Graphics by Will

Summary: Even Microsoft-paid allies are refusing to say a good word about Vista 8, which is an abysmal failure in the market (much worse than Vista)

Samsung recently complained about Vista 8, which has also disappointed the world's top OEMs. Samsung is so vast a company that two people now speak on its behalf and one of them rants about Vista 8 sales. To quote the British press:

Samsung's new co-CEO: 'Windows isn't selling very well'

Samsung says it will continue to produce Android phones even as it puts its weight behind the competing Tizen OS, but there's one software partner the South Korean mobile maker isn't so bullish on: Microsoft.

"Smartphones and tablets based on Microsoft's Windows operating system aren't selling very well," Samsung mobile chief J.K. Shin said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. "There is a preference in the market for Android. In Europe, we're also seeing lackluster demand for Windows-based products."

Now we learn, based on some new figures, that only about 0.05% of computers are Microsoft Surface. The company dies fast as an OS giant, with this hardware project doing little more than alienating partners like Samsung. Here are some numbers not of sales to people but probably to stores. As the IDG report puts it:

Microsoft's Surface RT and Surface Pro haven't made much of a dent in the tablet market, according to unofficial sales estimates.

The VAR Guy, who has mostly been polite to Microsoft, writes about those figures that Microsoft has got nothing but fake hype.

Still, Microsoft’s grand ambition — partying like it’s 1995 — has involved flawed reasoning from the start.

Even the Microsoft-funded CNET does not have much good to say about Vista 8 for tablets. CBS/CNET is still heavily Microsoft funded (not just Paul Allen). See the background image in articles all over CNET this month. It is a multi-product Microsoft endorsement bought by Microsoft. Here is another report of interest. Pogson remarks on the CNET article as follows:

That’s an understatement. Every version of that other OS I have ever used has been awkward with unreliable performance, malware, mindless restrictions on performance via EULA and re-re-reboots. There’s no way to get an elegant performance out of M$. All M$ wants is money, not happy end-users. The plan is not working. MSFT was at a yearly low shortly after “8″ was released.

Here is more from Pogson. Windows is clearly on the decline. ⬆