Microsoft partners say Windows 8 caused ‘millions of customers’ to switch to Apple

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OEM sources have told ZDNet that Microsoft and Windows 8 are primarily to blame for the accelerated decline in PC sales, with one source claiming that Windows 8 is “destroying” the PC industry and another claiming that the new operating system has “handed over millions of customers to Apple.”

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I think the real reason for people switching to Mac is Windows been pretty much the same, but with different themes since Windows 95, and people want a change to a different operating system like Mac which has software like iMovie, iPhoto, Garage Band, and Final Cut Pro. Plus, people like the sleek aluminum metal design of a Macbook Air or Pro, iMac, and MacPro. The Apple iPad is also good enough for many people who mainly just reply to e-mail, go on Facebook, Twitter,  browse the web, and play casual games.

I wonder if Windows users are also switching to Linux like Linux Mint, Lubuntu, and Puppy Linux which are faster than all modern versions of Windows like Vista, 7, and 8 which uses more RAM than Linux which uses less RAM, and CPU.

Plus, there are no hidden costs like paid antivirus/antispyware, and system utility software with Linux based computers because almost all software for Linux is free and open source.
 
The number of people switching to Linux maybe low, but when people search online with search engines like Google with keywords like Windows Alternatives, free windows alternatives, and Alternative operating systems, there would be many links to articles in the search results which talk about Linux based operating system. Google might also show an Ad at the top of the results for Linux based software, Google Android, and Google Chrome OS which are two operating systems by Google.

YouTube, blogs, and tech news sites also have tons of videos, articles, and pages about Linux.

A lot of young people with friends who bring their laptop or tablet to school may have seen and tried Linux on their friends' laptop or tablet with the Linux OS.

The number of Linux users is low, but I think Linux is a rising at a consistent rate as more people who dislike Windows, and can't afford a Apple Mac moves to Linux since Linux is free, so they're just paying for the computer, and not paying for the operating system, and most Linux Software like Gimp, Firefox, VLC, and Audacity are also free.

Steam for Linux also runs games faster with higher video frames per second than Steam for Windows which is slightly lower.
 
I'd imagine that more people now than ever have heard or used Linux at some point (even unknowingly). Anyone who's used an Android OS (which are  based on linux kernels) has to a degree used Linux (and Android has the most market share for mobile OS). 

And I'd imagine that Linux is gaining some popularity simply because, like pointed out, Linux tends to be pretty lightweight and easy on system requirements. (Plus it's fairly secure, a lot more user friendly than it used to be. And doesn't look that amazingly different from mac/windows... In many cases those who are familiar with windows or mac could adapt over. Plus with Windows 8's shift towards the removal of start button and other strange changes like that Linux may well be more familiar to users of older versions of Windows than Windows 8... depending on which version of Linux you're using at least.)


Personally I think part of why Windows 8 is scaring people off is because of just how radically different it is. It's eschewed traditional desktop logic (by abandoning the start menu among others) and is trying to introduce tablet and smartphone technology to desktops. Which is causing confusion and difficulty adapting. 
The other part is that people may not care much for the Metro UI (especially on a desktop). Sure Metro UI might work on a tablet or smartphone... but not a desktop, they're different set ups. 

Another potential reason is that every other OS seems to be junk and people are getting tired of it. They may well be tired of change for the sake of change. (CE/ME were terrible. XP was flawed at first but got better and proved to be a fairly stable and useful OS. vista flopped. 7 was everything vista was supposed to be. Now 8 is trying to push things into smart phones. So likely Windows 9 will be rushed out to be everything Windows 8 was supposed to be and to fix/address all the issues. )
 
There is also less of a reason for most people to use Windows since many types of software like Word Processors, Web Browsers, and software which most people use on a daily basis are available for Linux, and Mac. Software maker who also make Windows and Linux software state on their website that their software also works for Linux, and Mac, and how to install and use them on Linux and Mac, so I imagine some people will type in Linux into Google to learn more about Linux by reading a Wikipedia page for Linux which is the top search result for Linux. Most big tech blogs, computer shows, computer class, and money saving blogs mention the free Linux operating system on a monthly and yearly basis as a free operating system which cost nothing to install, and can run on very old PCs.

The Kindle eReader, and Kindle Fire tablet, Settop boxes like Roku, and DVRs like Tivos also run on Linux.

Many Steam users by reading blogs about Steam also heard about Steam for Linux, and Steam Box which run on Linux.

I heard Windows 8.1/Blue will bring back boot to desktop, and possibly bring back the startmenu, so 8.1 will be like 7.

But, I think Windows 8 Pro upgrade which cost $199.99 Dollars to upgrade from XP, Vista, and 7 is too expensive, and would make a lot of frugal people just use their current version of Windows, or buy a  new computer which is compatible with a free operating system like Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

$199.99 can buy a decent video card for playing games on Steam for Linux, a 180GB or larger SSD/Solid State drive, or ten 20 dollar games for Steam for Linux.
 
I agree,  there are many open source software like Open Office that can offer the same functionality as things people use on Windows.
Plus if people wanted to use software like word, they could probably use online versions with Microsoft's outlook email and drive having some function of MS word available. Plus Google has their own free office-like suite too. So it's not like they're as locked into things like they used to be. 

And yes, many things now are running off Linux. More than people are aware... And the reason for it is that Linux is a pretty stable, resource light but powerful and coder friendly platform to use. 


Windows 8.1 is more like what Windows 8 should have been for desktops. The whole Metro UI for desktops too is a little silly. Though there are still other things about Windows 8 that should be changed to make it a bit more like Windows 7 to allow previous users to easily update and adapt. 

And yeah ~200$ is a little pricy, especially when apple sells their OS for like 100$ and Linux is free.
 
I believe that we will soon see the desktop become less MS-dominated. Hopefully, Apple doesn't take advantage of the chaos properly, so alternative systems can make the market of desktop OS competitive again.
 
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