PC sales Suffer Biggest Slump in years

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by jersysman

As for me, I am in the market for a new PC. I have always been one who had to be one of the first to upgrade to the new operating system. However, this time I shall not. Windows 8 just does not offer me what I want to do with a computer. It may be quicker or it may be a better OS (not to me). But, I will not be getting it. I shall stick with Win 7. Maybe there are more people like me out there (especially with the latest sales figures). As I said, Windows 8 may be the best operating system on the planet, but if a lot fewer people are using it, then Microsoft does have a problem.

I'll be looking to upgrade my mobo and CPU in the near future, which will likely mean a new OS license, and I suspect I'll stick with Windows 7, too. I just built a PC for my mom in December, and opted for Windows 7 rather than have to learn, tweak, and teach a new OS.

[BeccaPrice]

Originally Posted by JAcheson

And the Photoshop one is here:

http://www.techspot.com/downloads/36...oshop-cs2.html

Thank you.

ETA: alas, I get "this is not a valid Windows program" - I'll try downloading it again.

[QuantumIguana]

Microsoft wants people to use Windows 8 in a certain way, and many users don't want to use it that way. It's a solution in search of a problem. I use it at work, but I added a free start menu and spend my time in the desktop. Adding a start menu and allowing people to boot right into the desktop are small things that would satisfy a number of people.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by pl001

Rumor has it that 8.1 (Blue), due to release this fall, will give you the option to boot directly to the desktop and bring back the start menu.

In that case, I may actually consider Windows 8 for a new computer, but I won't upgrade my current one anymore. I would have done so when the €29 promotion was going a few months ago, but I didn't want to buy the license in the hopes of Microsoft coming back on its earlier decisions.

[pl001]

On another note, I find it ironic that in Windows 8 the "Windows" button takes you to an interface that doesn't support windows.

[JAcheson]

Loved your story about the Hammond organs, Katsunami.

[JAcheson]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

Thank you.

ETA: alas, I get "this is not a valid Windows program" - I'll try downloading it again.

I haven't tried installing them yet, though I did run a virus check on them.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by JAcheson

Loved your story about the Hammond organs, Katsunami.

Thanks. I actually do feel toward the SK2 as I feel toward Windows 8.

Hammond says that it is a "modern Hammond for the 21st century". However, while the SK2 is modern, it can on *no way* replace a vintage Hammond with regard to usage. The XK3 (or XK3C), when combined with it's lower manual, bass pedals and installed into its cabinet, is everything every Hammond player since the 50's wanted: lighter (by 325 pounds!), cheaper, transportable, deconstructable, configurable, without sacrificing the layout and way of playing.

Depending on the cabinet/stand you choose, this organ is called Mini B3, XK Traditional, or XK Professional.

The only problem for some is the looks of the Mini B3; many people find it doesn't fit well in a modern living room, but to remedy that, they have the Hammond M44, which basically is the Mini B3 in a modern cabinet with included speaker system.

For the diehard people who have €15-25.000 available, they have:
- The New B3 Portable (B3-sized version of the XK Professional, €15K)
- The New B3 (a 1:1 replica of the original vintage model, €20K)
- The New B3 Ultimo (a New B3 with the looks of the M44, €25K)

They created what people wanted, from a "cheap" single-manual keyboard XK3C (at €2350), which you can expand into the Mini B3 whenever you want, right up to the monstrously expensive New B3 Ultimo. And they did it WITHOUT LOOSING THEIR ROOTS. That is the reason why Hammond still exists today.

===

The above is what Microsoft needs to do. They need to drop the "we have to become modern for tablets, blablabla" stuff. I agree, they need a tablet operating system, if they don't want to fall behind in the mobile market, and something that uses an interface such as Metro is fine by me. However, don't force that same interface onto people's desktops. Some people keep screaming and hollering that Windows 8 is a fine operating system, and that it can easily be used to do daily tasks, and that it's just a matter of getting used to it.

You can say all of that, and it may be true, but there is one thing that's even more important than anything else: People don't want, or need that. People want a better Windows which is faster and supports new technologies but without having to change half or all of the way they've been used to working.

