"Microsoft needs a change in management"

[rridgely]

The thing about itunes though is that you don't actually have to use it at all to use the device. Itunes has always been a clunky piece of software(especially on windows). It's also miles better than whats offered on android. Anyone with a galaxy s3 will tell you samsung kies is 10000000000x worse than itunes. Half the time it wont even recognize your phone is plugged into the pc. The good thing about iOS and Android is you don't have to use these crappy applications, everything can be managed on the device if you want.

 

Also there is a big difference about the clunker that is Windows 8 and iTunes. If your whole OS is broken(and windows 8's UI is) then no one is going to buy your product good or not.

[Nergal]

to note currently windows blue is not = win9

[Guest Keatah]

If we could get the corporations to stop dumbing things down, we'd be ok. When they do that they remove useful power-user features and thus narrow the appeal to newcomers. Thing is I don't believe they even know they're doing it. Stupidity is a disease creeping into lots of corporations.

 

 

Itunes has always been a clunky piece of software(especially on windows).

 

Also there is a big difference about the clunker that is Windows 8 and iTunes. If your whole OS is broken(and windows 8's UI is) then no one is going to buy your product good or not.

 

iTunes 9 and 10 are pretty nice. It's iTunes 11 causing the problems. It's about workflow changes and missing features and library behavior.

 

Most of all it's about the UI layout. Much the same complaint with Windows8. Since Mr. Jobs passed away, Apple has gone downhill. This is the 3rd instance of FAIL.

 

Ever since BG retired MS has gone downhill. Win8 is their latest fail.

[rridgely]

I disagree that Apples gone downhill since Jobs died. Stock price is still through the roof, still making new products(iphone 5, ipad mini, retina ipad, retina macbook) their track record is just about the best in technology right now. They supposedly have a new watch coming out soon. I don't think a crappy itunes redesign signals that they are in trouble. I'm not even especially an apple fan (only have ipad) but I'm not gonna trash a company that is actually doing a lot right (for now).

 

MS on the other hand? Surface isn't selling. Windows 8 is a mess. I like Microsoft products, I'm not going to switch from windows any time soon but I'm not a fan of what they are doing right now.

[Willy2]

More bad news for Microsoft:

http://globaleconomi...standstill.html

 

Win 8 isn't selling and now MS is slashing prices. Surprise, surprise.

[login123]

Wow. That is big news.

I wonder if they will extend the support for win 7 like they did for xp.

Or maybe just offer service pack 4 for xp, take an immediate hit on profits, but make a few million loyal happy customers.

[Andavari]

I wonder if they will extend the support for win 7 like they did for xp.

Or maybe just offer service pack 4 for xp, take an immediate hit on profits, but make a few million loyal happy customers.

 

I seriously doubt it. Although an official SP4 .EXE patch for XP would be very nice indeed since so many Microsoft Updates seem to indicate it in the registry.

[Guest Keatah]

This is all very good news. At least I'm not alone hating win8. I can see them extending Windows 7, and I'd be totally surprised with an SP4 for XP.

 

You know, win8 is nothing but the product of corporate busywork. Nothing was wrong with 7 or XP.

[mta]

Personally, I think Win8 is OK, maybe not great but Is it an improvement over Win7?, Yes. In almost every benchmark you can name.

Having said that, Metro sucks, and why oh why remove the Start button. But it's only a short learning curve to overcome.

(thanks to Win + X and Taskbar, I don't even miss the Start button now)

Win8 seems to be suffering the same fate as Vista, nothing wrong per say with the OS, just a couple of glitches the media has jumped all over and given the whole OS a bad name.

 

Reducing the price of Win8 just makes it look like an OS that's been put the in reduced bin for a quick sale to get rid of old stock.

 

@Keatah, agree - nothing wrong with Win7 or XP, but you can say the same for 98 or 2000.

 

we have to live with the fact that Windows, Mac, Linux etc will change for change sake.

doesn't mean we won't go kicking and screaming into the next OS though !

 

less than 400 days now till XP officially dies. will there be SP4? - almost definitely not.

will Win7 be extended? - based on popularity and sales, you'd have to say yes.

will Win8 be 'changed'? - they will have to if only to get sales up.

[Guest Keatah]

What irks me is that the reasons for win8 failing are made clear. And yet parent company does nothing. And we're seeing the same issue with iTunes 11 from Apple.

