the hardware program MS offered, and it said I should upgrade the computer before getting Win 7. That was some time ago when my wife got her new machine.

I still use XP and it is fine. Granted some websites have gotten so big that they are painfully slow on my machine, and I usually don't look at them anymore.

These are the 1 page is 40 continuous feet long.

[twobob]

@dulin

At the risk of entering a holy war & "Wasting words" that will never change opinions.

I don't like it. My Vs2012 remains in the wrapper. Where, sadly, it will stay.
I was a MS devotee for many years (decades), spending much money on my MS certifications. Typing to you through linux now, kicking and screaming I went down that road. It will take a tectonic shift in UI policy to make me go back.

There, nice and brief.

Btw: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19760977 was the only one I cared about

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by twobob

Btw: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19760977 was the only one I cared about

Microsoft is right, a game developer is a hypocrite if they lambast Windows 8 for the lockdown but happily subject themselves to the Android and iOS marketplaces. Microsoft has seen their fat profit margins shrink due to the competition, and they're doing they're damndest to ape the success of the other players. Yet they get called out on it while the others grow market share due to those very policies.

I don't own a Windows machine, or any aPple crapware, but I'm part of a vanishingly small minority.

Originally Posted by MovieBird

Microsoft is right, a game developer is a hypocrite if they lambast Windows 8 for the lockdown but happily subject themselves to the Android and iOS marketplaces.

How does that make him a hypocrite? Just because someone wants the PC maintained as an open platform doesn't mean that they're opposed to closed platforms. There's plenty of room in the market for open and closed systems. Some people will demand open systems because it offers them more freedoms. In Notch's case, that was probably the freedom to develop his own software. Other people will prefer closed systems, since it provides an extra layer of protection from malicious software and it provides a degree of quality control. (Well, in theory.)

Now there is a bit of a problem with the WinRT API: they have the potential to close off Windows, which is somewhat open. It isn't an issue at present since the Win32 API is still there. It may never be an issue because Microsoft may be forced to leave Win32 as an open API. (Incidentally, do they still call the API Win32 on 64-bit versions of Windows?)

Another issue may have been over UEFI and signed kernels. I kinda suspect that this is what Notch is actually referring to since "nobody owns the PC" doesn't make much sense in the context of Windows. (Microsoft owns Windows. Even if they leave the system open for developers and consumers, they still control the future of Windows itself.) This has the potential to make Microsofts, and a tiny number of other vendors, owners of the PC. But that will only happen if hardware vendors start turning on signed kernels.

[Solitaire1]

I've been using Windows 8 (W8) on my new laptop for a few months, an upgrade from a desktop running Windows XP. While there are quite a few changes from XP (I haven't used any of the versions of Windows between XP and 8), after getting used to the differences between the two I've found W8 to be usable, not a disaster, but usable. The increased power of my new laptop doesn't hurt either.

The initial difficulty I had when using W8 was working without a touchscreen. Due to that, I had to figure out the new ways of doing things (such as pulling down the edge of the screen to close some applications rather than the traditional "click the X in the corner"). I haven't found lack of the Start Menu to be much of an issue since I use the Start Screen as it's main replacement (putting the applications/files I often use on the Start Screen and also on the Desktop and Shortcut Bar).

I haven't completely explored W8 yet so I'm sure there's more configurations options that I just haven't come across yet or haven't needed to change (yet). I also haven't explored any third-party applications for configuring the look and feel of W8. Still, I'm able to effectively use my system and I'm able (with one exception, the Palm Desktop) to use just about all of the software on this system that I used on my previous system.

After my first few days of using W8, two things I wish Microsoft had included with it are:

• An initial configuation wizard, that would allow you to configure W8 for the specific hardware that you are using and also based on your personal preferences. As an example, if you choose you can have the traditional "click the X in the corner" option for closing all applications.
• Provide a tutorial video to guide users moving from previous versions of Windows and show them the changes introduced in W8 (I purchased a book for this but it would have been great to include this information in a video on the computer itself).

I haven't found W8 be the disaster that I've heard about, but I also haven't found it to be a "Wow!" upgrade either. I've simply found it an improvement over Windows XP, but not the big change that going from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 was.

On the subject of the death of the desktop computer, I think the desktop computer will still be a major player overall. However, other types of computers will continue to grow in importance. It's possible that the final evolution of the portable computer and the desktop computer is that they will be two parts of the whole (you work on your desktop computer which continually syncs with your portable computer and vice versa).

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

How does that make him a hypocrite? Just because someone wants the PC maintained as an open platform doesn't mean that they're opposed to closed platforms.

