Windows 8 Blamed for PC Industry’s Collapse

“Consumers expected all sorts of cool PCs with tablet and touch capabilities. Instead, they mostly saw traditional PCs that feature a new OS (Windows 8) optimized for touch and tablet with applications and hardware that are not yet able to fully utilize these capabilities,” David Daoud, tracker research director, added.

If this is true how is that the fault of Win8 - Win8 is software, Microsoft is a software company, how is Windows 8 responsible for the lack of compelling hardware being on the market for the 2012 holiday season? Additionally how were sales of Apple PC's and Chromebooks? Wasn't the retail sector as a whole down significantly this holiday season? Seems intentionally biased to view Windows PC sales in a vacuum rather than in light of the retail industry and the PC sector overall.

they should make a decent start menu for windows 8 and it'll kick up the sales

So, if they made it window 7 pc's would be flying off the shelf. Because there was no PC "slump" in 2011 and 2012 when win7 was the only Windows on the market? Looks like revisionism to me.

Were a Start Menu included in W8,it wouldn't help the sales pitch one bit because users would stick to W7 as they currently intend to do.
Both the hardware\software markets are sluggish for more than one reason being the W8 debacle.
Other's include the recessionary effects brought on by incompetent politicians.
Also,on the hardware side,Intel caused a 'stall' in hardware sales,from it's poor attempt at keeping Ivy Bridge CPU's cool,which had a knock-on effect with PC builders.
In general,where the PC industry manufacturer's sales are all dependent on each other for moving along,as a whole,the industry will only move at the pace of the slowest in the food chain.

PC users are not prepared to pay good money for bottle-necking hardware\software nowadays or for shoddily designed controllers et'c,we will simply keep our money in our pockets.

I am a professional Windows user, not a consumer who is only interested in facebook, and alike.
I have been a loyal MS users since Windows 3 and I have upgraded with pleasure to every new version of the OS. That is how I became a very happy Windows 7 user now on a variety of machines (desktops, laptops and notebooks - all of them with mouse & keyboard because of my professional activities).
I am in no need of tablets and my smartphones are Androids because I do not like Windows phones.

Windows 8 is the first OS from MS that will never be installed on my machines because :
- I really dislike the metro interface and the fact that MS forces me to use it.
- I also dislike the metro interface on smartphones, reason why I bought Androids instead of Windows ones.
- I hate the way the desktop interface of Windows 8 has been ruined and mutilated (no more start button and menu, no more aero, no more chrome, no more eye-candy), it became just flat and dull).

I guess that is why I will stay with Windows 7 until MS comes to it's senses and decides to recognize that there is a difference between professional desktop/laptop users and tablet/phone users.


Just my 2 cts.

Microsoft has a very good history of releasing products BEFORE they are ready. The track record of poor products and faulty products is notorious since the early releases are buggy which always causes hesitation from wary buyer and users. The idea that the "product will mature" is a simple way of saying the correct the mistakes they know exist but launching a product is more important than launching a trouble-free product. Then comes their support problems... Microsoft is a nightmare waiting to happen. It is unfortunate.

With 60 million copies sold and more and more users building their own computers it's really hard to know how many new computers have been built.

Sure! Certainly! Windows 8 & Ballmer are the reasons. And next would be Windows Blue. Nothing can beat PC, if Windows OS products are good. but with Ballmer, nothing can go good now.