If you needed another reason not to buy Windows 8….

I’m still waiting for someone I know to tell me he or she likes Windows 8. I’ve seen some strangers online say they like it, but not a lot of them, and many of them appear to be astroturfers because they just like it too much. I’m sure Apple loves it, because, like my boss told me, a lot of older apps (like anything older than Office 2010) won’t run on Windows 8. So, if you have to re-buy all your software anyway, what advantage is there to buying a Windows 8 machine over a Macintosh?

In fact, that’s exactly what his parents did. They gave up on Windows entirely and bought a Mac Mini.

The other approach, of course, is to buy a Chromebook. A lot of people seem to be doing that too, seeing as it’s the best-selling laptop on Amazon–so much so that they don’t have any stock, and third-party sellers are scalping them for $80 above retail like they used to do with Nintendo Wii consoles.

I guess Windows 8, in spite of the reports talking about disappointing sales, is still selling more copies than Microsoft wants, so Microsoft is going to jack the price of the Windows 8 upgrade from $40 to $200 on February 1.

I can’t bring myself to pay $40 for it, so there’s no way I’ll pay five times as much for it. I’ll just stick with Windows 7, and wait to see if Windows 9 is any better, the same way I skipped Vista.

But I’m sure Apple and Google are going to like Windows 8 five times as much in a couple of weeks.

The other alternative is to buy a machine direct from the manufacturer and specify Windows 7, or go to a real computer store (not a big-box consumer electronics store) where you can still buy a PC with Windows 7, or buy a refurbished PC, which is much more likely to have Windows 7 on it, and will probably cost less than a copy of Windows 8 would anyway–so you could look at it like getting the hardware for free.

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2 thoughts on “If you needed another reason not to buy Windows 8….

  • January 22, 2013 at 1:36 am
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    “Chromebooks are shipped with Chrome OS, which uses the Linux kernel, and the Google Chrome web browser with an integrated media player.”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromebook
    …..
    Linux is an excellent OS. I’ve been dual booting desktops and laptops since 1996.
    I use Ubuntu on my two desktops for 90% of my work and play.

  • January 22, 2013 at 1:37 am
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    Sorry, 1998.

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