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Windows 8.1 Finally Passes Windows 8 In Market Share 187

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the slightly-more-than-zero dept.
An anonymous reader writes "May was the seventh full month of availability for Microsoft's latest operating system version: Windows 8.1 continues to grow slowly while Windows 8 remains largely flat, allowing the former to finally pass the latter in market share. At the same time, Windows 7 has managed to climb back over the 50 percent mark, while Windows XP still has more than 25 percent of the pie, despite support for the ancient OS finally ending in April."
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Windows 8.1 Finally Passes Windows 8 In Market Share More

Windows 8.1 Finally Passes Windows 8 In Market Share

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  • 12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:4, Interesting)

    by symbolset ( 646467 ) * on Monday June 02, 2014 @10:16PM (#47151785) Journal
    It is a shame the next update still won't have the promised start menu.
    • It is a shame the next corpse still won't have life.

      FTFY

    • Re:12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:4, Insightful)

      by rubycodez ( 864176 ) on Monday June 02, 2014 @10:45PM (#47151951)

      will take more than a start button to fix windows 8.x

      that's like putting parsley garnish on a dish full of shit

      • Re:12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 02, 2014 @10:53PM (#47152007)

        Actually, from a structural standing, Windows 8 is fine, even better than the ones that came before.

        It's the UI they changed.

        • Re:12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 02, 2014 @11:15PM (#47152127)

          For the majority of users the OS is the UI.

        • This could be an OEM issue (Dell and Asus being notorious competent and all); but I am, so far, 2 for 2 on Win8 machines that experience the delightful "Failure configuring Windows updates. Reverting changes. Do not turn off your computer" perpetual hang.

          Thankfully these aren't mine, just test machines; but it hasn't endeared the system to me so far, even if I did like the UI changes.

          • I went through that with a rather expensive Samsung. They finally rolled out a bios update that let me apply 8.1 but getting out of that loop was a real pain.

            This is my biggest issue with Windows now. Not the OS itself but the lack of decent hardware vendors.

            • I think what surprised me most was that the issue was so serious: assorted trialware, upsell nag screens, and a default 'metro' environment that was probably 50% ads were expected. Such has been the way of the Wintel OEMs since the days of yore.

              Shipping a Windows image too broken to take Microsoft's own updates, though, seems like something that Microsoft would want to discourage, whether by bullying vendors during pricing negotiations, having 'Windows Defender', um, actually defend Windows, or by threat

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gfxguy ( 98788 )

          Late 2012 I bought a laptop... I almost always use Linux, but decided to try Windows 8.0 and see what all the hub-bub was about, so I went ahead and got one with Windows 8.0 (and then configured dual boot to Linux). Now, I admit that one of the first things I did was install "Classic Shell" and delete a bunch of preinstalled crap that Toshiba installed (like any Windows box/laptop that comes preinstalled). After doing that, I'm at a loss, as a personal box, why people think it's so much worse than Windows

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Rhipf ( 525263 )

            I have been telling my clients this for a while now. If you just add a start menu replacement (the start button of Windows 8.1 was a missed opportunity for Microsoft) and set it to boot directly to the desktop there isn't much difference between 8 and 7.
            One thing that I would like to see back is the Aero theme. The current Windows 8 style is to flat and retro for me (reminds me more of Windows 3 era).

      • It's more like looking at that plastic spork and giving them a stainless steel knife & fork again.

      • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday June 03, 2014 @04:15AM (#47152983)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Penguinisto ( 415985 ) on Monday June 02, 2014 @11:01PM (#47152055) Journal

      It is a shame the next update still won't have the promised start menu.

      Yeah, but funny as hell that, combined, Windows 8.x (all versions) is only ~25% after three years (a complete tech cycle in the consumer realm). It's doubly funny that this is in spite of every bix-box OEM pimping 8.x as hard as they friggin' can (go ahead and try to buy a laptop in BestBuy or Wal-Mart with something other than Windows 8 in it...)

      Now compare that crappy growth curve to XP, 98, 95...

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by jbolden ( 176878 )

        If the OEMs were pimping Windows 8 they wouldn't be selling non touchscreen laptops without complex hinges. The OEMs have been "pimping" Windows 7 hardware with Windows 8 installed.

        • Re:12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:5, Insightful)

          by 0123456 ( 636235 ) on Tuesday June 03, 2014 @01:07AM (#47152479)

          And who, exactly, wants a touchscreen on a laptop? Touchscreens are a crappy interface for devices too crappy to include a keyboard and mouse.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Anonymous Coward

            I don't mean to make a pun here when I say you're out of touch.

