The PC hardware market had been on a downwards trend for a fair while, even before Microsoft was applying the finishing touches to Windows 8. But hardware vendors still had a lot of expectations from the new OS.
For better or for worse, none of the computer OEMs designed and developed new hardware that brought out the best in Windows 8 — Microsoft remains the flag bearer with its Surface Pro slabs.
Samsung was the latest hardware partner that was caught throwing mud at Windows 8. Citing Korea Times, Engadget states that Jun Dong-soo, the head of Samsung’s memory chip business criticized Windows 8, when asked whether the market would continue its decline.
Dong-soo was of the view that the PC hardware market failed to get the expected boost from Windows 8, and went so far as to say that Windows 8 is no better than the previous Windows Vista, before labeling Windows 8 a less competitive platform overall.
Whew! Talk about bouncing the blame.
In many ways this was a tad expected, when you consider how much Samsung has invested in developing its Galaxy line of smartphone and tablets.
One important part of the puzzle is Intel’s upcoming Haswell platform. With ultra-low power requirements, combined with high CPU and matching graphical performance, it is a perfect match for Microsoft’s new operating system.
A fair fraction of buyers have timed their upgrades to the release of Haswell, and the same goes for hardware vendors and laptop/ultrabook markers.
Maybe, just maybe, this is the time when Windows 8 hardware will strike gold.