 

I also don't understand why M$ wants to kill XP, it works, it's functional, it holds 40% marketshare.

[Willy2]

I was also surprised to see that XP still holds a 40% marketshare.

 

I moved from XP to Win 7 about 10 months ago because I wanted to "go wireless" and my XP laptop didn't have a wireless internet hardware build into it. My new laptop came with Win 7, had the luck I skipped the buggy Vista.

 

Wish I could get Win XP's Explorer for Win 7. That's the one thing I REALLY miss. And I wish MS would focus more on fixing a number of annoying and (at least) two blatant bugs in Win 7. It seems MS puts an emphasis on fixing security issues.

[Guest Keatah]

There's a thread somewhere here about explorer replacements. IMHO, though, none are exactly like what came with xp.

[Corona]

MS went gung-ho for W8 because they were hell bent on dominating the phone market. A few years ago a middle-range HP Pavilion tower cost US$600. Now a tiny hand-held iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S3 costs...US$600. They're basically selling tiny PCs for the same price. Thus the frantic demand to produce phones. But as usual MS is copying already-created designs in order to catch up.

 

I can't wait for the new fad where everyone wants 60" living room phones.

[Andavari]

I can't wait for the new fad where everyone wants 60" living room phones.

 

And yet people would still lose a 60" phone.

[mta]

There's a thread somewhere here about explorer replacements. IMHO, though, none are exactly like what came with xp.

 

perhaps you refer to this one

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=37605&hl=%2Bfavourite+%2Bfile+%2Bmanager

[login123]

I was also surprised to see that XP still holds a 40% marketshare.

. . .

 

This site has some graphs to display OS usage, among other things.

http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201202-201302

The dropdown menus let you look at different regions and other variables.

Seems China still uses win xp quite a bit, that may be skewing the stats.

 

I don't believe for a minute that microsoft will publish another service pack for win xp, nor extend support for win 7. Just posted that to point out what they could do. They have the capability,

[TheWebAtom]

I can't wait for the new fad where everyone wants 60" living room phones

 

The wait is already over. My 60" LG television runs Android 2.2, with a full flash/javascript compatible web browser and support for 3rd party apps.

[hazelnut]

Seems like Microsoft is resorting to extreme measures now over Win8 and Office 2013

 

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/150130-microsoft-cuts-the-price-of-windows-8-and-office-2013-to-spur-slow-adoption

[Guest Keatah]

That bald guy looks like a freak.

 

I only recognize 2 mobile os'es, Android and IOS. Do we need another one?

 

WindowsXP and Seven aren't broke.

 

This is good news for the Linux camp.

 

I hold no brand loyalty, just as no company remains loyal to me. It's all just business.

 

I have zero, nada, none, no intention of ever using a subscription OS for my personal work. And subscription Office? WTF?

 

You can call me old school for using an Apple //e and Office 2003 for word processing. But I don't have to worry about upgrades or learning how to navigate through distracting features.

 

It is the the more-trouble-free-nature of smartphones and tablets that's killing the PC.

 

I really don't have a lot of time to learn how to use a mobile style OS on a desktop. It doesn't make sense.

 

Anybody can learn to use a smartphone and tablet. Not everybody can learn a PC.

 

I have no intention of upgrading my OS every year.

 

Smartphone and tablet apps are eclipsing their PC equivalent in usability and UI design.

 

Microsoft's failings are good news for Libre Office.

 

Windows 7 not being available on new PC's has changed my purchasing choice this year.

[Willy2]

@Keatah: I agree for about 80 to 90%. E.g. I am on Win 7 but use Word 2003 as well. Why bother to switch to new a word processor when the old one still suffices. (Small) Businesses are struggling financially and then MS expects them to switch to Win 8 with all the costs and learning involved ? When they're doing fine with XP or Win 7 ?

 

MS should focus on their XP and Win 7 customer base. With Win 8 being a flop and 40% of users still on XP I wouldn't be surprised to see support for XP extended. And then they can focus on fixing more bugs in Win 7 as well.

