Must Read: Sorry, but bringing back the Start menu won't help Windows 8

Topic: Windows

Soluto: The state of Windows 8

Summary: Does Windows 8 crash more or less than Windows 7? What devices is it installed on? How many BSoDs are users seeing per month? Soluto answers these -- and more -- questions.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

Does Windows 8 crash more or less than Windows 7? What devices is it installed on? How many Blue Screens of Death are users seeing per month?

Cloud-based PC management service company Soluto has posted data that attempts to shed light on Microsoft's newest operating system. And it makes interesting reading.

According to Soluto, Windows 8 accounts for 3.12 percent of operating systems, with Windows 7 accounting for 69.7 percent, and the aging Windows XP accounting for 18.7 percent.

When it comes down to devices, 50.7 percent of Windows 8 installs are on desktops, 44.5 percent on notebooks, and 4.6 percent on tablets.  This breakdown is similar to that of Windows 7, where 48.5 percent on installs are on desktops, 49.9 percent on notebooks, and 1.6 percent on tablets.

Even given Windows 8's heavy reliance on touch, the desktop is still a dominant platform, and is the one that benefits least from all the touch improvements.

When it comes to crashes, it seems that Windows 8 users see only 3.1 per month compared to 7.1 per month for Windows 7 users. This may be down to Windows 8 being more robust than Windows 7, or it could simply be down to people having less detritus installed on Windows 8 systems.

Topping Windows 8 crashes is Windows Explorer.

The data also shows that Windows 8 users see fewer non-responsive apps and fewer BSoDs than Windows 7 users.

All stats are based on anonymous data collected from the Soluto community.

Image source: Soluto.

Topics: Windows, Cloud, Software

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30 comments
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  • There must be a lot of flaky systems out there

    My current desktop is on 24/7 and in three years of use, I've never seen a blue screen on it. The only time it reboots is on Patch Tuesdays when Microsoft forces it. I get one Firefox crash every few months and I often have 20+ tabs open on it. Nothing else ever crashes. My previous computer worked just as well. In fact, I haven't had any instability since I was using Windows Millennium many years ago. Maybe it's because I build my own computers. These statistics just seem nuts to me.
    BillDem
    Reply 12 Votes

    • Same here!!

      I have been using Windows 7 since last 3 years and only one crash I observed was in initial days when I installed it on Vista. After that Super Smooth. I don't shut down the laptop at all, only screen in turned off in the night and when I leave for office. If there are security patches then it gets rebooted like this tuesday. Recently Java is giving some issues in browsers making it unresponsive for some time on particular web-sites. Other than that its a Rocket. I ain't going to Windows 8 on this machine as intel doesn't have drivers for Wimax 5150 :(.
      gr8viiju
      Reply 9 Votes

    • AGREE!!

      i FULLY AGREE!!! I also build my own machines and have never had a BSOD on my "home brew" with Win 7 Ult... So what do I do but buy a laptop from our friends at HP and it is the biggest piece of crap I have ever owned!!!! (Pavilion dv6 - AMD quad core)... very frustrating and frequent freeze ups... AND, IE9 is just plain crap!!!!) Went to Chrome to even load my e-mails if you want to read them on the same day!!! The "home brewed" will have to wait a while longer for Win 8....
      puppadave
      Reply 5 Votes

      • Remove HP 'extras'

        @puppadave ...Wipe the HP drive, re-install base opsys (not factory restore) without all the HP sh*tuff, except drivers... probably work fine then.
        RpDnn
        Reply 3 Votes

    • Totally Agree!

      Like you, Bill, I build my own systems and in all the years I've run some version of Windows (starting back in the gory days of 3.x), if I have one BSoD a year, it's alot. Usually, I can trace it back to a 'new' version of hardware driver that turns out to be less than fully baked.
      jschwei1@...
      Reply 3 Votes

    • similar experience

      altho I do a lot of testing of varieties of apps for clients, add and remove of those as well as multiple programs of the same ilk, I have little issue which I can directly attribute to windows or ie. my biggest issue was w/ ati on win8 consumer preview or release preview. after the oem release on partners, that issue is resolved. this is what makes these sorts of reports suspect to me, even tho it clearly denotes the ms improvement of it's os. some may see restarting an app as the same as a crash, ie; the ie10 app, not the desktop version, wont take as many tabs, substituting new tabs for older ones. when closed, you eventually end up w/o any tabs, just the new tab windows and have to either restart the app or reload the home page(s). not the same as a crash, but some users may see it so.
      inertman@...
      Reply 2 Votes

    • Ditto!

      5-year-old XP SP3 system. Rock solid. No reason to upgrade, other than "we won't support you much longer." Lots of reasons not to, including having to replace hardware, software, and a steep and painful learning curve. I'v ebeen using Win7 at the office for over a year and a half, and I still prefer XP. And I dread Win8's UI :-(
      SteveMak
      Reply 5 Votes

    • This is rediculous.

      How does anyone get all those crashes.

