The fact that Windows 8 has been highly unpopular with most folks who use a standard keyboard and mouse is not new news. Microsoft has been scolded time and time again by consumers on how unhappy they are with the way Windows 8 is designed. For old time Windows users, it made doing simple operations a major chore. Finding things like the control panel took a new learning curve for most. The ability to add third party start menus to the OS helped some, but the Metro interface was still there running in the background slowing down the computer.

Because of all the dissatisfaction with Windows 8, many people are still staying with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. In fact, almost every one of our customers is looking for Windows 7 when buying a new computer. There is still a fare share of users that are still running Windows XP even after its official retirement in April. So far, there have been no known issues affecting the aging operating system.

With all that said, there might actually be some light at the end of the tunnel for Microsoft users. Windows 9, which is expected to be released sometime next year, might actually be a step forward to some normalcy. It has been rumored that users that use a mouse and keyboard might actually be able to disable the Metro UI that is so controversial in Windows 8. If this actually comes about, it will be huge news for PC fans and it just might be the thing that needed to be done to get more folks to upgrade. I still have not heard much about the Start Menu being added back in but that is easily remedied with third party software if desired.

With the ability to completely disable the Metro part of Windows, this should be a plus in both everyday computer operations as well as speed. I am sure there will be many other changes as well but it is too early to speculate on what they all might be.

If you are a current Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 user, you just might want to hold tight. Windows 9 promises to listen and fix many of the problems that have plagued Windows 8 users. This operating system is an important step for Microsoft since the use of Windows 8 is actually going down instead of up. This shows that many folks are reverting their systems back to Windows 7 or are abandoning the Windows platform entirely. In fact, one in four people are still using the older Windows XP operating system even after Microsoft pulled the plug on issuing updates for the OS. So far, there have been no known reported problems since that has happened.

With all that said, I think almost all Windows users are waiting to see what Windows 9 holds before attempting to upgrade their systems. If Microsoft listens to it’s users and makes Windows 9 UI look similar to classic versions of Windows, they just might have a ballpark hit and that can dramatically help the ailing PC market.

In short, if you have a PC that is running great, then hold onto it for a while. Let us see what Windows 9 is going to offer and then make a decision on if you should upgrade or not. If you are running Windows XP, install Cachman and check the option to receive updates till 2019 and reboot your computer. You will then receive the latest security updates for XP. This should help keep you somewhat protected until Windows 9 comes out in 2015.