Can microsoft afford to release another ME edition?

[SuperMiguel]

So we all know that Win ME was a disaster just plain bad.. now can they afford another failure?

I work as a software engineer developing food industry automated software, this year we bought around 30k computers for our clients, about 80% of them windows XP... Most of our clients dont want to upgrade they just dont want to... they have an old guy as an IT, that tells the CEO that anything higher than XP is bad and that their plant will be down alot since anything higher than XP sucks... so they believe him and they make us buy XP, they dont care about support since they have their own IT dep, so they dont need support from MS (thats what they claim).


The other 20% of the computers they have been running either OSX or linux... and this has happened in the pass 3 months.. More and more of our clients want a mac mini, or linux machine... While taking to one of the engineers of this newly transformed companies, he just said "MS wont support XP, and we dont like Win 8... we need a OS to run our plant not a stupid touch screen that feels like a game"

Also today google just passed MS in value (http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...s-microsoft-s-market-value-as-pc-loses-to-web) so while others are growing microsoft is stalling..

Im a believer that this is it for MS.. . Win8 its just an stupid idea... You just dont run a tablet OS in a computer it is just dumb! (IMO)

 

[kmo_9000]

If I didn't play games I would most likely running Linux on my computer. As long as they are forcing users to use the metro/ Win 8 UI I won't be upgrading from win 7 any time soon. And this coming from someone who will be getting a copy for free from school.

However, I am considering win 8 for a tablet if it manages to outshine the Android tablets out there.

 

[lukestrothman]

Windows 8 is terrible, looks terrible, this is the one operating system I have no intention on upgrading to, all the reviews are terrible, I've used the RTM edition and its horrible, its going to be buggy as can be on release, not to mention if you want a start menu you have to download a patch for it, not to mention the GUI isn't even improved I mean, comon microsoft! Mountain Lion, and Mint both look extremely better, and have more features, its going to be a bumpy road for Microsoft once this release hits,...

+ I think they are aware, why else would they be giving out coupons "EVERYWHERE!" for $14.99 upgrades, such a waste. They better have a huge trick for Win 9 up there sleeves or else Mountain Lion and Mint etc might be getting widely recognized very soon. For me, its Win7/Mint until something else comes along, Windows 8 is not getting my support by any means...

On the other side, Server 2012 does look kinda nice compared to 08. Thats the only thing I am looking forward to, it's going to be a while before that gets 100% stable though, but I do like what they have done with it. Win 8 however is simply garbage

 

[SuperMiguel]

I think it will be a bit hard for MS to come back to the game of tables, ios and android are pretty good at the moment, not many people would want to get something buggy(cuz we all know it will have aloottt of bugs at the beginning)

 

[SuperMiguel]

On the other side, Server 2012 does look kinda nice compared to 08. Thats the only thing I am looking forward to, it's going to be a while before that gets 100% stable though, but I do like what they have done with it.

The problem with servers OS, is that most companies dont want to upgrade their infrastructure just to give money to MS, most of them are stable as they are now, and dont want/need to speed money on new hardware/OS...

Alot of clients still use win 2000 server, and they have no intentions on upgrading... i would then say that the majority are using 2003.. and just now staring to look at linux servers.

For SMB thats another story, i think MS is targeting SMB for the 2012 server

 

[slynutcase]

it seems to be a trend that every other OS from microsoft sucks..
windows 9 may be good if windows 8 doesnt kill them in the process.

 

[kmo_9000]

Most of our clients dont want to upgrade they just dont want to... they have an old guy as an IT, that tells the CEO that anything higher than XP is bad and that their plant will be down alot since anything higher than XP sucks...

I re-read this part and I have to say I find it hard to believe so many are still on XP (or rather actually buying new computers with XP). Windows 8 is one thing but Windows 7 really is perfectly suited for enterprise use. It really does have superior administration options for large scale networks and it is a much better rounded OS.

Somehow I think the only reason these old guys want to stick with XP is so they can keep using their 5 year old programs/scripts/images and avoid learning new things or doing real work.

