Windows 10: Windows 8, 8.1 & 10 versus Windows 7

Some on here naming no names since I don't want to get banned state that Windows 7 is old tech blah blah blah. Microsoft this......etc.
Since most corporate users have just moved to 7 from XP I don't see hospitals, schools, councils etc moving to 10 any time soon if ever. All the BS about new apps being the way forward. What new apps? I have not seen any nor do I ever need to. Win 32/64 is not going anywhere soon. Windows 10 is a steaming pile and the more you read into the "FREE" upgrade plan becomes not to free. Any change of the hardware could cause a reactivation which is not covered under the free upgrade. So change too much of your computer and you are dumped back to your old OS or you need to buy a key. See my post here.
RTM/GA or Insider - What are you going to do? - Page 5 - Windows 10 Forums
Look how they have changed their minds over the last few weeks. Yes you can have a copy of the OS for testing it. No you can't.
Microsoft cannot be trusted. Windows 7 is the peak of the OS and it is down hill from there. Windows 10 is a dumbed down OS for those who live in the mobile world. Unfortunately that boat sailed without Microsoft and they have Zero market share. This is going to be a colossal fail for Microsoft and the only Geeks who cannot see this are blinded by the Microsoft Kool Aid and think everything that M$ makes, says or does is bloody great. Not me I have been fair and have tested the software extensively to no avail.

 

Fafhrd, you have raised some interesting points, although I believe that we have palpably opposing philosophies. I do not feel any gratitude toward Microsoft whatsoever. Microsoft is a transnational business corporation. Its primary goal is to amass high sales revenue and profit margins; it's all about money, let us not be fooled into believing that this is not driving force behind Microsoft's core objectives.

I am hugely fond of a number of Microsoft's software products including Windows 7 and Office 2003, for example; however, I have no emotional attachment to Microsoft as a company. I agree with Indianatone in relation to Microsoft's obsession to compete in all contemporary computing markets including mobile technology and web search. I strongly contend that Microsoft is wasting its time in these domains. I feel that it will never adequately compete with Apple and Google in the mobile market, nor will Microsoft's Bing web search engine ever come anywhere near close to competing with Google's web search engine. In my humble opinion, Microsoft should admit defeat in these markets, stop spending large sums of money on Bing and its mobile computing range and concentrate on maintaining the incredibly high Windows operating system market share (approximately 90%) that it currently holds for desktop PCs and laptops; this market is the "bread and butter" for Microsoft. If Microsoft continues to try and compete with Apple and Google in the mobile computing market, by creating what I perceive to be mobile-centric operating systems, it could risk losing its intense domination in the PC and laptop operating system market, which would be a huge shame. Lastly, although tablet computer sales will probably supersede PC and laptop sales, PCs and laptops are here to stay; of that I have no doubt.

 

PCs and Laptops are here to stay? Over what time scale?

I think that Microsoft is trying to set itself up for long-term survival. If I knew what they should do to succeed, I would be richer than Bill Gates.

I speculate that a lot of their motivation involves fear rather than greed. Microsoft has been around long enough to see the changes in computing that have lead to the rise and fall of whole market segments (like minicomputers). MS had a major scare over 20 years ago: I'm pretty sure that the Web wasn't part of their business plan in 1991.

Most of the desks that I've sat at over the past 20 years have had black boxes from Dell on them. (Some of my neighbor's desks have had laptops in docking stations, but I've avoided that.) I wouldn't bet a nickel that will still hold in 2035.

 

First of all, your last line is "technically" correct. I'm sure there are going to be PCs and notebooks in 2020, 2030, and beyond, but you agree that tablets will outsell them. So if you believe that Microsoft should refocus on fostering its Windows product line further, I need to ask two things:

[a] I take it that you're of the belief that Windows 7 is more or less the apex of Windows development, right? So if Windows is to evolve as a desktop OS, what new territory can be explored? What area can desktop OS systems venture in to, that haven't been as of yet? Because it seems that as a windowing environment, 7 has taken Windows pretty much as far as it goes.

If desktop/notebook use is going to decline, where is the market for this OS?

You'll notice that Apple completely realizes that the MacOS is no longer the bread and butter of their empire (it never really was...lol) but iOS certainly is. Microsoft NEEDS to be in that same space.