[Nergal]

Actually MS doesn't really expect most people to switch from 7 to 8 they expect people to move from aged XP and "buggy" Vista. They tried pushing people (and especially businesses) to 7 and were not successful. To say XP is a perfectly fine system is to wear very thick blinders. yes for us technically adapt users it's fine but as far as the m/billions of users out there it is poorly effective against malware threats and without uac much more dangerous.

 

Again, for the fourth time this thread, it is seven with some bugs ironed out, a few cosmetic differences and the start menu removed (which MS made possible to have put back by 3rd party applications)

[login123]

Actually MS doesn't really expect most people to switch from 7 to 8 they expect people to move from aged XP and "buggy" Vista. They tried pushing people (and especially businesses) to 7 and were not successful. To say XP is a perfectly fine system is to wear very thick blinders. yes for us technically adapt users it's fine but as far as the m/billions of users out there it is poorly effective against malware threats and without uac much more dangerous.

 

Again, for the fourth time this thread, it is seven with some bugs ironed out, a few cosmetic differences and the start menu removed (which MS made possible to have put back by 3rd party applications)

 

Early on, xp users had to twiddle a lot. (Thats is one technical step up from tweaking. ) Now, they don't have to so much.

I am no tekkie, but I have spent a few years reading from those generous souls who are tekkies and who will share their knowledge, and now have a few xp installations that do whatever I want to do and are darned near bulletproof.

You have to do that with any windows OS. That is, set up user profiles and at least get an AV and a firewall (when norton runs out ) . All that is available free for win xp, win 7, and win 8 (I hope, haven't done win 8 yet).

 

I know it sounds terribly negative, but the only thing I have ever seen microsoft respond to is money (and the occasional court order). They must kill off xp and 7, they're hurting their bottom line.

But (after reconsidering) I bet they don't get rid of 7 soon. I think the cost to business and government will provoke another extended life cycle.

XP, probably, but I bet it will hang on as long as there are drivers for it. Right now HP doesn't make xp drivers for this brand new computer, even though microsoft still supports xp for a while yet.

 

The little outfit I used to work for maintains about 35,000 PCs and 1,500 servers. Every upgrade costs quite a bit. Then the retraining . . . "how do I turn this thing off?". I think microsoft would do well in these financial times to think long and hard about how their actions affect the economy.

 

Edit:

That bald guy looks like a freak.

I have actually started to feel a bit sorry for him. In every picture you see, he looks dangerously stressed. Often waving a fist. That doesn't mean I would keep him on as CEO for more than a few minutes, but I do feel sorry for him. He inherited a mess. MS management doesn't recognize that it's a mess, but it is.

[mta]

you have to cut Microsoft a bit of slack.

it's not many companies where the only way one department can increase sales is by having another of their own departments decrease sales.

 

Office 2010 only goes up if Office 2003 goes down. Win8 gets more market share if Win7 loses ground.

[Guest Keatah]

I don't feel sorry for the bald guy, stressed or not. He is paid to do a job. This is what is required of him.

 

I don't really care what happens internally in microsoft. Doing so would be pointless.

 

I'm not cutting microsoft (or any corporation) any slack. It is not my concern how they market a product. It is not my concern how they internally organize their departments. It is their god-given choice. If they want to (or have to) cut a department to bolster sales in another, then so be it. Not my problem. Not my place to feel sorry for them. Not my place to correct internal mis-steps. There are other people educated and trained to make those decisions.

 

They do whatever they do. Make whatever products they make. If I like it I use it. If I do not like it I do not use it. I do not complain in hopes them "fixing" anything to my satisfaction. I will tell them once what I think of a product. They will either listen right away, or not. I am one guy that has little influence (as an outside consumer) - thus why waste time trying to force a change in an organization I am not directly a part of? I have other more important activities to tend to. I do the simple thing and vote with my bank account. I focus on my own usability or productivity, not some large corporation's.

 

I shall continue using Office 2003 and XP for quite some time. Perhaps only switching to something else when my existing choices are no longer viable. Microsoft, like any other organization, will need to earn my business. Every step of the way. That is their self-chosen activity - to make products that appeal to me. They will either do that or they will not. I have already made my opinions known. Whether they want my dollar and business and recommendations, or not - that's their call.

 

I have my personal standards. Can they match their product to what I need and desire? Can they build something that lives up to my expectations?

[mta]

they start off by giving us what we needed - without us even knowing we did.

eventually they pump out what they think we want.