Sales of high-end,touchscreen PCs running Windows 8 have been running"well above forecast",according to Erik Dithmer,vice president of end user computing at hardware vendor Dell.
According to Dithmer,sales of the Windows 8-based Dell Inspiron One 23 and XPS One 27 PCs–large,touch-screen quad-core PCs–are running ahead of expectations."Premium products are doing much better than standard products,"said Dithmer."They compete with the Apple iMac from a feature-function standpoint."
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These devices generally start at about$1,500 or£1,000 and are not big volume sellers compared to the mainstream,sub-$600/£500 price point high-volume end of the market.Sales of these machines have been running more in line with expectations since the launch of Windows 8,added Dithmer.
Furthermore,in the enterprise,adoption has been slow,he suggested."There's a huge amount of interest,but I would only call it'interest'today.In the commercial world,especially in large enterprises,you've got to have proof of concept.Many of those commercial customers are still struggling to move from Windows XP to Windows 7.
"And there are bigger issues in the corporate IT world than Windows 8.But I would say that it's'sexy'again to talk about desktops and notebooks with CIOs because of the blossoming of new offerings and use cases that are available in the commercial space,"claimed Dithmer.
He added:"There's definitely a question of where can Windows 8 add enhanced productivity and provide a greater level of system management and security.There's definitely an interest in getting these Windows 8 tablets and devices into the executive office because it's going to help the IT organisation sleep better at night.
"But they are more of a status symbol.I've not yet heard a customer say they want to move all of their machines over to Windows 8 by 1 January,"he said.
In the corporate world,Windows 8 has been implemented mainly in niche areas where the touch-screen capabilities offer most value,said Dithmer,such as hotel automated check-ins,and in point-of-sale environments.