            People have nearly always put their damned fingers on the screen when they wanted things to happen. Children were doing that before touchscreens got big.

            The big problem is this slashdot idea that if you have a touchscreen then you can't have a keyboard and mouse.

            A mouse (and especially a touchpad) -- that's a crappy interface device for a civilization that can't manufacture good touch devices and program good touch software.

            And yes, I prefer us

            • Re:12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:4, Informative)

              by 0123456 ( 636235 ) on Tuesday June 03, 2014 @05:51AM (#47153191)

              People have nearly always put their damned fingers on the screen when they wanted things to happen.

              Since when? I've never seen anyone put their damned fingers on a PC screen and expect it to do something.

              A mouse (and especially a touchpad) -- that's a crappy interface device for a civilization that can't manufacture good touch devices and program good touch software.

              About the only things a touchsceen is better at than a keyboard and mouse are finger painting, or clicking huge icons in a fast food store. For anything that requires any kind of precision, a touchscreen is an appallingly bad interface.

      • Re:12.64 percent in only 17 months (Score:5, Informative)

        by Jmstuckman ( 561420 ) on Tuesday June 03, 2014 @12:05AM (#47152317) Journal

        Three years used to be a complete tech cycle in the consumer realm -- back in the 90s and early 2000s -- but the average consumer no longer upgrades their computer nearly that often. Most of my friends are still using 5-7 year old hardware, because the hardware from that era is still perfectly capable of running today's software. Your techie friends may upgrade every three years, but nobody else does.

        The vast majority of consumers only upgrade their OS when they buy a new system. The lack of uptake of Windows 8 is simply because not that many people have replaced their computer in the last few years. Unfortunately, a lot of the hardware from the 2004-2005 era (the first generation of systems to take DDR2 RAM) is still floating around. Because these systems shipped with XP, they are still running XP, and we now have a problem on our hands.

        Compare the Windows 8 growth curve to XP? That 9-year-old hardware from 2005 is still perfectly adequate for most tasks. On the other hand, using a PC from 1992 when XP came out in 2001 would have been impossible (unless you were rich, that computer would have had a 386 CPU and a hard drive with less than 100MB!)

        • Neither of these things is "unfortunate". It is not "unfortunate" that hardware from 2005 is still working fine and useful to the user. In fact, it is excellent and what everyone should try to do when they build a piece of kit.

          The only "unfortunate" thing about it is the fact that Microsoft stopped applying security fixes to XP.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Jahoda ( 2715225 )
        I think you got modded a bit high on this one. I am happy to hate 8.x as much as the next man. But 8 was released October 26, 2012. That is a scant 17 months ago. Wwhat I suddenly, with these stats, realize to be depressing is that apparently, even given all the terrible publicity and negative-everything, it's managed to hit 25% in 18 months. :/

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Hadlock ( 143607 )

        This probably has something to do with the fact that Chromebooks are something like 20% of the new laptop marketshare, Apple commands something like 25 or 30% leaving Windows with 50-60%, whereas Microsoft used to own 90% wholesale of the market. It's a lot harder to replace your old market share with new when you have half of the market presence you did six years ago, and the consumer marketplace is contracting at the same time. Desktop numbers probably look a lot better, but consumers buy laptops 2:1 and

    • It is a shame the next update still won't have the promised start menu.

      I think it makes complete business sense NOT to give start menu to Windows 8.x users.
      If they did give it to a Windows 8.x user like me for free, I would lose a major incentive to buy an upgrade to Windows 9.
      Not saying that start menu will be the only change in Win 9 but the start menu guarantees that I will be upgrading.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gfxguy ( 98788 )
        Classic Shell is free... I don't get why this is not publicized more; it makes the Windows 8.x experience very much like Windows 7.0 for typical computing tasks. I guess since it's one of the first things I installed, it's why I don't get all the complaining. No, it's not exactly the same as Windows 7.0, but it shouldn't have to be... that would have been pointless.

  • dont want it (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 02, 2014 @10:25PM (#47151831)

    i dont want 8.1 if it means signing up with fucking microsoft/windowslive id to get it, fuck off

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tepples ( 727027 )
      It's confusing, but you can upgrade to Windows 8.1 without having to get a Hotm^W Outlook.com account. You have to click buttons with titles to the effect of "create a new Microsoft account" followed by "continue using my local account" (or whatever; I don't have it in front of me).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by SeaFox ( 739806 )

        You have to click buttons with titles to the effect of "create a new Microsoft account" followed by "continue using my local account" (or whatever; I don't have it in front of me).

