Earlier this month Microsoft celebrated the milestone of 60 million licenses sold for Windows 8, which is a decent enough amount for an OS that is only around two months old.
But word on the streets is that company executives in Redmond are quite disappointed with how things are shaping up. In fact, during internal meetings, the blame for the Windows 8 crash landing is being put solely on PC and hardware vendors.
The latest inside scoop from The Register is that Microsoft is accusing PC manufacturers for the lack of touchscreen enabled display. Windows 8 is an operating system built from the grounds up for touch support, and truth is, it has not received much — support from the PC makers, that is.
Microsoft is said to have collaborated with several hardware vendors during the development of Windows 8, clearly mentioning that touchscreen devices are an absolute must.
No point in elaborating how that is going.
But here is the juicy bit. During internal meetings, Microsoft has been using good old PowerPoint presentations to demonstrate how vital touchscreens are for success of Windows 8. According to an insider:
“Microsoft is very frustrated with major OEMs who didn’t build nearly enough touch systems and are now struggling to find parts and ramp up. Microsoft says they provided very specific guidance on what to build.”
The contact further said that hardware vendors believe that building touchscreen computers in high numbers is a huge risk in this climate. Things get even more complicated when people show reluctance to upgrade to Windows 8 because of a drastically different user interface:
“There was a big debate, and we said: ‘It’s not like that.’ We couldn’t afford to make lots of products, lots of high-priced touch. We found people would look at nice high-end products and buy £299 devices instead.”
This is not the first time Microsoft has blamed the PC industry for the uninspiring uptake of its latest operating system. The plot, nevertheless, thickens.
All Comments
you cannot pin this on us because u Microsoft makes the OS now if u need the sales to go high then GET RID OF MODERN UI AND BRING BACK START MENU IS ITS THE ONLY WAY AND HAS BEEN SAID ON MANY OCCASIONS
Get rid of modern UI will be the biggest mistake that MS could make. In one year, people will totally forget about start menu.
Gotta say, I’m not sure where all the negativity for Windows 8 comes from. I had no desire to upgrade my computers to Windows 8 until I saw the current special being held at Home Depot that enables you to get Windows 8 Pro (FULL Version; not upgrade) for only $69.95. At that price, it was like a good tip on some stock market. I bought it just in-case, but didn’t plan to install it. After getting two copies, I said “what the heck” and installed it on a laptop that wasn’t really being used for anything. Within 15 minutes, I knew I wanted this OS on my main computer, but was still a little scared. So, played with Windows 8 on laptop for a few days and then out of nowhere, I have a serious problem with my Main Desktop that requires a full install. I actually took a few minutes to think about that and if I wanted to install Windows 8. Again, I said “what the heck” and loaded it on Saturday night around 7’ish. Keep in mind this is my business computer that MUST be 100% ready to go on Monday when clients/customers start calling and we have to be online where our systems are located. Install was very quick with no issues. I had everything I use loaded by midnight with configurations about 85% done. The install of Windows 8 only took about 15 minutes or so. Windows 8 is beautiful, fast as heck, and perfect the way it is. Aside from the missing START button, I’ve only found one thing missing, but a quick Google search netted me results in about 15 seconds and I was off running full speed again. Boot up for my computer is 15.3 seconds. It’s fast! Listen, forget the START button, it’s not that big of a deal. Everything in your start button has been moved to the Metro portion of Win8. Think of it like this. Win8 has two parts to it. Metro for tablet users and the desktop for desktop/laptop users. I’m on Windows 8 right now and have been to the Metro, but one time and that’s only because work is slow today and I wasted to look at it. NO OTHER REASON to go to metro UNLESS you want to find something that you would normally go to the START button for. It’s still one click away. Put your mouse int he bottom left-hand corner and little picture of Metro comes up. Click it and you’re at Metro. To go to desktop, press Windows button on keyboard, or click icon in Metro or put mouse in bottom left-hand corner and now select the desktop picture shown. Listen, for $69 — you need to run, not walk to the store and get this while it’s on sale. I’ve already bought SIX copies and am buying at least one more and maybe two….. JUST IN CASE. Believe me when I tell you Windows 8 is that good. I just don’t understand some of the bias youtube videos I’ve seen. Blatant dogging of Win8 as if they were getting paid by Linux or Apple. Stupid stuff, like “I would never use this for business.” Yeah, bozo – when you’re in Metro, but who would do business from Metro? Metro is for touchscreens. For business or personal use, Windows 8 is no different than Windows 7, but you get a highly cleaned-up, super-charged computer. I don’t work for M$ and this is a personal post based purely on my own experience. I’m buying three Win8 for the price of one! Get a copy for yourself before it’s too late. I feel confident you’re gonna be glad you did. Good Luck!
You can switch between metro and desktop UI by simply pressing the win button. I used to have the desktop tile on the top left corner of the tiles but now it is put to the rightmost as I don’t need to use it anymore.
Windows 8 is beautiful and both interfaces work for me on my desktop. There are some fun and interesting Apps at the Windows store so I use the Metro side of things about 30% of the time. The rest is spent on the original desktop as so many apps don’t work with the Metro UI.