Survey: U.S. Consumers Hesitant to Make Switch to Windows 8

Byron Acohido, USA Today:

Most Windows users in the U.S. know about Windows 8 but few have immediate plans to upgrade to Microsoft’s newest operating system.

What’s more, about one-third of Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP users who are ready to buy a new personal computer say they intend to switch to an Apple product.

Those are the findings of an unusually broad survey of Windows PC users conducted by antivirus company Avast and released exclusively to USA TODAY.

If true, this is very good news for Apple. Historically, the single biggest problem Apple faced in the PC market is that most consumers never even considered buying an Apple computer. If this number of potential switchers is even close to true, Mac and iPad sales are going to continue to grow.

As for Microsoft, though, I disagree with Jim Dalrymple that this is necessarily a sign of unhappy users. I don’t think it’s ever been the case that a majority of PC users have upgraded to a new version of Windows. That’s why XP has stuck around for so long. People buy PCs and “upgrade” to a new version of Windows when they buy their next new PC. I don’t think this has as much to do with whether Windows 8 is appealing as it does that a growing number of people are realizing that Apple offers alternatives to Windows PCs that are worth considering. It’s that simple.

★ Thursday, 15 November 2012