News - Gartner slashes PC market forecast

[HEXUS]

Apparently the world is experiencing tough economic conditions – who knew?

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[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

People also know Windows 8 is arriving next year so unless you really need a replacement PC now or find a bargain it wouldn't surprise me people are sticking with what they have. Also,TBH any PC which can run Windows 7 fine will probably be enough for a lot of people for the next few years.

[crossy]

People also know Windows 8 is arriving next year so unless you really need a replacement PC now or find a bargain it wouldn't surprise me people are sticking with what they have. Also,TBH any PC which can run Windows 7 fine will probably be enough for a lot of people for the next few years.

... and after it's had it's useful life as a Windows box, it can get a second wind as a Linux desktop! (ducks hurriedly and runs away)

I wonder - as it says in the article - how many PC sales have been lost to a tablet(+keyboard?) combination. I would have thought that the folks who would have bought a top-end netbook to "flash around" would probably have shifted. I don't consider myself fashion-led (too little disposable income for that) but I replaced my netbook with a tablet quite satisfactorily.

Is it just me, or does the PC focus seem to have shifted to laptops? Last time I was in Staples/PC World/Currys there were few desktop PC's and if you strike off the all-in-one/touchscreen devices then my local PC World had a grand total of two desktop's available - compared with three entire rows of laptops. However I realise that, like quite a few fellow Hexus denizens, I'm not a likely purchaser of a desktop PC - preferring to self-build, of course following the excellent advice available on Hexus!

That said, if Acer etc wanted to do a hyperpowerful home server then I'd be very interested - looking for something no bigger than 12" in each dimension; at least quad core; at least 8GB RAM possible and as much (RAID?) disk as possible. (This is my project for next year - to replace my current much-abused Dell D620 VM host).

[Scott B]

... and after it's had it's useful life as a Windows box, it can get a second wind as a Linux desktop! (ducks hurriedly and runs away)

I wonder - as it says in the article - how many PC sales have been lost to a tablet(+keyboard?) combination. I would have thought that the folks who would have bought a top-end netbook to "flash around" would probably have shifted. I don't consider myself fashion-led (too little disposable income for that) but I replaced my netbook with a tablet quite satisfactorily.

Is it just me, or does the PC focus seem to have shifted to laptops? Last time I was in Staples/PC World/Currys there were few desktop PC's and if you strike off the all-in-one/touchscreen devices then my local PC World had a grand total of two desktop's available - compared with three entire rows of laptops. However I realise that, like quite a few fellow Hexus denizens, I'm not a likely purchaser of a desktop PC - preferring to self-build, of course following the excellent advice available on Hexus!

That said, if Acer etc wanted to do a hyperpowerful home server then I'd be very interested - looking for something no bigger than 12" in each dimension; at least quad core; at least 8GB RAM possible and as much (RAID?) disk as possible. (This is my project for next year - to replace my current much-abused Dell D620 VM host).

From a tech business hack's perspective the PC focus shifted to laptops long ago.

[crossy]

From a tech business hack's perspective the PC focus shifted to laptops long ago.

Quite true - I can't remember the last time that I heard of someone with a company issued desktop - all the 'works issue' kit is laptops.

No, what I was getting at is that the shift to laptops seems to have happened quietly in the home front too. Asking around and it would appear that the only folks that have "desktop" machines (including floor standing towers) are the one's that are heavily into either games or multimedia (video/music production), everyone else seems quite content with a laptop - and some of those are now contemplating a move "downwards" to a tablet.

[wasabi]

We still give out quite a few desktops at work. Lots of users want dual screen setups and more speed than a non-specialist laptop can give. And as we use Citrix, people logging in from home can do it on their own PC.

We consciously support this as laptops are simply a support pain in the ass. Users treat them like a free home computer, not a work tool.

[crossy]

We still give out quite a few desktops at work. Lots of users want dual screen setups and more speed than a non-specialist laptop can give. And as we use Citrix, people logging in from home can do it on their own PC. We consciously support this as laptops are simply a support pain in the ass. Users treat them like a free home computer, not a work tool.

Yes, if you can do that then PC-as-a-terminal makes a whole deal of sense. Area I'm in we get moved around a lot, so there's a big plus in being able to lift-n-shift your office even to areas where the network guys have only got a basic service going. And of course that "Chrome Book" thing that Google are pushing is an attempt to do something similar for the person-in-the-street.

Plus, our laptops are not only locked down (no optical drives and the USB ports are disabled) but also the corporate IT folks run periodic scans - so if you've somehow got an R rated copy of "Leisure Suit Larry" installed then expect a call (followed possibly by a P45). That said, I've got business task related software of my own (Perl, Cygwin, PuTTY, PDF writer) installed and they seem pretty content with that.

Yes, I know ...