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More Than Half of Consumers Haven't Heard of Windows 8

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61 percent had "little or no interest" in purchasing a desktop or laptop with Windows 8 installed.

A survey has found that more than half of consumers have not even heard of Microsoft's just-released Windows 8 operating system.

1,200 U.S. adults took part in the survey conducted by Associated Press and market researcher GfK, which found that 52 percent of participants had not heard of Windows 8. 61 percent had "little or no interest" in purchasing either a new desktop or laptop equipped with the operating system.

35 percent of respondents believe Microsoft's latest OS will be an improvement from the operating system's predecessors.

Despite pre-order demand showcasing the potential commercial muscle of Microsoft tablet Surface, 69 percent of respondents stated that they have no interest in buying the tablet.

Microsoft is spending an accumulative of $1.5 billion on advertising its latest OS, while the firm is also offering free Wi-Fi in certain U.S. states.

Meanwhile, PC component suppliers are said to be worried over the fact that consumers won't be interested in Windows 8 until 2013.

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38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • CaedenV
    to be fair, lets keep things in perspective. 1/2 of the customers at my work think that win7 came out 'years before windows XP' and that they want something at least as new as XP on it. *facepalm*

    Seriously... people are dumb and uninformed. How many people have you ever helped to fix something and your first question is "What operating system are you running" and the only answer you can squeeze out of them is "I think it's windows".
    Reply
  • BoredErica
    I asked my friend, he said his OS is "2011". "Word 2012". Yeah......
    Reply
  • deepblue08
    In other news: A survey showed that more than half of consumers cannot differentiate between a toaster and a laptop.
    Reply
  • The sad thing is, these people who do not know about wins 8, will all start buying wins 8...
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    caedenvto be fair, lets keep things in perspective. 1/2 of the customers at my work think that win7 came out 'years before windows XP' and that they want something at least as new as XP on it. *facepalm*Seriously... people are dumb and uninformed. How many people have you ever helped to fix something and your first question is "What operating system are you running" and the only answer you can squeeze out of them is "I think it's windows".
    I had a blast trying to explain someone that Windows 98 is NOT better than Windows 7 just because it has double digits.

    And he wondered why essentially all of the modern games won't run on it.
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    trankhanhvinhanThe sad thing is, these people who do not know about wins 8, will all start buying wins 8...
    On the flip side, there are people who will never upgrade from their 256 MB RAM toasters.
    Reply
  • coolronz
    caedenvto be fair, lets keep things in perspective. 1/2 of the customers at my work think that win7 came out 'years before windows XP' and that they want something at least as new as XP on it. *facepalm*Seriously... people are dumb and uninformed. How many people have you ever helped to fix something and your first question is "What operating system are you running" and the only answer you can squeeze out of them is "I think it's windows".
    hahaha true.. and you know what? its ok.... as the general public goes, they log on, check their email, maybe do some surfing, watch a movie or search the web.... the next laptop/netbook/tablet i would buy will have windows 8 and I'll just have to get used to it.... But as far as my current, destop, laptop and netbook goes, im quite happy with what they came with, windows 7... I might get an OEM copy of W8 pro for my desktop... but i dont think i can take my 3D software with me or even my BluRay burning software with me, thats whats holding me back.... $150 for the OS then another who knows how many hundreds to keep the programs i like using... hmmmmm.... yes theres compatability mode, but after going from XP to Vista and then to Win7, of wich I had to keep upgrading the sofware i used most.... its a tough pill to swallow...
    Reply
  • badaxe2
    They've sure heard of all the latest Xbox crap though I'm sure.

    Still, it's difficult to understand how anyone who's turned on a TV in the last couple weeks hasn't seen a Windows 8....8....8......8 ad. Unless they're subconsciously trying to tune it out.
    Reply
  • lradunovic77
    Sad thing is that Windows 7 feels modern when you go back to it from Windows 8. After a month of usage Windows 8 is simply unusable OS. MS failed in UI department, EPIC FAILURE.
    Reply
  • lp231
    caedenv How many people have you ever helped to fix something and your first question is "What operating system are you running" and the only answer you can squeeze out of them is "I think it's windows".
    Well some will also say Internet Explorer or the brand name of their computer.
    Reply