‘Marmite’ Windows 8.1 Divides TechWeek Readers Who Prefer Other Platforms

Windows 8.1 is proving divisive among TechWeekEurope readers using Windows 8 PCs, but the majority of you don’t care about it – because you are on older versions of Microsoft’s operating system or using a different platform altogether.

The latest version of the software aims to rectify many of the perceived faults of Windows 8 and add a host of improvements. One of the major criticisms of Windows 8 was that touchscreen support was added at the expense of mouse and keyboard usability. Our poll of around 900 readers suggests that tablet users – still a minority of Windows customers – have been much more receptive to the release.

Windows 8.1 Marmite

Those using Windows 8 either like or hate the release pretty equally.  According to the results, 21.1 percent of you are using Windows 8.1 on a PC and like it, while 19.2 percent  hate it. Only 4.4 percent were indifferent, saying they could see no difference. So, of those on Windows 8, around 47 percent like it and 43 percent hate it.

It’s a different story on tablets, where windows 8.1 supporters were five times as numerous as the unconvinced. About 3.6 percent of the whole sample said they used and liked the version on a tablet, compared to 0.6 percent of  who said they hated in on their tablet or couldn’t tell any difference. From that, we can infer that tablet users are more pleased with Windows 8.1 than PC users, but we can also determine that not many of our readers are using Windows 8-powered tablets.

But the elephant in the room could be that despite Microsoft’s best efforts at pushing Windows 8, most TechWeekEurope readers aren’t using it. Windows 7 is the platform of choice for 31.5 percent of you. The doomed Windows XP has dropped behind Windows 8, but is still used by 10 percent of you and 9.5 percent of you use something else. presumably Mac OS X or Linux.

This is perhaps not surprising given the lukewarm reception our readers gave Windows 8 when it was launched last year, with 64 percent saying they had no plans to upgrade.

Windows 8.1 is currently available as a free update to Windows 8 users on the Windows Store, while it is also available as a boxed product and will ship on new laptops and tablets.

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