14 DAY TRIAL // Just like a mother brags about her kids, Microsoft continues to praise Windows 8, trying to emphasize that it’s the most advanced operating system to date.
Oliver Niehus, Principal Application development manager and member of the Application Experience SWAT team, said in a blog post that Windows 8’s feature list is the living proof that it’s “an impressive operating system which hadn’t been seen by the world before.”
“It’s the most feature rich client operating system so far (Windows Server 2012 has much more than the client),” he continued.
“First of all, Windows itself benefits from these features and therefore reaches a new dimension concerning security, manageability, usability, performance and much more. Furthermore it is extremely energy saving so even with older hardware battery life has been raised a lot.”
Analysts and unofficial sales figures provided by retailers across the world, however, prove otherwise.
Windows 7 remains the top choice for all those looking for a Windows computer, so Windows 8 is yet to take off, even though Microsoft has previously stated that it had sold 40 million copies in just one month.
According to data revealed by Net Applications for the week of December 2, Windows 7 remains the number one operating system on the market, with a market share of 45.82 percent. Windows 8, on the other hand, trails behind many other rivals with a share of just 1.46 percent.
Windows 8 is thus less popular than Mac OS X 10.8 and 10.6 that hold market shares of 2.13 percent and 2.03 percent, respectively.
PC builder Puget System says that 8 out of 10 buyers choose Windows 7 over Windows 8, mostly because of the shortcomings of the new OS, such as the lack of a Start button and a confusing Modern approach.
“Windows 8 arrives to a PC market of mostly satisfied Windows 7 customers. The conditions under which Windows 7 arrived differed as many Windows XP users had held off moving to Windows Vista due to lackluster reviews and various hardware compatibility issues,” Brett Nordquist of Puget Systems said.