HP promotes Windows 7 PC sales; says they are "back by popular demand"

http://www.neowin.net/news/hp-promotes-windows-7-pcs-sales-says-they-are-back-by-popular-demand

 

Too funny. Maybe Microsoft will finally listen to coorporations no? Anyways, Linux Mint is good enough. Will buy a Mac next time.

 

By Ed Bott:

http://www.zdnet.com/hp-bringing-back-windows-7-pcs-not-so-fast-7000025351/

 

I'm going to get a Windows 7 HP computer!!!

 

This is silly.

Windows 8 bad press is almost entirely unjustified, and is the result of some sort of MEME campaign the likes of which I have never seen before. I made the mistake of believing this nonsense, and have run Windows 7 longer than I should have. 8.1 is fast, very fast, and with the proper addon, it's easy and slick. When I play on a Win7 machine now, it feels slow, and clunky vs a Win8.1 box with Classic Shell.

Maybe instead of complaining, these companies should license Start8 or something, and install that with them out of the box instead of the 100mb of bloat they install with their new machines?

 

The whole industry's designed to make you throw away instead of upgrade. They could make computers easier to upgrade and improve if they wanted to but they're lazy and greedy. I have no doubt 8 is better than 7 in many ways just as Vista has many advantages over XP, and computers get better all the time, but it's this forcing you to buy something new constantly that really tears it for me. They're not holding a gun to anyone's head, but if a person wants to upgrade or improve they'll usually have to buy a new computer. Why not just make computers easier to upgrade?

 

That's how they make money.

What is worse is residual stream products. These are a gold mine for companies, and a ripoff for consumers (generally). We are seeing some really bad anti-consumer licensing lately;

1) Lifetime products that expire, or expire if you upgrade a PC.
2) Residual Stream, yearly subscription products. Not even AV's, we are seeing a whole line of products that charge this now!
3) Cloud based, subscription systems IE Office 365, Adobe Photoshop.
4) Licensing fees to 'upgrade' from version to version, even minor revisions.

I will not partake in any of them personally. Before you'd install Office 2010 in your home and be good to go. Now you need to keep funneling cash to Microsoft every year. This is great for them, terrible for consumers. But from MS standpoint, it's a great way to steal cash. No longer can someone install something, and be assured 'it is theirs', now you pay - and keep paying.

Software has become a consumable, and hardware isn't far behind. I bought a product a few months ago, and within 3 weeks of buying it they released a new version, and wanted to charge me for the upgrade. Needless to say I sold the license immediately. TheBat! now charges $60 vs their old price of $40, and that $60 only buys you THAT version. This is a terrible deal for consumers.

I steer clear of forced upgrades - generally speaking - as long as possible without being a victim of that older technology becoming too old. I've slipped a few times - running XP far too long, running Win7 far too long. Using an old SOHO router longer than I should have - but it happens.

 

Proper tagline should be:

'Back because we have the supply'

That being said, that's a brilliant way to attract attention. Somebody needs to raise the salary for HP marketing guys.

 

This ain't about Windows 8.1 vs 7.

It's about the fact they have a warehouse of cheap OEM Win7 DVD's they want to get rid of. It's amazing people believe this is for any other reason.