14 DAY TRIAL // Back in September, Microsoft made the Developer Preview of its Windows 8 operating system available for download, having enjoyed a lot of hype at the time, but which appears to stimulate less interest in those who already use it.
A new study from ad network Chitika claims that the Windows 8 Developer Preview usage has dropped during the past three months.
The firm compares impressions on its network from December 4th to December 12th with those reported on September 26th, soon after Microsoft made the platform available for download.
Windows 8 usage has decreased in the timeframe, the company concludes, adding that this might not be a good sign for Microsoft, especially with the near availability of Windows 8 Beta.
“To quantify the potential of increased interest in Windows 8, Chitika Insights analyzed a time series spanning December 4th to the 12th comprised of hundreds of millions of impressions,” the firm states.
“Looking at the chart below, the data reveals that the level of online activity seen for Windows 8 is measurably lower than it was three months ago.”
Since Windows 8 Beta is so near, the interest in the platform was expected to be higher, though there is the possibility that many will actually wait for the next release before starting to use the OS.
“With these changes just on the horizon, it would seem that the level of anticipation and activity within developer communities should be increasing, although due to low levels we observed, this clearly paints a different picture,” Chitika notes.
Given the fact that Windows 8 arrives on devices with a heavy focus on touchscreens, it would make sense why desktop users are not attracted too much to the platform.
The firm notes that many users complained on the fact that the touch UI Windows 8 proposes does not go along well with mouse and keyboard, and that there are a series of structural changes to the traditional interface that do not appeal to long-time users (such as the disappearance of the start menu).
“Furthermore, there are rumors that changes may be put in place updating the original windows file system to ReFS (Resilient File System, a system which will increase resilience to hardware and software errors on servers), but this most likely will not affect the average user,” the firm notes.
Windows 8 marks a major change in Microsoft’s platform, and it is typical for major releases to generate such levels of uncertainty, though it’s too early to say whether the new OS flavor will actually be affected.
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 is available for download from Softpedia via this link.
