Windows 8 Not Doing Great
IT is taking a huge wait and see attitude with Windows 8. Most shops are in the midst of Windows 7 adoption, a fairly smooth upgrade from XP for end users. If you can use XP you can use Win 7.
Windows 8, on the other hand, is highly disruptive. And many are struggling to figure out its dual interfaces. You, the Redmond Report reader, either love or hate Win 8.
Consumers are equally troubled. If you are looking for a tablet, the iPad is the gold standard while Android-based devices are cheap. If you are looking for a PC, Windows 8 seems a bit weird.
All this has consumer demand lower than Sylvia Plath. Windows 8 sales are 21 percent lower than the equivalent PC sales last fall.
My guess is that Windows 8 is just an initial foray into tablet-style computing, and the version two or three years from now will smooth its huge wrinkles.
Meanwhile Apple has an opportunity to build a true Win 8 competitor, either a Mac with a tablet UI or an iPad with real productivity possibility, a Surface version of the iPad, so to speak.
Posted by Doug Barney on 12/07/2012 at 1:19 PM