      What an oddball article?!?!?!
      Cayble
      Reply 1 Vote

  • Question:

    Windows 8 has not been out more than a week, how can ther be month stats?
    AnAxe2Grind
    Reply 4 Votes

    • Math Wasn't Good To You

      Windows 8 officially launched Oct 26. That's a bit more than a week ago. However, the finished product has been out even longer than that. The official launch is nearing one month now, and considering its a launch product the numbers are impressive. Windows 7 and XP are years into their lives and have seen countless updates and fixes. Windows 8 is in its infancy and yet already boasts incredible stability. This is a win for Microsoft and gives a lot of reason to stick with 8 for years to come.
      thisistheslam
      Reply 3 Votes

  • Strange.

    Average crashes per month? After years of use, my system have only crashed a handful of times.
    The one and only, Cylon Centurion
    Reply 5 Votes

    • Sweet Cylon Centurion, how I have missed you.

      Back from places unknown to remind us that statistics are merely lies and that journalism is merely biased scribble by lesser beings. Just seeing your name warms my soul and reminds me that there's a place for us. The dreamers. The crazy ones. Cylon Centurion, you and me, we think different.
      gregv2k
      Reply 3 Votes

  • Crash Win 7 none - Crash Win 8 NONE....

    Well for win7 I have yet to see a blue screen of death........... Now with a new computer with WIN8 still no blue screens and NO problems from day one useing a HP Envy M4 notebook I-7 chip - 10 gigix or mem. and or ram ALL system working well! All drivers working with wireless printer and was up and running quicker with Win8 then I was with Win7 - I have been useing Windows since Win 3.1 = Love Win 8 and what is has to offer me daily.........
    photo1569
    Reply 3 Votes

  • BSODs are often caused by bad drivers

    I have a BSOD on my Wndows 7 PC now and then. It's reasonable to expect that each new Windows version should be more stable than the previous one. But in my view, it depends on the drivers (graphics drivers, especially - most BSODs I've experienced have been caused by the graphics driver).
    Smalahove
    Reply 2 Votes

  • What are people doing?

    I am a fairly heavy poweruser of work/home systems and I honestly can't remember the last BSoD I experienced (NT4.0, perhaps, on a "garage box" computer system). Use quality hardware with quality drivers and you should be fine. My Windows XP/7/8 systems have never experienced a BSoD.

    As for crashes, a very large majority of them can be blamed squarely on apps or drivers. I have found Adobe (flash, acrobat, etc.) to be crash prone and I can't seem to run iTunes on ANY computer without it crashing a few times. ;)
    Darren Sproat
    Reply 1 Vote

  • Would be better to see mode or median

    Since most BSOD are from faulty hardware, it wouldn't surprise me to find that the vast majority of people get 0 BSOD a year but that a small minority suffer through many BSODs without realizing that fixing their hardware would fix the problem. Those people would raise the average.

    As for application crashes, those are the fault of the maker. Windows Explorer is clearly MS's fault but iTunes, for example, is 100% Apple's fault.
    toddbottom3
    Reply 1 Vote

    • Most BSOD are from faulty hardware!

      I don't even think Windows Explorer is MS's fault, as much as I don't like to disagree with you. I think Apple probably uploaded a virus that infects Windows Explorer. Once MS finds it, we'll be back to the same rock-solid, lightning quick, crash-free computing experience that we have enjoyed from day one. Surface is a Hit! Trademark.
      gregv2k
      Reply 2 Votes

    • Not so

      Drivers can crash Windows Explorer. I had a customer with a Windows 7 system, and they wanted to install a program called "PC Pandora" which is sold as a spying program. The driver for the program crashes Explorer in Windows 8 repetitively after a few minutes of booting into the system. Video drivers can sometimes cause Explorer to reload too. Viruses also frequently cause Explorer to crash.

      So no, Windows Explorer crashing is not always clearly Microsoft's fault.
      Joe_Raby
      Reply Vote

  • The state of Windows 8

    Just the word "Windows" has become synonymous with "Fail." Microsoft's brand damage is unparalleled in modern computing. Even HP's tablet debacle failed to dent the HP brand to the degree that Zune, Kin, Windows Mobile, Vista, and now "Surface" have laid waste to Microsofts.

    Any of the recently laid off employees from Microsoft will tell you - as they have told journalists from Vanity Fair to CNET - that Microsoft is Dead Company Walking.

    Know who won't? Sinofsky. Know why? His contract and severance forbid it. He'll be a good soldier and escape court.
    gregv2k
    Reply 4 Votes

  • Don't forget...

    ...that people who install soluto generally do so to reduce boot times as much as possible. They will be doing so by turning things off left, right and centre and lots of fiddling, potentially making their systems unstable. This would give rise to the higher than usual number of crashes experienced.

    Anecdotal evidence only: I used to use Soluto but removed it because it was the only program I was running that would make my Win7 machine grind to a full halt. Never a blue screen though.
    Ben_E
    Reply Vote
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