...

Another issue may have been over UEFI and signed kernels.

Windows is owned by Microsoft. If you don't like what they're doing, move to an alternative. There are alternatives. You can't lambast a single company for x policy when jumping in bed with competing companies that also use x policy.

The Linux Kernel already has UEFI signing, and I'm sure some of the other alternatives already have workarounds.

This is like an author selling on Amazon but refusing to do so on BN because of their nonstandard DRM.

[BeccaPrice]

The trouble is, too may of us are stuck with the Windows world professionally. Many of the tools I use just aren't available, and don't have equivalents in the Linux/UNIX world.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

Microsoft is right, a game developer is a hypocrite if they lambast Windows 8 for the lockdown but happily subject themselves to the Android and iOS marketplaces.

Not that there's any Google Play lockdown for appmakers - barring any (and they seem to be rare) exclusivity agreements, anyone can write Android apps for any and all devices and OS levels they want and distribute them through any store that will take them (or host them on the Web, if they want).

On the other hand, for Win8's Fisher-Price UI and for iOS, you are *only* allowed to distribute them through their respective stores.

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

• An initial configuation wizard, that would allow you to configure W8 for the specific hardware that you are using and also based on your personal preferences. As an example, if you choose you can have the traditional "click the X in the corner" option for closing all applications.
• Provide a tutorial video to guide users moving from previous versions of Windows and show them the changes introduced in W8 (I purchased a book for this but it would have been great to include this information in a video on the computer itself).

agree on the x. in fact ive said to the powers that be that there is no reason for it not to be there already. it would have made transitions easier and some people would still like to swipe/drag it to close but others would like open the extra commands (short swipe from top or right click) and find the x in the corner.

there are many very good video tutorials on windows.com and if they didnt include them to save storage space they should have at least included links to them or a tile that took you to the page. there is that bit of "UI Navigation" tutorial when you are first turning it on but its not easily found later.

there is a free win 8 book in the Nook store but unless someone tells you it's there you dont know to look for it. when you sign in the nook app with an account you can see it right away as it shows you a few free books. but you cant see those without first signing in with an account. it should be easy to peruse the Nook store and see it and the other free selections as an enticement to open an account.

[theinfamousj]

I have two thoughts:

1/ Moore's Law is alive and well, but the technology to cool the amount of heat produced by the true top of line processors isn't there. My university department has a lab working on this problem and considers it a success when a computer takes a whopping 30 seconds before bursting into flame while running the true top of line processor. We are beyond air cooled, beyond water cooled, and into the world of nano-foams.

2/ I run Calibre on a netbook that has as much processing power as a standard tablet, and simple format conversions can - but not always - overwhelm the machine. Until tablets can run Calibre without a hiccup, there will always be a place in my house for a "real" computer, be it desktop or laptop.

[weatherwax]

I don't get this whole "Windows 8" is bad. I have Windows 7 at work (upgraded from XP a couple of months ago) and like it. I have Windows 8 at home and also like it.This article attributes the development to the increase of cloud computing:

http://www.zdnet.com/whos-killing-th...e539&ttag=e539

Therefore, we can't blame this rightly or wrongly on the wholesale rejection of a single OS release by end users due to substantial UX changes as much as some people would like one to believe, because the downward trend has been with us for quite some time.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

If the alternatives were to buy pants that cost twice as much (from the Apple Fashion Boutique), sew your own pants (after buying the bits and pieces from Penguin Fabrics), or running around naked ... I think people would choose to sew on that 50 cent button.

Or, you could stick with your old pants, which are still in perfect condition....

Originally Posted by K. Molen

How is it more convoluted? Click the Windows button, click the icon of your program. Done.

If it's a program you don't launch often, and hence don't have its icon on your Metro screen, then: Windows button, right-click, select all apps, click the icon. Done.

Or even better: Windows button, type the first letter of the program name, click the icon. Done.

By my count, however you slice it, that's either the same number of steps or fewer than with Windows 7.

I personally hate how that Modern UI becomes full screen and I hate the fact that a Win8 pc can have apps and applications. And no, they are not equal....

Originally Posted by weatherwax

I don't get this whole "Windows 8" is bad. I have Windows 7 at work (upgraded from XP a couple of months ago) and like it. I have Windows 8 at home and also like it.This article attributes the development to the increase of cloud computing:

http://www.zdnet.com/whos-killing-th...e539&ttag=e539

Win8 is good for some and not good for others. I personally wouldn't want it on my work pc and home pc.