There are some Windows 8 haters out there who are desperately trying to make it fail. And it's not just pointlessly stupid Linux fanboys. It includes real Windows users are are digging in their heels and vowing never to upgrade from Windows 95, Windows XP, Windows 7 or whatever. (You can easily recognise them by their intemperate language.)
Having a group that abandons logic to promote something's failure naturally creates a counter-movement and therefore a market for blog posts that confirm or deny its success or failure. This has publishers laughing all the way to the bank.
It looks unlikely to develop into the sort of mass conflict that helped publishers make pots of money from Windows vs OS/2, PS3 vs Xbox 360 and similar battles, but it will do.
Obviously whether someone uses Windows 7 or Windows 8 is much more important than rape in India, mass starvation in Africa, war in the Middle East or the fact that the whole planet is melting down. One has to maintain a sense of priorities.
WTF does anything going on outside of the computer industry have to with Windows? Lets setup some straw men and light them on fire.
The biggest issue with 8 is that there is enough interface change that people feel they have to relearn it. In business this takes time and money to teach the employees, or for them to learn themselves. Most people don't want to spend time learning something new when there is little to no benefit from doing so. Real computer users want to get a task done, not to spend half their life learning interface changes.
From the tone of your reply, I'm going to assume you are one of those designers that says "My interface is right, and you are too dumb to understand it's awesomeness", and then are shocked and amazed when no one uses it.
> WTF does anything going on outside of the
> computer industry have to with Windows?
If you restrict your attention only to what's going on in the computer industry you are likely to lose your sense of proportion, as well as leading an impoverished life.
Otherwise, my view is that if you don't like Windows 8, carry on using Windows 7, or else install a Stardock or other program that makes it work the way you like. Windows 7 will be around for the rest of the decade at least.
However, people are capable of learning new interfaces, the real issue is the size of the benefits.
With Windows 8, the long term benefits are that the new UI works well with touch screens, it provides access to a new category of WinRT apps, and it gives you much the same UI across mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops (as well as common files and common services). In the long run, this means having to cope with fewer new interfaces, and it reduces your total learning time.
This is obviously a work in progress, and it's a long-term play. None of us knows how it's going to turn out. It's far too soon to say whether it's right or not.
That's an interesting perspective. I honestly think it's Windows people desperately trying to make Microsoft seem relevant. Here's why:
Their tablet OS hardly runs on any tablets. Desktops are no longer the primary computer device and there Windows 8 isn't well loved.
Personally I use Windows 8 on my TV. The first time I set it up I looked for the screen resolution change thing in the Windows 8 style control panel equivalent. It wasn't there, and I ended up having to find it in the ancient and bloated Old School Windows Control Panel. I use Media Center, and that's not Windows 8-ized either. I also hear MS Office doesn't have a Windows 8 version. None of these things, to me, make Windows 8 seem like a massive success.
Microsoft made kick ass phones, desktop OS and tablets in the early 2000s. But that period is over. We have Google and Apple now, Windows is that crappy thing you use at work.
I don't know about celebration, but since Windows sales are highly correlated to PC sales, it is useful information. Growth in Windows 8 desktop shipments gives you a good litmus test about veracity of the "death of the PC" concept.
Windows 7 share is a completely different animal. Big enterprises are still in the middle of rolling out Windows 7, so you should see shifting from XP to 7. Deceleration there is bad news for Microsoft/PCs.
Did you just make up that number? I think there are a lot more than 100 million Windows users. Windows has 90% market share. I'd guess that there are 1 billion Windows PCs, so you'd be off by an order of magnitude.
The number still seems incredibly small to me. I doubt Windows 8 will even reach 20% by the time Windows 9 comes out in 2 and a half years.