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Is WIndows 8 killing off the PC?


Merc14

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PC sales have suffered a record breaking 14% decline over the last quarter and many are blaming Windows 8. There are other reasons such as tablets and smartphones stealing market share but 14% is mind boggling, especially when a new OS is introduced.

I personally like Windows 8 but feel the metro start menu is counterproductive on a tradictional PC. It is disconcerting enough that I have told my customers, that are not enthusiasts, to steer clear of Windows 8 and selfishly the reason is I don't want the angry, frustrated phone calls when they can't turn off their computers or figure out where word is followed by negative Angie's List ratings.

Windows Blue (or 8.1) was hoped to be a mea-culpa from MS and a return, even if just an option, to the traditional start menu but all indicators are MS is doubling down on metro (the name keeps changing but who cares at this point) andmaking the desktop even more distant. If touchscreens on desktop were everywhere then metro may be a good thing but that isn't the case and the option to shift to the start menu instead should be there.

This is a sad state of affairs because Windows 8 really is a stable, fast and secure OS that improves many things from Windows 7. Other than the Start screen thing I love it but if MS hunkers down and forces the issue it is going to change the PC world forever and not for the better.

http://www.extremete...line-in-history

Edited by Merc14
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Going to stick with Windows 7 here, just can't use Windows 8 at all, and I think it will probably end up like the Atari 2600 version of ET (which brought about the decline of the video game industry) if MS can't somehow rescue it. I hope they do though, I would like to begin getting new components for my desktop that run well with a great new OS. Maybe Windows 9 will be better.

Edited by WoIverine
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Windows 7 here as well. Can't see the point in the Windows 8 interface without a touch screen. \

PC's have been predicted to die for decades. Windows based PC's survived Windows ME and Vista. They'll survive 8. There are things that cannot be done on anything but a fast desktop system.

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I stuck with XP for ages and only late last year moved to Windows 7. I see no benefit in moving to 8 unless I need a touch screen and I have physical difficulties that probably would rule that out. As far as the "start" brouhaha is concerned, I've seen plenty of freeware that is supposed to put that back if one really misses it.

My view is to let things like this percolate before making the investment: let them work out the issues. What is the saying -- those on the bleeding edge do the bleeding.

It is pretty plain that PCs are not going to dominate in future as they have in past. They are great for desktops but I like my little android reader for laying in bed curled up with what once would have been a book, but now is a library that keeps track of where I left off on over a dozen books.

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I'm still on Vista and my computer was playing Daiblo perfectly. Now that it's 7 years old I'm looking to replace it though. I also have a windows phone and I think the transfer to Windows 8 will be similar, from what I've seen. I for one will look forward to trying out Windows 8.

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I'll stay with 7 on PC's. 8 is for tablets and touch screens. However I doubt it is affecting sales, maybe of pre built machines as more people are building their own now (I mean most would choose 7 over 8 for gaming systems etc) or buying parts and getting someone else to do it. It's not exactly difficult.

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I just bought a laptop with windows 8. I must say as is windows 8 sux. But I brought it back to what I am use to. It's so much easier to work with the older settings. And now I love it!

V2t2aYS.jpg

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I have Windows 7 on my laptop and it's just fine for me since I'm an IT monkey at work and I also worked at Microsoft for a couple of decades on the Windows team. Windows 8 is the first MS OS that I haven't seen years before its completion.

I have a WIndows 8 Surface Pro... so it's the full Windows version (not RT) and I really like it on my tablet! It's super fast, easy to use and runs on a touch screen tablet VERY well. I like it WAY better than the iPad for that application.

Would I want WIndows 8 on my full desktop/laptop? I don't think so. But I'm not doing your average user tasks a lot of the time. I'm a power user. I'd recommend Windows 8 to a user who just wants email, web browsing, Office, and a game or two. Id definitely avoid it in the enterprise or for true productivity. Kind of like I avoid Macs for the enterprise and productivity.

