SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

for MS to realise that the game is up and to change their pricing model


http://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/21/...e-competition/

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I guess any discount is a welcome discount, but who really gives a toss about the price of Windows 8.1?

Three platforms, one experience - namely, the experience of being an irrelevant also-ran which nobody buys.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Pricing is becoming irrelevant TBH, they vendors have to ensure their products are key what people need. I just wonder how MS will price their subscription models now

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

I'll stick with Windoze 7.

To be fair though, I don't really see the point in Win 8 on a desktop since it's seemingly aimed at the tablet market.

I had Win 7.8, effectively a light version of 8, on my old phone, and it was OK, the phone was crap mind.

Markus

I'm not a big Windows 8 fan. My wife's new laptop came with 8 and before purchasing I made sure it could run 7, as I was fairly sure she would not like 8. Yup, was right, about two hours in she wanted 7 back on it. I had also installed something to bring back the Start Menu, and a few other tweaks, but no, she still wanted 7 back. I set up dual boot, in case she does want / need 8 for any reason.

Having used it myself, I can see how it would work quite well with a touchscreen / tablet, but for desktop / laptop use, I'm not convinced it works well. I still haven't tried 8.1, so cannot say for sure if it's better or worse.

It is interesting to see the discount to vendors, but what about the pricing to the general public of the OS, are they going to cut that too, mainly upgrade pricing from a prior OS version? If you custom build then yes, you might need full OS, so a cut there would be nice, but I think most would be upgrade pricing.

I wonder if Windows 9 will be a free upgrade? Now that'd be something.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

You guys pay for windows?? lul.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I completely agree, Windows 8 on the desktop feels like an answer to a question nobody asked.

MS are using it to try and push people onto their phones and tablets, of course. They're terrified of slipping further into irrelevance now that so many people are surfing the net on their Android and iOS products, but they've made a spectacular error of judgment thinking they can support their own mobile platform by breaking the desktop.

I'm sticking with 7 as well, though I'm glad I'm not looking to buy a new PC right now. Hopefully my laptop will last at least another couple of years until MS eats some humble pie and produces a new OS aimed at people who actually need to get some work done, not just poke at the brightly coloured shapes on the screen.

Markus

Perhaps they assumed that as a lot of people were purchasing iPads and seemingly using them more than their laptops, that they needed in on that game, hence the Surface Pro and the ads that were trying so hard to show it as a business product, adopted at an enterprise level.

I don't know of many, if any, enterprise level iPad companies. Laptops are taking over from desktops, but tablets, not quite yet, so for MS to think that it could go the enterprise route was somewhat foolish, moreso when you consider that 8 was meant to be seamless, yes, I get the idea, same experience on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone, but it did not and does not work that way.

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

I don't have any issues with Windows 8.1 myself and find it an improvement over 7. I use it on my home and work devices (including Windows Server 2012 R2) and it's perfectly fine.

That said, I don't use the Metro interface as such. Don't miss the old Start button and find the search faster once you're used to it.

andy97

iTrader: (1)

Rumor now has it Microsoft will be offering 8.1 free for a period of time, also that licensing for their mobile os will become free to try and compete

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Anyone on win 8 should have been automatically upgraded to 8.1 as part of one of the monthly updates.

Its better but I still can't get my head around it; the mouse gestures to get the side menus up just don't seem to work, or pop up when I don't want them.

That said, I've not read any guide on how to use it....it was supplied on a new Toshiba laptop and it seems MS negated to add a quick start guide anywhere for those used to good ol' win7/vista/xp etc.

If Apple made OS X available for PCs I think it'd finish Windows; Thats how poor and non-intuitive I find Win8 and 8.1