For many people, Windows 2000 was good enough. Windows XP was better, after Service Pack 2. Windows Vista improved a lot of things, but had driver problems in the beginning, and was too heavy for the systems of its time. This drastically improved with Vista SP1, and after the new systems of 2007 started appearing. Windows 7 is a perfected version of Windows Vista, and in the eyes of many people, Windows is now *finished*.

The only thing they want is ongoing support for new technology such as USB3, SSD's, new versions of SATA, or whatever may come along. Maybe there should be some tweaks or a fix here and there. Many of these things could be provided in an upgrade pack that costs €25 or so; one each year. As soon as you require some technology that your current Windows-version does not support, you buy that year's upgrade pack (which should include all previous ones), install it, and be done. If you get a new computer, you get a new license (that is of course freely upgradable to the latest version at that point), install it, and be done. People only want to move to a different or new operating system if advances in technology require it.

There is no technology that requires a move toward Windows 8. Had Microsoft wanted to do so, they could have tacked Metro on top of Windows 7 as an optional update and sell it for €25 or so to people who wanted it.

[Angst]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

Thank you.

ETA: alas, I get "this is not a valid Windows program" - I'll try downloading it again.

if that doesn't work, you can get it direct from adobe:

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html

[SeaKing]

I imagine that Microsoft will be scrambling by the Christmas season.

[Graham]

For those taking an interest in my wife's journey with Windows 8...

In the end we did a full wipe and refresh and started again, this time using the email address that she wanted. It's going much better this time round, without the frustrations with pop-ups and login issues we were getting before - though we're more familiar with how things work, of course.

We had to go through the several hours of updates again, and haven't yet installed her MS Office suite, but she's got to grips with the home screen and store apps. We are having difficulty with our printer though (a recent LaserJet). The installation proceeds fine but right at the end says that it couldn't install.

One more good session on this and she should be ready to use it for work. She's said that now she's got her head round it she thinks she's really going to like it.

Graham

[pl001]

Yeah, after getting used to it I'd say the bottom line is I love what it allows me to do, which is using a tablet to replace my laptop (but not my home pc). But I still don't like the Modern UI much at all. It's just barely acceptable on a tablet, not nearly good enough as a desktop, and I find it rather ugly. Plus the setup frustrations mentioned prior.

[K. Molen]

Originally Posted by pl001

Yes, that is how I understand it.

Adobe could do that for a legacy desktop app of course since the Windows 8 desktop is backwards compatible, but they could not release a Modern/Metro app anywhere other than the Windows Store. Well, technically they could, but buyers would need a special sideload license and jump through a bunch of hoops, so essentially it needs to be sold through the store.

I can tell you with absolute certainty the only way to download apps on my Surface RT is through the store or jailbreaking.

Hmm. Interesting... thanks for pointing that out. Microsoft has a reputation to be developer friendly, but this is decidedly not, so I'll be very curious to see how this plays out, since it's such a new paradigm (I think that's the word) for Windows.

[K. Molen]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I've been launching programs like that since Vista.

You keep stating that "Windows 8 is not more convoluted". So you find having 2 browsers (IE for the desktop, IE for Metro), two email programs, a blanked out desktop, no folders and hundreds of icons in the Start-screen and full screen apps on a 24+ inch monitor handy features?

I never claimed they were handy. I only claim it's not more complex. Having more than one program to do the same thing isn't a problem, I just ignore what I don't want. No folders and hundreds of icons in the start screen isn't a problem either. I've placed the icons I use most often on my main Metro interface, everything else is hidden from view. I never use the full screen apps, so they don't bother me either.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by K. Molen

Hmm. Interesting... thanks for pointing that out. Microsoft has a reputation to be developer friendly, but this is decidedly not, so I'll be very curious to see how this plays out, since it's such a new paradigm (I think that's the word) for Windows.

That reputation is gone. And by dropping Silverlight they have ticked off those developers as well. They have been very arrogant as of late, maybe even more so than Apple. Trouble is, unlike Apple, they have neither the products or mobile market share to overcome it. They need to loosen their grip or they'll have perhaps the most epic fall in the history of technology. And no matter how anybody feels about them, that wouldn't be good, in fact it could be catastrophic for businesses.