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oh i forgot to add, it takes me about just less than 2 hours to back up one of my dvd movies on windows 8. I don't know if it's the laptop or if it's windows 8. Other than that I love windows 8

582GPWN.jpg

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The PC is hardly dying off and its lower sales are hardly to do with Windows 8; what nonsense. The reason for lower sales is the rise of phone and tablet computers, not Windows 8. The article mentions this but seems to place Windows 8 above tablets in the blame game, when in reality Windows 8 has practically nothing to do with it due to it itself being created as a means to support the aforementioned tablets.

And for any sort of resource heavy task, you still need a PC.

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I'm still on Vista and my computer was playing Daiblo perfectly. Now that it's 7 years old I'm looking to replace it though. I also have a windows phone and I think the transfer to Windows 8 will be similar, from what I've seen. I for one will look forward to trying out Windows 8.

Just updated my rig to ivybridge quad core with a h77 chipset, 120GB SSD for the OS and a 7870 vid card running WIndows 8 with 8GB of memory. The whole new system cost me $480 including Windows 8 (got the pro version fior $40 at intro and used my old Lian Li case, PC P&C PSU and hard drives etc.). I have to say it is blindingly fast and immensely powerful. I didn't even bother overclocking (h77 isn''t an overclocking chipset) because the base clock is 3.2GHz! . Just amazing what you can get for $200 nowadays. Look for speciasl on te Egg and get them and when you have al the parts build.

The PC is hardly dying off and its lower sales are hardly to do with Windows 8; what nonsense. The reason for lower sales is the rise of phone and tablet computers, not Windows 8. The article mentions this but seems to place Windows 8 above tablets in the blame game, when in reality Windows 8 has practically nothing to do with it due to it itself being created as a means to support the aforementioned tablets.

And for any sort of resource heavy task, you still need a PC.

Everyone understands that tablets and phones, as well as powerful but cheap laptops, are chipping away at the desktop market and IDC was predicting a 7+% decline last quarter but 14% shocked them and research is showing that 8 is a prime contributor.

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Just updated my rig to ivybridge quad core with a h77 chipset, 120GB SSD for the OS and a 7870 vid card running WIndows 8 with 8GB of memory. The whole new system cost me $480 including Windows 8 (got the pro version fior $40 at intro and used my old Lian Li case, PC P&C PSU and hard drives etc.). I have to say it is blindingly fast and immensely powerful. I didn't even bother overclocking (h77 isn''t an overclocking chipset) because the base clock is 3.2GHz! . Just amazing what you can get for $200 nowadays. Look for speciasl on te Egg and get them and when you have al the parts build.

Everyone understands that tablets and phones, as well as powerful but cheap laptops, are chipping away at the desktop market and IDC was predicting a 7+% decline last quarter but 14% shocked them and research is showing that 8 is a prime contributor.

A decline of 14% (7% more than predicted) can in no way be automatically attributed to Windows 8. It might have literally nothing to do with it, and the perceived causative correlation is nothing more than coincidence. Until someone can prove causation then it is just an unexpected jump due to the coincidence of Windows 8 being released around the same time as the massive tablet boom we are all witnessing. What you have implied is that an entire half of tablet users bought tablets due to Windows 8.

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I forgot to mention, even though I customised my windows 8, I also like the metro start screen, but by default my laptop now starts up (auto login) on to the desktop. Windows 8 is definately very nice to use, and easy to customise the whole system to the user's taste.

Windows 8 with the Metro Start screen

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Windows 8 with Start button

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Windows 8 Start Menu

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Edited by pitchp
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I am attempting to be the last and final Win XP sp3 user in the world .... :yes:

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How would this work on Windows 8:

I have a script I wrote that changes the wallpaper randomly out of a collection exceeding 20,000 ever thirty seconds or so. Consequently when I am not using the computer I get this rotating pretty picure (a REALLY large monitor -- actually a TV) and all the icons and so on are gone (I don;t use desktop icons but the start menu for everything).

