[BITList] Windows fiascoes

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“A hundred million copies sold doesn’t mean a hundred million happy customers,” says yet another frustrated Windows user.

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Surface and Windows fiascoes turn users against Microsoft’s Ballmer
Posted by Phil Moore on Jul 25, 2013 in News, Tech | 4 comments

Every technology platform has its evangelists. Surface and Windows are no different. But the arrival of Windows 8 and the fiasco surrounding its attempts to put a touchscreen-like interface onto a standard computer screen that can’t be touched has taken its toll on even Microsoft’s most ardent supporters, causing them to turn on CEO Steve Ballmer specifically. The minor reparations in the Windows 8.1 update hasn’t helped. “I was evangelizing Windows 8 for six months before it showed up because I felt it would provide a unified OS for phones, tablets and desktops. Boy, was I taken for a ride,” says one longtime Windows fan who learned too late that Windows 8 turned out not to be the product he thought he was pushing on people, and is now so frustrated he says he’s moving to Linux. He’s not alone in his about face.


“This mess is probably the most fractured that the Windows PC world has been for many years and it may never recover from it,” says another PC fan frustrated by the Windows 8 changes. And while Steve Ballmer has been embraced or at least tolerated by Microsoft’s customers for the bulk of his thirteen year tenure after taking over the CEO position from Bill Gates, Ballmer now finds himself the target of intense scrutiny from users who are now looking at his entire tenure in a different light.

“Microsoft has languished since Ballmer took over the reins,” says one Windows 8 user in hindsight. “Microsoft has not produced anything noteworthy in the computing side in the last ten years. Ever since XP everything has been very slow incremental adjustments to their cash-cow Windows franchise.” Another user is calling for Ballmer’s ouster. If Steve full approved of Windows 8, I’d fire him immediately. It shows a total lack of judgment.”

Some Windows fans are still defending Ballmer and Microsoft, pointing to the fact that Windows 8 has sold a hundred million copies thus far even in the face of increasing competition from tablets. But others are cautioning that sales aren’t the same thing as satisfied customers, as the bulk of Windows sales are preinstalled on PCs, with users upgrading to Windows 8 by default simply because they’ve bought new hardware. “A hundred million copies sold doesn’t mean a hundred million happy customers,” says yet another frustrated Windows user. It turns out he already grew tired of Ballmer’s vision for the Windows platform a few years ago: “I dropped Windows on the desktop when Vista came out and never looked back.”











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