Windows 7 Still Being Sold On Up To 93% of British PCs

nk497 writes "The vast majority of PCs sold by British PC makers are running Windows 7 — not Windows 8. PC Pro spoke to several PC builders, with some reporting as many as 93% of recently sold machines were on the older OS. One company initially sold its PCs with Windows 8, but feedback from users soon changed that. Customers quickly began to specify systems with Windows 7, those with Windows 8 'took delivery and wanted to change back to Windows 7' – a process the firm described as a 'nightmare.' Another firm found success by installing a 'start menu' tool on Windows 8 machines, and others said the switch would have gone smoother if Microsoft has offered a Windows 8 tutorial or better explained the new OS."

Why not just say up to 100%?

[jaymz666]

is 100% too sensational a number? Up to doesn't mean squat

People will tell each other

[trifish]

And the outcome will be pow (Vista_type_disaster, 2).

Even an idiot would know that. This was hopefully the last desperate attempt by Microsoft to "leverage" their desktop monopoly to gain some mobile market share.

Don't get me started on why it's called Windows when I see all window-less full-screen apps from MS now on desktop (like the native MS PDF viewer). Just WTF, man. WTF.

Re:I'm not switching.

[Errol backfiring]

And then off course there is the nightmare of "secure" boot. I have seen professionals burn a few days over installing an OS that, according to the manufacturer, should be no problem. And this despite the manufacturer's support department tried its best. So if you order a new machine, order it with win7 pre-installed.

Re:That's because

[Virtucon]

Classic Shell can emulate later versions, just check the options. I have noticed that when you search for something and don't find it or select the wrong thing it'll lock up Explorer though. Oh well, just another WER submission on Explorer. Not half as bad as not being able to delete Windows 8 store purchases from your history.

Re:Wonder how Win 9 may surprise us?

[Sockatume]

You can still use Office 365 offline (the licence lets you download the desktop apps). Of course, you have to pay for it every year.

Re:Wonder how Win 9 may surprise us?

[mister_playboy]

ME was released after 2000.

Re:Wonder how Win 9 may surprise us?

[lgw]

It isn't the fact that the screen is vertical that would prevent people from getting a touch screen.

Yes, yes it is. [catb.org] The industry learned that lesson in the 80s. Of course, we like to repeat our mistakes every 20-30 years in this industry, so who knows.