        Sounds like you're describing setting up a new 8.1 system. If we're talking about updating from 8 RTM to 8.1 I didn't even have to do that. My system was originally configured with a local account and I never use IE, Windows 8 Mail, or Skype. Went into the Store and there was a big tile to upgrade to 8.1. I wasn't logged into the Store at all (have never wanted to use it) and it didn't ask me for anything before downloading the installer.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by tepples ( 727027 )
          True, the update from Windows 8 RTM to Windows 8.1 doesn't ask the user to convert to a Microsoft account before the download. It asks during installation of the update, which incidentally resembles setting up a new system.

      • It's confusing, but you can upgrade to Windows 8.1 without having to get a Hotm^W Outlook.com account. You have to click buttons with titles to the effect of "create a new Microsoft account" followed by "continue using my local account" (or whatever; I don't have it in front of me).

        You can't install anything from the Windows Store without an account, and I think some other functionality is broken too. All in all, it's like using an Android phone without Google account: it's possible but somewhat clunky, and you finally end up saying "fine, fine, I'll create the damn account".

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gfxguy ( 98788 )
          But if you want stuff from the MS store, then so what if you have to create an account... is that really different than anywhere else?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tepples ( 727027 )
            What's different is that Windows 8.1 is in the Windows Store, not Windows Update. But then I didn't have to put in a Microsoft account when I downloaded Windows 8.1 on the work computer. So either Windows 8.1 is an exception or all gratis apps are an exception.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by gfxguy ( 98788 )
              And I installed a new 8.1 and didn't have to create an account, either. People are looking for any minor thing to gripe about - it's like most discussions on the internet, where they'll overlook the same flaws for something they like (whether it's an OS, a religion, or a political party), but complain about it in the "other" ones.

          • But if you want stuff from the MS store, then so what if you have to create an account... is that really different than anywhere else?

            Not really, but it's still a nasty spying feature. They probably know when you log in on your computer (if you are online), your synchronized settings will reveal data (including your wallpaper), maybe other stuff. It's a convenient slippery slope to a route where Microsoft and NSA governs your whole computer.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by gfxguy ( 98788 )

              How is that different from Google? Even using a Linux based system, whenever you open your browser to do something, if you have chrome synchronized, if you use gmail or g+, or whatever? And I don't use an Apple, but even on Windows iTunes is constantly checking for updates and wanting to install new stuff (unless you go out of your way to turn it off... but again, how is that different than the others?). I'm asking because people apply different standards to the companies they don't like than they do to

  • I read sometime last year that Windows 8.1 introduced a bug related to mouse latency, which was especially noticeable for gamers using high-dpi mice. Apparently, many games became unplayable because of the greatly increased mouse lag. Microsoft issued a temporary "fix" (patch KB2908279), which from what I've read only corrected the issue for a few specific games -- i.e., it was not a true, universal fix. Does anyone know if they have finally fixed this issue? I've been holding off from upgrading to Windows

    • all the gamers I know use windows 7, including two in my house.

      • all the gamers I know use windows 7, including two in my house.

        According to Steam's hardware survey [steampowered.com], Windows 8 accounts for about a quarter of gamers. I think that Valve knows more gamers than you do.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mashiki ( 184564 )

      My 2500DPI mouse(logitec g series) doesn't experience this. And my razer which is 5600dpi doesn't have any problems either and didn't before the patch. What it seemed to apply to is specific games, not the system as a whole.

  • ME and Vista (Score:2, Interesting)

    by mfh ( 56 )

    I like how Windows follows a SIN curve of customer satisfaction, almost flawlessly. My prediction is that Win 9 will be the next XP, loved by all only to be replaced by Win10 which everyone will hate... and so on and so forth, ad nauseam.

    This kind of business policy is pretty corrupt and if it's not illegal it really should be.

    Each release guarantees problems between users in terms of learning curve. Techsupport bottlenecks each time and they take the brunt of the flak from idealized Microsoft decision ma

    • This kind of business policy is pretty corrupt and if it's not illegal it really should be.

      I think it's entirely possible that the particular phenomenon that you are describing is a symptom of incompetence and not malice. Don't get me wrong, I am always ready to ascribe malicious intent to Microsoft, but this just smells like incompetence.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      I'd rather have love-hate releases than spreading it thin to make everybody half happy, half unhappy. It was 8 years between XP and Win7, if it's another 8 years between Win7 and the next good "classic" version Microsoft has a few more years to pull it off. I didn't use Vista, don't use Win8 and the more Win8 is the New Coke the more they'll need to bring back Coke Classic in Win9 so it works out fine for me. And most businesses who'll skip a release. Consumers that bought it could have read the reviews and

  • more deck space on the Titanic (Score:3)

    by chromaexcursion ( 2047080 ) on Monday June 02, 2014 @10:43PM (#47151945)
    OK, my subject is an exaggeration.
    The ship is still sinking.
    Apple isn't winning the desktop space. But Microsoft is still losing. Linux never really made the field.
    I won't go into the mobile space, where desktop is going, but MS is losing badly there.
  • I started using 8.1 was I could install "Classic Shell" and make it more or less just like 7.