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I also love windows xp. I got windows xp on my PC but since my 80cm lcd broke down and it's in for repairs. I had no internet. So i had to buy an asus laptop for internet usage. Expected time for my lcd screen to be fixed is 2 months. Thank god it's still under warranty. Anyways, since I've been trying to learn how to work with this laptop(windows 8), I really am starting to like it. However to back up a dvd movie on my PC takes less than 45 mins, and for the laptop it's less than 2 hours! I know, I know. Laptop vs PC is just two different things. I just thought with todays advancement, i was really hoping that the laptop would one day over come the power of a PC

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How would this work on Windows 8:

I have a script I wrote that changes the wallpaper randomly out of a collection exceeding 20,000 ever thirty seconds or so. Consequently when I am not using the computer I get this rotating pretty picure (a REALLY large monitor -- actually a TV) and all the icons and so on are gone (I don;t use desktop icons but the start menu for everything).

what script is it? post the script

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I kinda would rather not cause I "borrowed" a lot of it. All it does is switch the wallpaper to a file taken randomly from a directory.

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A decline of 14% (7% more than predicted) can in no way be automatically attributed to Windows 8. It might have literally nothing to do with it, and the perceived causative correlation is nothing more than coincidence. Until someone can prove causation then it is just an unexpected jump due to the coincidence of Windows 8 being released around the same time as the massive tablet boom we are all witnessing. What you have implied is that an entire half of tablet users bought tablets due to Windows 8.

Well, then your opinion differes with teh manufacturers, the research firms that study the industry and every tech writer out there but we are all entiotled to our opinions I guess.

- WIndows 8 debuts to scathing criticism and PC sales fall out the bottom.

- Since Core 2, upgrading isn't the necessity it once was.

- Apple hasn't been effected

- Manufacturers are pointing the finger at Win 8.

- Intel introduced their best equipment ever.

Draw your own conclusions.

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I also love windows xp. I got windows xp on my PC but since my 80cm lcd broke down and it's in for repairs. I had no internet. So i had to buy an asus laptop for internet usage. Expected time for my lcd screen to be fixed is 2 months. Thank god it's still under warranty. Anyways, since I've been trying to learn how to work with this laptop(windows 8), I really am starting to like it. However to back up a dvd movie on my PC takes less than 45 mins, and for the laptop it's less than 2 hours! I know, I know. Laptop vs PC is just two different things. I just thought with todays advancement, i was really hoping that the laptop would one day over come the power of a PC

Something is wrong there. What CPU are you running in each of teh machines, how much memory in each?

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Something is wrong there. What CPU are you running in each of teh machines, how much memory in each?

I know tell me about it! :( The laptop is more powerful than my PC. Except i don't know the specs of my dvd burner on my laptop. I know I got the fastest dvd burner on my PC, but I'm now thinking the the laptop burner could be the culprit

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From what I had read, Windows 8 Metro seems to be less than sufficient OS for tablets, and even worse when installed on, say, a previous Win7 desktop, for those ( like myself) who enjoy the Win7 interface.

I have also heard 2 things(and please don't qoute me on this, as I do not now how factual my statements are)

First, Win8 Metro was not intended for a non-touchscreen desktop.

Secondly, perhaps more importantly, there is a "non-Metro version of Win8 that works fine on regular computers, without the touch-screen interface, and there are 3rd party apps to bring your deskktop back alive, back to a pseudo Win7 experience, preserving whatever benefits Win8 proclaims.

Currently, my two machines, one a laptop and the other a desktop, have Win7 premium on the laptop, and Win7 Professional on the desktop.

I'm happy with them, I still get updates, and I view Win8 almost like the b****** VISTA. Could be wrong, of course.

I will stick with Win7 for now.

Edited by pallidin
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I know tell me about it! :( The laptop is more powerful than my PC. Except i don't know the specs of my dvd burner on my laptop. I know I got the fastest dvd burner on my PC, but I'm now thinking the the laptop burner could be the culprit

I know that most laptops have a 5400RPM hard drive which slows things down a bit so I always clone to at least a 7200RPM and an SSD is even better. That wouldn't account for 2 hours though, so check the power management and make sure it isn't allowing the CPU to slow down to 700MHz or something. You can download CPUz from CPUID.com and launch it to monitor the CPU frequency while encoding. Also have the task manager up so you can watch memory usage.

If it is a new Intel ivybridge it will have code that significanlty speeds up encoding so make sure that is enabled in BIOS or UEFI, whichever you have.

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