Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows RT — and do ens of new touch-enabled devices, such as MS’s own Surface tablet — have now been on the market for three weeks. Whether you’re a critic of the new Start screen, a Windows ealot, or just an interested bystander, you’re all probably wondering the same thing: Has the Windows 8 launch been a success or not?
The short answer is: Microsoft, its OEMs, and retailers have been very quiet about the matter. Except for a press release stating that four million copies of Windows 8 had been sold in its opening weekend, Microsoft has been schtum on the matter. At the time we were concerned about the wording of that press release — it was four million copies sold, including copies sold to retailers, rather than four million installs — and now, in the wake of this continuing radio silence, we can probably infer that Windows 8 isn’t doing very well.
But wait a moment: We do have some statistics to share — but they’re from third parties, so we must take them with a big grain of salt. AdDuplex, which operates an ad platform for Windows 8 and Windows Phone apps, reports that Microsoft’s own Surface RT tablet is the most popular Windows 8/RT device to date, representing 11% of all Windows 8 and RT devices sold. Overall, though, HP leads, with its various laptops and desktops making up 17% of the Windows 8/RT ecosystem. Dell and Acer are next, and then the usual suspects bring up the rear.
Next, we have some data from Soluto, a company that provides a remote administration tool for Windows — and seemingly, it also tracks its users’ hardware and software specs. At the time of writing, 3.12% of Soluto users are running Windows 8; 69.7% run Windows 7; and 18.7% run Windows XP. Breaking down those figures into form factors: 50.7% of Windows 8 installs are on a desktop, 44.5% are on a laptop, and just 4.6% are on a tablet.
At first glance, these figures paint Windows 8 in a very positive light — but before you run out and buy MSFT stock, let me temper your optimism by reminding you of two important facts. First, we have no idea how big Soluto’s sample si e is. Second, Soluto is exactly the kind of tool that power users would install — and power users are much more likely to be early adopters. There is no way that Soluto’s Windows 8 install base of 3.1% is representative of the market as a whole. (For what it’s worth, Soluto’s stats also suggest that Windows 8 is significantly more stable than Windows 7 — though that could just be an artifact of freshly installed Windows vs. old, cruddy, crufty Windows).
A quick, retrospective glance at the Windows 7 launch also gives you some idea of how poorly Windows 8 is doing. On November 10, 2009, three weeks after the release of Windows 7, Net Applications reported that 4% of all web-connected devices were running Windows 7. Net Applications isn’t perfect, of course, but it’s a much more representative sample than Soluto. Net Marketshare also illustrates the general lack of hype surrounding Windows 8: As of October 2012, only 0.35% of computers were running a pre-release version of Windows 8; back in October 2009, 2% of computers were running a pre-release build of Windows 7.
In conclusion, I have a nagging suspicion that Windows 8 isn’t exactly flying off the shelves. I’m now fairly certain that Windows 8 isn’t (and won’t) enjoy the same massive success that graced Windows 7. On the flip side, though, analysts are reporting that the Surface RT tablet is selling well (though again, no exact figures) — and, with Black Friday and Christmas coming up, sales of Windows 8 devices will surely spike.
And therein lies the crux of the matter: Even if Windows 8 is awful, the PC juggernaut virtually guarantees that by this time next year there will be 400 million PCs running the new operating system. The PC market won’t last forever, though, which is exactly why Microsoft has made a very rapid right-angle turn into the tablet market. Really, the only metric that we ought to be watching is the number of Windows 8 tablets — and at the moment, if we go by Soluto’s figures, things aren’t looking very good at all.
A modest proposal Our results indicate that AMD’s Trinity-based desktop APUs may be a better option for gamers on a budget, but there are some significant caveats to consider. AMD’s performance advantage over Intel is limited to GPU configurations that combine the on-die GPU with a discrete solution. Paired with a high-end GPU, Intel CPUs are significantly faster than their AMD counterparts. Swapping the Core i5-3550 with a hypothetical Core i3-3220 would eliminate the price discrepancy between Intel and AMD, but it wouldn’t make the Intel system faster in the tests above. Even if we assume both Intel CPUs performed identically, the AMD chips would have a 10-15% edge when paired with a low-end GPU that could make use of Trinity’s Combined Graphics mode. The flip side to this is that an Intel system with a Core i3-3220 is a more certain upgrade path. Enthusiasts can buy a low-end Intel system today, knowing they’ll be able to upgrade to a CPU that can push a high-end modern GPU to its limit. For AMD buyers, that’s not a given. Sunnyvale has promised that the FM2 socket will be supported by Kaveri and the Steamroller-based APUs that are currently expected to debut in 2014, but Steamroller’s performance isn’t known. Prospective buyers should be aware that while Steamroller is expected to significantly improve on Trinity’s single-thread performance, it is unlikely to close the gap with the Haswell/Broadwell parts Intel will be shipping by that date. Best case CPU improvement, based on what we currently know, would be approximately 15%. That’s not enough to unseat Intel; Santa Clara remains the better option if you want serious upgrade potential. Budget-constrained gamers who want to maximi e current performance and aren’t concerned about future upgrades should give the A10-5800K a look. It’s not the best option for everyone, but there’s a valid argument for adopting AMD over Intel for gaming in this market segment. We’re the first to admit that it’s a pretty specific use scenario, but the performance gaps are large enough to support it.
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