Do you still have any music chains left? Here in Canada, we still have HMV, but the focus is no longer on selling CDs. They sell movies, games, gaming systems, you name it. The sale of music recordings are almost an afterthought, but they go where the money is, and in that way, by being profitable in other areas they can still allow for the sale of CDs for those that still want it. Likewise, Microsoft hopes it can be profitable in its venture into mobility systems, so that they can still subsidize support for Windows server and workstation products. But it won't be its primary focus any longer.

 

Ummm, here in the states there as been a reemerging market for vinyl records, there are now over 20 manufacturer's and growing. I wonder if the new Surface 4 will come with an LP player?

Many people I know still buy CD's, DVD's and OMG real books. Why? ...it makes them feel good, I guess.

 

That market is largely to the DJ industry. I know of only one place in my state to buy LP's. And most of their sales are used.

Where? Best Buy no longer sells CD's. They used to be the #1 retailer of them. I walked through my local mall the other day, and I noticed that all the big name music places are either out of business, or not selling CD's anymore.

I don't know of anywhere, other than used cd places, that still carry them. They must buy them online I suppose...

 

Yes we have experienced that same vinyl renaissance since about 2007 as well. I've collected LPs long before it was cool to do so. Most of the product in the 90s and 2000s came from your country and from Europe. It appears to be much easier to obtain that stuff now, as opposed to 20 years ago though.

But I don't think that will last. LPs have yet to reach their 1988 sales again. It will always be a niche product, but I no longer think that any physical carrier can compete with online or digital media.

 

You are right @Indianatone this one statement doesn't make any sense.

Edit after reading the whole thread that comment is not an official Microsoft Source.

 

Sadly, the more I see of Windows 10, the more I like Windows 8.1.1


.

 

The other way around for me, suddenly after bunch of problems with 8.1 , I can't wait for mature Win 10.

 

While I like Win8.1 I agree.. WIn10 has a bright future and I can't wait to see what it's going to be like in a year or so.

 

Bobkn, I concur with your speculation that Microsoft's latest business operations are based on fear; I have felt the same way for a long time. Perhaps it is based on fear and narcissism! *Smile Because Microsoft had an absolute monopoly in the 1990s, I believe that, ultimately, the company cannot deal with the idea that Apple and Google are way ahead in terms of mobile computing and web search innovations (and subsequent market share in these areas). It must be difficult for Microsoft to accept that it is no longer considered to be the king of general commercial computing for the causal user.

Jody, indeed, Windows 7 is the pinnacle Microsoft operating system for me. Because Windows 7 still has a vast market share compared with all other operating systems (61%) — with Windows 8.1 in second place at 13% — Microsoft should make a concerted effort to respect these important statistics. Windows 8.0, as you know, was a profound commercial failure (3% market share at present) and, in my opinion, it proved to be so because Microsoft radically changed the core user interface functionalities, for which there was no absolutely requirement whatsoever. This includes the introduction of "Metro", or "Start", and the removal of the Start Menu. What on earth was Microsoft thinking here? To remove the Start Menu was an outrageously poor business decision.

As for your questions, it is my contention that Microsoft should have simply concentrated on the desktop and laptop computing market by making small advancements to Windows 7 (much like the relatively small advancement from Windows 95 to Windows 98). Although the desktop PC and laptop market is declining in favour of the tablet computer for the general casual user, PCs and laptops will always dominate the market for businesses and institutions like universities, colleges, schools, hospitals, the military, NGOs and governmental organisations. These are the areas on which Microsoft should focus, primarily because Microsoft dominates market share in these domains with their Windows 7 operating system product. There is absolutely no way that desktop PCs and laptops will be replaced by tablet computers in these business and institutional environments. It is a shame that Microsoft's collective ego is so large that it wants to dominate every single computing market, including the market for the casual user. As I stated earlier, Apple and Google are on a completely different level to Microsoft in terms of mobile computing and web search innovations; Microsoft should simply wave the white flag here and accept defeat in these domains.

 

Windows,

In Indiana, US on the local news.

It showed one school now handing out ipads to do school work there and at home.

 

"Apple and Google are on a completely different level to Microsoft in terms of mobile computing and web search innovations; Microsoft should simply wave the white flag here and accept defeat in these domains."

I can't disagree more with that statement. Idea that OS should span across different devices and make same (or some) applications work in same or similar manner on all of them, if they manage to pull it of would be a very good thing. There's no reason that a mobile phone should = Android or Apple. I can't see Google making an OS for all the devices including desktops any soon, if nothing at least because of enormous base of programs windows has.

 

I am with you there. I really really like Windows 8.1