Windows 8 survive?

[Jensen]

There are so many talks about new Windows 8. Some people say that it is the best new OS, others clains that the release meant nothing to the market. What do you think of it?

[viking777]

Well, we are mostly Linux users Jensen, so the answer to your question is that we probably don't think of it at all.

If it is of any help though, my wife is a confirmed Windows user and she has no intention of ever installing it, so that says something I guess.

[Orbmiser]

I don't think about it at all. As have a triple boot system with Win7 and for Windows stuff it works great.

I have always had to deal with got be new gotta upgrade crowd or feel they are losing out. When I did field computer calls.
Now retired from the masses of lemmings crowd that flitter to the new just because it's new and creating all kinds of situations for themselves.

I don't see businesses jumping on this as it changes how the business operates. And businesses don't like to have spend monies to re-train and loss of productivity for a new interface. Along with issues of does Win 8 support their older gear issues. When Win7 for them is still getting the job done.

Comes down to Compelling real-world definable reasons. And don't see any of those reasons when it comes to Windows 8. Just Hype!
.

[DrHu]

Windows 8x survival probably isn't in any doubt, its popularity is another thing
--but, see below (I expect it to be.)

I think it will succeed, at least for consumers, even as a spillover from their smart-phones
--even surface looks OK (netbook style computer as far as I can tell), except what looks like a membrane keyboard instead of a real one.. (at least as it appears to be on the TV advertising)

And of course people will just get used to their new style, and adapt as necessary..
--it would take much longer for businesses to changeover, lets say 5-10yrs, because they tend to hang onto their infrastructures far longer than consumers..

And I mean big corp usually
--smaller businesses might be tempted to use it/try it (win 8x) just to see if there are any advantages for them..

However despite what is the usual caveat for business: training, new interface style
--that doesn't stop business users/corp's from eventually or quickly switching over

They can usually expect lots of support from the vendor to get on track to their strategy of updating an OS..

It can also be a generational thing: younger people want to be trending and if they happen to be in charge will want to jump into the new pool

[sammiev]

I dual boot Win7 and Linux. So I never think of trying Win8 but on that note, I think the last time I booted into Win7 was at least a year a go.

[usersc]

As a computer repair person I use many operating systems. Windows 8 is confusing for many and almost impossible for some. Personally I have used it for almost a year now counting all the betas and now the rtm, and I find I kind of like it, but not enough to use it on my personal pc. I really like mint mainly because it seems so stable and never seems to give me any trouble...at least not yet...hopefully never. But back to windows 8....I think it is strictly a love hate thing at the moment and time will tell if it a success. It definitely is designed primarily for touch tablets and not really for desktop pc's. The modern interface looks cool but as near as i can tell it is only good for a few things on a regular pc. Mostly simple games and a few other apps that are worthwhile.. Having said all of that I think the majority of people will eventually use it. As far as dual booting with it and linux it is possible but somewhat of a pain to set it up .....you can't use the newer mainboards with uefi..it needs to be the older bios type to get it to work . Sorry I was so wordy with my comments.

[RavenLX]

I think Windows 8 will help Linux survive. In that people will get flustered with Windows entirely and switch to Mint like I did!

Google "Windows Blue" and you'll see rumors of MS putting out a new Windows every year (I don't think I can actually believe that one, considering how long it took to get to 8 ). I also read many places where people are not taking the plunge and going for Windows 8. They cite Windows 8 PC sales are lacking (where interestingly, I forgot where I read it but one article said that there's been an upswing in Linux-installed PCs off Amazon). Some manufacturers are saying they will not be supporting Windows 8. Looks like Windows 8 is a fail from what is being said (despite the "millions" of copies of upgrades sold, etc.)

My own personal experience is that I upgraded to Windows 8 from the Windows 7 that came with my laptop (which I bought in August 2012). It didn't go well. It was very ugly - like Windows 3.1. And I ended up buying a program that would bypass the ugly mess of a tiled Start Screen and boot right to the desktop and give back the start menu (which MS took out of the Desktop). If you didn't use Desktop programs, the computer behaved like a tablet. Not any Windows. Impossible to get real work done in it.

Another thing I hated was Windows always spewed a hidden file called "thumbs.db" which could be anywhere from 1K to over 500K in size all over the hard drive. Hundreds of them. One for each directory you have, even if there are no media files in the directory! If you use a zip program like 7-Zip, those files would get mixed in (and you can't see them unless you open the zip file). This is results in longer upload times when uploading these to a backup cloud drive or just transferring them to SD card. So I found a way to make Windows 8 stop making those thumbs.db. Ever since then the file manager ("Windows Explorer") would suddenly just close right in the middle of me trying to get things done - and do so at random! And frequently. Windows became unusable.

I never had that happen yet in Linux Mint. It. Just. Works.

I think the Windows 8 flop and if the Windows "Blue" rumors turn out to be true, then now is a great time to do more advertising - word of mouth or even getting donations for Google AdWords and other advertising to get the word out about Linux alternatives (like Mint) and the benefits it has over other OSs. Now could be a crucial time to bring Linux into the mainstream if one acts quickly to take advantage of the Windows 8 flop.

The big changes in Windows 8 and the lackluster responses it's getting from consumers just may help Linux become the new standard.