  • 8.1 actually isn't bad, BUT (Score:3)

    by Jahoda ( 2715225 ) on Monday June 02, 2014 @11:14PM (#47152123)
    The fact that I have to install Classic Shell as my first step on any new Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, 8, or 8.1 system is still unacceptable. Yes, I realize this solves many of the problems of using the OS, but no *I* shouldn't have to do it. I was on the cusp of going ahead and telling folks "well, start menu is coming back, and really 8.1 has worked out some kinks...", as I suspect many /. readers were as well, but now this latest announcement of no start menu until Windows 9? Well, I guess 8.1 is a nonSTARTer. :drumroll:. Welcome to the new ME.

    • I do most of my access to our Server 2012 machines via Windows 7 remote admin tools and Powers hell. Why would you even bother logging in?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Jahoda ( 2715225 )
        Not all of us work in enterprise. A great deal of us support the SMB market (which is its own set of challenges), and there is much more need to directly interact with the server via GUI for these environments. I'm not saying that you're wrong, but the odds are good that if you're able to interact solely with powershell, your usage cases are much more specific.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Jahoda ( 2715225 )
        (by the way, I apologize if my response sounded douche-y, that was not what I was going for)

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday June 02, 2014 @11:57PM (#47152283)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • For a site where I imagine everyone uses Bash to complain about a start menu missing is comical. I hated the start menu and I'm glad it's gone. I've replaced all my systems with Windows 8 ever since they added boot to desktop so I could run appliance systems. The improvements they made under the hood make my systems fly. Same with 2012. I suffer at work with multiple monitors on Windows 7 and lack of PowerShell options on Server 2008 R2. I guess I'm the only one who notices the improvements.

    • There's heaps of us who like Windows 8.x/2012, but Slashdot has its mind made up and every time there's a Windows 8 submission these idiots bring out their pitchforks while people like us just ignore it. So no, you're not the only one.

      At this stage it looks like Microsoft could patch in a new Start Menu, throw in the option to use oh I don't know, KDE's menu or whatever your DE of choice is these days, put in a tool that converts fucking lead to gold, and donate 50% of their net profit to NASA, and people h

      • There's heaps of us who like Windows 8.x/2012, but Slashdot has its mind made up and every time there's a Windows 8 submission these idiots bring out their pitchforks while people like us just ignore it. So no, you're not the only one.

        At this stage it looks like Microsoft could patch in a new Start Menu, throw in the option to use oh I don't know, KDE's menu or whatever your DE of choice is these days, put in a tool that converts fucking lead to gold, and donate 50% of their net profit to NASA, and people here would still hate it.

        This.

  • What did we want in Win8? Win 7 that WORKED. That's all, really. Simple stuff, like, maybe automatically calculating the size of folders. That would be nice. And maybe a scheduler that didn't have its head up its ass. Seriously. All this touch this and wooshy that WE DON'T CARE. WE NEVER DID.

    we just want a computer that works. Perfectly and easily. Hard to do? Well, you CHARGE for your OS, so it's not like you don't have the green. But, no. You dreamed up Win8 and Metro and it sucks balls. No one wants it

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by bondsbw ( 888959 )

      Somebody's panties are in a wad.

      It amazes me how Windows is the only operating system on earth that MUST. HAVE. A. START. MENU. or omg I'mma kill someone.

      Anyway, didn't Windows 7 work? That's all you guys have been screaming for the past few years. Then when I would come in and say "just use Windows 7"... crickets. So, if you hate Windows 8 so much then 1) Why are you using it? 2) Why not go back to Windows 7? 3) Why not put your money where your mouth is and support an OS with a great Start menu? (Le

  • Because I haven't figured out what platform to migrate my mother to.

  • Sorry, that's me (Score:5, Funny)

    by BoberFett ( 127537 ) on Tuesday June 03, 2014 @02:22AM (#47152681)

    I turn on my Windows XP box every other day just to mess with the statistics.

    Actually it's because I still have my homemade porn on it, I haven't moved it to my new computer yet...

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Have you considered a distributed backup via torrent?

  • So, the one's people like are XP and 7. Now, what do those two have in common?

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