“Windows 8 isn’t even in beta yet, but IDC is already predicting that very few PC owners will upgrade from Windows 7,” Preston Gralla blogs for Computerworld.
“And that’s just for a start — the company also predicts that Windows 8 tablets look to be a bust as well,” Gralla reports. Those predictions are contained in a new report, ‘Worldwide System Infrastructure Software 2012 Top 10 Predictions.’ The report claims the following, according to Mary Jo Foley.”
Windows 8 will be largely irrelevant to the users of traditional PCs, and we expect effectively no upgrade activity from Windows 7 to Windows 8 in that form factor.
Gralla reports, “The reason for that is fairly obvious: If what I’ve seen in the Windows 8 developer preview holds true to the finished version, there’s not much new that’s useful to owners of desktops and laptops. The new Metro interface is clearly designed for touchscreens and tablets, and the Windows 8 desktop looks and works very much like Windows 7. There’s simply not enough there for anyone to want to upgrade.”
“Given that Windows 8 seems largely designed for tablets, how will Windows 8 tablets fare? IDC is again unimpressed, and expects Windows 8 tablet sales in 2012 to be ‘disappointing,'” Gralla reports. “IDC isn’t alone in that. Forrester recently warned that because Windows 8-based tablets will be so late to market, they’ll likely fail against the iPad, Android tablets, the Amazon Kindle, and the Barnes and Noble NOOK.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back on June 1st:
Microsoft, in trying to cram everything into Windows 8 in an attempt to be all things to all devices, will end up with an OS that’s a jack of all trades and a master of none (which, after all, ought to be Microsoft’s company motto). By the time this hybrid spawn of Windows Phone ’07 + Windows 7ista actually ships, one can only dream where Apple’s iOS and Mac OS X will be! For Microsoft, it’ll be more like a nightmare… From what we’ve seen so far, Windows 8 strikes us as an unsavory combination of Windows Weight plus Windows Wait… As if they needed it: More good news for Apple.
Related articles:
Forrester: Microsoft’s Windows 8 will be very late to Apple iPad’s tablet party – November 29, 2011
Like Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows 8 looks like it violates Apple’s new ‘Slide to unlock’ patent – October 26, 2011
Windows 8 might turn off longtime users – September 30, 2011
3 reasons why Windows 8 may be dead on arrival – September 20, 2011
iOS 5 iPad 2 vs. Windows 8 preview tablet (with video) – September 16, 2011
Microsoft exec: Uh, no, Windows 8 tablets won’t run Windows PC apps – September 15, 2011
Corporate America to Microsoft: We’ll pass on Windows 8 – September 9, 2011
WSJ’s Mossberg reviews Mac OS X Lion: ‘The best computer operating system’ – July 21, 2011
Researchers: Apple’s Mac OS X Lion is the king of security – July 21, 2011
Microsoft developers horrified over Windows 8 preview – June 13, 2011
More good news for Apple: Microsoft previews Windows 8 (with video) – June 1, 2011