Is Windows 8 killing PCs?
Microsoft's latest software innovation was supposed to give sales of traditional computers a lift by making them more like mobile devices, but that hasn't happened
PC sales took a nosedive in the first quarter of 2013, falling by 14 percent, and research firm IDC thinks it knows why. Microsoft's Windows 8 — which was introduced last year to make desktops and laptops more appealing by giving them some features popular on mobile devices — actually backfired, and depressed PC sales. "Some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8," says IDC spokesman Bob O'Donnell says. But others were turned off by some of Microsoft's "radical changes" to its ubiquitous operating system, such as "the removal of the familiar Start button." And the cost of upgrading to a touchscreen to take full advantage of Windows 8 didn't help, either. "It's brutal," O'Donnell says. "These are disastrous numbers. Huge."
"Microsoft made a big gamble in designing Windows 8 as an operating system" better suited for "tablets and touch than for traditional PCs," says Preston Gralla at Computerworld. The software has dueling interfaces that are only confusing people and making them reconsider whether they want to stick with PCs at all.
Not so, says Ken Hess at ZDNet. "Windows 8 doesn't need saving any more than Windows 95 did." People are afraid of it because it's new, but they shouldn't be, he goes on. "Windows 8 is a good operating system that deserves a respected place in history alongside other innovative technology advances."
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Oh, "the PC market is dying" all right, says Clinton Stark at Stark Insider, and it's pointless to deny it. "The numbers tell a dire story." The decline reported by IDC so far this year was "the worst performance since... forever." Windows 8 isn't to blame, though. Tablets and smartphones are. And why shouldn't they be slaying the PC? They're cheaper, sexier, have longer battery life, and they are designed for the touch and app experience everyone loves, notes Stark:
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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