News - PC upgraders chose Windows 7 over Windows 8.X during March

[dcwt2010]

All the people dissing Windows 8 haven't tried 8.1, have they? I'm not saying it's perfect I want the start menu to return but as I spent 99% of time on desktop or in game it matters little.
Win 8 got off to a bad start but MS has made great strides to return normalcy.

[crossy]

You say your skipping a generation yet a few post up say you have "two '8 boxes"? The last time i saw a BSOD was about 3 years ago on 7, been running 8 for 18 months and had no problems, no BSOD's, no probs in games no problems with apps etc. Fired up the laptop the other day which still runs 7 and it just feels so slow and "clunkey", i could never go back now.

Where did I say that the two Windows 8 boxes were mine? Answer - I didn't. And as to the BSOD comment - bully for you, take a look at support forums and you'll see a LOT of poor schmucks with a lot more problems than mine. Although I'll admit that perhaps the direct blame should be laid at the door of Creative, NVidia, AMD, etc - although Microsoft don't seem to want to cut the amount of "service impacting issues".

No I am not stating that Windows is a bloated mess, although I do believe it can be smaller. However, Windows supports far more drivers than any Linux distribution I have ever used, and implements more networking, development, and other tools out-of-the-box as well, I mean .NET Framework on its own takes a gig or two. So yeah, if you want a lean OS where you can install exactly the components and driveres you need - if you can find them, then yes use Linux, but to the average user who wants to install the OS in 30 minutes (including all or almost all the drivers) with little or no knowledge of the computers, then Windows is still your first choice.

Driver support I'll grant you - Windows is STILL the leader in that. The comment about networking, dev, etc is a LOT more arguable - unless you're meaning that it's loaded with a lot of frameworks "as standard" - but is that really an advantage to your putative "average user"? I can't see the average Joe being enthusiastic about having the ability to "ping" a box or do .NET development - the latter only after they've ADDED extra software of course.
And that last bit I'm going to quibble with - Windows is the most PROMINENT - the same way that the most prominent tablet is still the iPad. But that prominence is slipping - if you don't believe me then trip down to your local WH Smiths or supermarket and see how many Linux titles are now decorating the shelves.
Oh, and installing a modern Linux distro may be slightly more straightforward than Windows. The GUI install process is very similar, but you lose the requirement for activation etc AND a lot of distro's will autoselect stuff like Libre etc, (more useful than .NET frameworks?). Last one I did took less than 30 minutes AND included a shed load of printer drivers as well - whereas Windows has to have these explicitly loaded.
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree - your Linux experience is obviously not current and I don't want to bore others with this "debate".

All the people dissing Windows 8 haven't tried 8.1, have they? I'm not saying it's perfect I want the start menu to return but as I spent 99% of time on desktop or in game it matters little. Win 8 got off to a bad start but MS has made great strides to return normalcy.

Both of the Windows 8 boxes in the house got their 8.1 upgrades and their users seem pretty happy with them. Yes. I'll admit that I've tried them and it's definitely an improved experience - but that (unpredictable?) desktop/mui switch is one of the things about '8 that annoys the heck out of me. Big hopes though for Windows 9.

[DanceswithUnix]

All you need is a Card to Phone interface, I presume you remember the "ATM Hack" from Terminator 2? Same principle applies.
Card Skimmers are already halfway there as it is.

OK, I used to design pinpads in a previous job so being used to banking security I find it hard to let this slide.

You want to hack an XP box through a smartcard interface? The smart card interface is a slave to the machine so it sends commands to you, you don't get to send commands to it. The underlying 7816 interface spec is pretty simple and implementations highly audited, and not going to be part of the XP OS so it can still be updated. Go look up ISO 7816, there is plenty of info out there.

Skimmers are an external box and zero to do with the ATM itself, so no it isn't half way there. Yes you can skim the smartcard protocols (or the magnetics if you can be bothered to try and clone non smart cards) but there is a massive difference between eves dropping and malicious code injection. If the banks hadn't been such cheapskates and had encrypted the smartcard comms, then you wouldn't even be able to do that.

There are always ways to attack systems, but they usually involve some social aspect to get physical access to the hardware, and at that point any OS is vulnerable.

Oh one last thing, stuff that handles credit card information I would expect to be audited to at a minimum PCI DSS standards and possibly higher. That audit pulls in a best practices guide that says operating systems should be updated, so they will have to get updates from somewhere. AIUI XP will cease to get free public updates, but if you pay you can still get fixes.

It always amuses me that people think because I worked in the credit card industry I know holes in the security. Quite the contrary, if you see the slightest weakness you get it plugged.

So I don't use XP, I don't like XP, but even as an XP hater I think you are giving it an unfair ride here.

[Stebetojas]

there is tons of ppl who dont want to spent money for new window or fear to use ilegal window

[5umenemy]

8 is tablet optimised and horrifically clunky. Two versions of almost every programme required is just a pain. multitasking is also just another pain. Try writing an essay with 3 journals, word and a browser open in the silly app mode. Not useful for desktops at all IMO.

[mack_5991]

We want the start menu back, until then MS most people wont use 8