Hardware 2.0

According to research carried out by YouGov, the number of respondents giving Microsoft a positive grade for customer satisfaction jumped to 67% in the week following the launch of Windows 7 (October 22, 2009), up from 64% where it stood the day before the OS hit the shelves. By December 31, Microsoft’s satisfied customer percentage jumped to 73%, the highest rating Microsoft has had since YouGov began the survey in 2007.

Compare this to Apple. When Snow Leopard was released (August 28, 2009), the new OS boosted the number of satisfied customers by only 1%, to 65%.

Impressive gains for Microsoft, but what will be even more impressive is if the company can hold onto these gain over the coming year.

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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Now you have done it.

This very moment legions of Apple fanatics are researching YouGov to find some discreditable dirt on it. The most ardent Apple fans are no doubt already compiling conflicting reports from other "more reputable" sources.

This YouGov report strikes at the very heart of the Apple fanatics argument that Apple users are just plain better off then Windows users and are happier for it.

Now you have really done it.
Cayble

02/08/2010 05:52 PM
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It's always fun to see that Windows zealots are the

first ones to come out and post what they think all the Apple fanatics are
going to do.
frgough

02/08/2010 06:38 PM
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Well statistically, we're likely to outnumber you 20 to 1

and you're just so dang predictable!

It's tongue in cheek, but before somebody asks how I came up with 20 to 1:

Windows market ~92%
OSX market ~5% (Net Applications)

(market * customer satisfaction %)
92*.73 = 67
5*.65 = 3.25
67/3.25 = 20 (rounded down for generosity's sake)

Correct me if my math is wrong.
ericesque

(Edited: 02/08/2010 08:27 PM)
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Windows zealots? Seriously?

I'm sure they exist - but they're a tiny, tiny fraction of Windows users...

On the other hand, since there are 92 Windows users for every 6 Mac users - even if there are the same ratio of fanatics to regular, there should be about 15 times as many Windows zealots to Mac zealots.

Now - take a quick survey of the techblogs both in terms of articles posted and comments posted and I think you'll find it hard to find 1/15th as many Windows zealots to Mac zealots.

Soo...
TheWerewolf

02/08/2010 10:55 PM
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Heh...

Pretty easy to explain though... Many of the people who run Windows
either "have to" or "think they have to", for Mac users it's a choice. So it is
hardly surprising that fewer Windows customers are "rabid fans". You see
the same thing with Linux users, it's a positive choice, they CHOOSE
Linux or Mac OS X. For Windows users, Windows is the "default" choice.

So Microsoft's customer satisfaction rating has risen since Windows 7,
given the unfavourable reception that Vista got, much of that by "word of
mouth" it would be surprising if this DIDN'T happen.

Is this even news?
jeremychappell

02/09/2010 07:54 AM
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Nope...

...most people who use Windows just see it as an effective tool to do their business with. They don't get emotionally attached to it.
Sleeper Service

02/09/2010 09:01 AM
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But...

that does not negate his statement "Many of the people who run Windows either "have to" or "think they have to", for Mac users it's a choice". He is correct. Most barely know how to turn their machines on let alone know the first thing about other OS's.

I think you should qualify your statement "most people who use Windows just see it as an effective tool to do their business with" with "most average people who use windows". Every tech or tech wannabe I know has a harshly defined preference of OS.
Dave32265

02/09/2010 09:25 AM
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Why?

I'm sure that I could argue that many Mac users 'have to' run Macs because of Final Cut or that they think it'll keep them safe from malware.

Most people simply choose what works best at the right price. That would be Windows.
Sleeper Service

02/09/2010 09:30 AM
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Why?...

for the very reason I stated. "Most barely know how to turn their machines on let alone know the first thing about other OS's". Now I'm talking about the average user, who goes out and buys a computer with the OS already in place. As for the "have to" that you mentioned, sure you could argue that and it's a valid point, but how many average users do you know that know how to run Dreamweaver, photoshop or even ms office for that matter on Linux or any other OS other than windows?
Dave32265

02/09/2010 11:26 AM
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Real techs are pragmatic.

Wannabes are fanatical.
Lester Young

02/10/2010 12:23 AM
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So that would...

include you, right?

Wannabes are fanatical.
Wintel_BSOD

02/10/2010 05:22 AM
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Yeah...

So not just because that's what their machine shipped with? Nothing to
do with that?

Don't be absurd. I run Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux - but I know
enough to know that I'm NOT most people. Most people run Windows
because of the reasons I've outlined. A lot of them don't even realise
they COULD run anything else.

This isn't knocking Windows, but it does explain why per head there
are more "rabid" fans of Linux/Mac OS X than Windows users (so
you're unusual). It is simple demographics - you walk into a store buy
a machine at random and the chances are you'll have Windows (there
is a small chance you'd have Mac OS X, and the chance of Linux is
vanishingly small). So users of those platforms have "chosen"
something different.
jeremychappell

02/09/2010 10:03 AM
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Amen to that

I also use Linux, and Mac OS, and MS OS's (XP, Vista and 7 and all previous Windows versions) and I would take Linux or Mac over MS any day and after the WinDOZE Vista disaster, I will never purchase another MS machine again. I had to spend an extra $120 to make my wife's laptop usable by upgrading to 7 and update the memory and all sorts of stuff besides the insane amount of time it took to keep fixing it because of all the effing problems.
Goldcds

02/09/2010 11:09 AM
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You might want to ask why most people...

...don't care what OS they use.
Sleeper Service

02/09/2010 02:55 PM
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It's the marketing, stupid!

If there's one thing people are aware of off the bat, it's that there's one company, Apple, that is "different." It has a larger advertising presence than any other company, with negative and sophomoric ads. So who's going to get sucked in with that kind of campaign? A lot of people who have the vague idea that the product is superior without understanding why. So they try to prop up their position by latching onto the advertising myths about the "other." That explains the Apple fanboy mentality pretty well.
Lester Young

02/10/2010 12:37 AM
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