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AP-GfK Poll: Scant Demand for Microsoft's Windows 8

By Andy Sim - on 29 Oct 2012, 9:55am

AP-GfK Poll: Scant Demand for Microsoft's Windows 8

Image credit: Microsoft Corp.

Windows 8 arrived in Singapore last Friday, along with the launch of Microsoft's online Windows Store. While the turnout at the local event seems promising, results of a recent survey conducted by The Associated Press and GfK speaks of lesser encouragement for the software giant. Out of 1,200 adults polled over the phone, fifty two percent of them have not heard of Windows 8 leading up to Friday's release of the redesigned operating system. 

Here's more. Among those who knew about Windows 8, sixty one percent had little or no interest in purchasing a new computer fitted with the new software. In addition, only a third of those who knew about the new OS regard it as an improvement over existing titles. "I am not real thrilled they are changing things around. Windows 7 does everything I want it to. Where is the return on my investment to learn a new OS?", says Chris Dionne, a 43-year old engineer who remains unconvinced he should abandon or upgrade his HP laptop using the Windows 7 platform, released in 2009.

Instead of making incremental upgrades to its operating system every two to three years, Windows 8 is by far one of the most radical changes Microsoft has attempted since its Windows 95 release. To quote the source article, the Redmond firm is also "hoping the way Windows 8 looks and operates will appeal to the growing number of people embracing the convenience of smartphones and tablets".

General sentiments towards Microsoft's latest tablet computer, the Surface, weren't too encouraging either. Although the Surface was designed to show off Windows 8's "versatility", sixty-nine percent of the respondents expressed little or no interest in snagging the tablet, a device which Microsoft hopes would injure sales of rival devices like Apple's iPad and other popular tablets from the likes of Amazon and Google.

For a more detailed analysis of the phone survey, kindly hop on to the article by The Associated Press and GfK here

Source: The Associated Press and GfK via USA Today

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