A Hong Kong-based site called ForumsWindows8.com recently polled its readers about their favorite operating system. Interestingly, 53 percent of the site’s visitors, all of them presumably Windows 8 users, said Windows 7 was their favorite OS. By comparison, only 25 percent picked Windows 8, while 20 percent picked Windows XP and 2 percent opted for another OS.
While this small unscientific survey doesn’t mean that all end users will be dissatisfied with Windows 8 when it launches to the general public, it does hint that Microsoft might have cause for concern. Many bloggers and analysts have expressed doubts about Windows 8 in recent days, and high-profile industry insiders have called the OS a work in progress. If developers have doubts about the platform that keep them from creating Windows 8 apps, that could have a significant impact on the operating system’s success–or lack thereof.
Microsoft responded to the survey with a statement that reads as follows: “Windows 8 is the most-tested Windows OS to date, and we have been pleased by the response during the testing process. We are working to make the transition to Windows 8 as seamless as possible for customers and will have more to share about tools we’ll be making available to help customers as we get closer to general availability. We hope people will download and try the final version of Windows 8, and we are open to and seeking feedback on all of our products, including Windows 8.”