 

[lukestrothman]

The problem with servers OS, is that most companies dont want to upgrade their infrastructure just to give money to MS, most of them are stable as they are now, and dont want/need to speed money on new hardware/OS...

Alot of clients still use win 2000 server, and they have no intentions on upgrading... i would then say that the majority are using 2003.. and just now staring to look at linux servers.

For SMB thats another story, i think MS is targeting SMB for the 2012 server

Very true, our main servers where I'm at now our on 03 , however our newest are on 08 R2, but the main guys that have been re virtualized from physicals etc etc are still on 03. Sometimes no change is good.

EDIT : I am part of a 5,000+ employee enterprise and we just finished refreshing everyone to 7, everything is great, Windows 7 is very nice client side, it runs great and has excellent networking capabilities etc etc, it works great as long as the hardware in the beginning is suited for it, not even worth trying to put 7 on something that wouldn't be able to fully handle it for a few years,, Windows 7 is going to be used for a VERY long time still , we can guarantee that. Especially with Windows 8 crashing at the pregame like it's already doing.

 

[SuperMiguel]

Somehow I think the only reason these old guys want to stick with XP is so they can keep using their 5 year old programs/scripts/images and avoid learning new things or doing real work.

+1 but companies CEO's will trust their IT guy/department more than they will trust us so there is nothing we can do

 

[SuperMiguel]

I am part of a 5,000+ employee enterprise and we just finished refreshing everyone to 7, everything is great, Windows 7 is very nice client side, it runs great and has excellent networking capabilities etc etc, it works great as long as the hardware in the beginning is suited for it, not even worth trying to put 7 on something that wouldn't be able to fully handle it for a few years,, Windows 7 is going to be used for a VERY long time still , we can guarantee that. Especially with Windows 8 crashing at the pregame like it's already doing.

I think the US military just finished as well upgrading to 7 as well.

Maybe MS will realize that they messed up and come up with win8 SP1 a week after lunch

 

[wagex]

if theyd just get their heads out of their buttox and make metro ui an option i think it would be a fantastic operating system.

 

[ihrsetrdr]

With Windows 8 I was hoping that since M$ was following Apple's lead with the metro UI that they would at least get some BSD goodness going under-the-hood as well.

 

[petteyg359]

a week after lunch

That seems like an odd starting point for the week

 

[TimoneX]

Agree with luke...7/mint are a dynamic duo. Definitely the best win/linux combo I've dual ed. The forced metro thing almost makes you wonder if a linux backer infiltrated MS and is sabotaging them to promote open source. Metro & IE 10 should be easily disabled options.

 

[joedymueller]

from a business stand point, i don't think it matters if windows 8 sucks. windows is not going away for the mass business use. it will be around for a while. too many people on it right now to just go away. if 8 sucks, which it can for desktops. companies wont upgrade. I know for my company there is no chance we will be moving to 8. no one uses windows phones, so there is no benefit there at all.

 

[SMOKEU]

I hope you all realise there is a very simple regedit to get rid of that horrible start menu on Windows 8.

 

[PolePosition]

Microsoft still has a long way to go before they'll ever come out with an OS that is power user friendly, but then that would be sacrificing much of the control and limitations they place on the user.

They really should take some time to read feedback and issues database before thinking about the requirements to designing their next OS. After all, the end user is the customer supplying their bread and butter.

Some old IT guys just like to have life easy for them where most of the day is spent browsing the internet. Upgrading might force them to have to do some more work for a change. Its only a matter of time though until an upgrade is essential as new software gets developed, which is designed for the latest OS in most cases. You either move forward or get left in the dust.

 

[OneArmedScissor]

 

[Operant]

I hope you all realise there is a very simple regedit to get rid of that horrible start menu on Windows 8.

If I'm remembering correctly, they removed the registry method

 

[SMOKEU]

If I'm remembering correctly, they removed the registry method

Damn, I thought the old regedit trick still worked.