HP all but denounces Windows 8 with new ‘Windows 7 is back’ promotion

HP is enticing people to buy their machines bundled with Windows 7 rather than Windows 8. No it’s not 2007, but just as the greater public shunned Windows Vista, it seems manufacturers like HP are treating Windows 8 in a pretty similar way. A new email promotion was sent out over the weekend stating that, “Windows 7 is back,” coupled with a new promotion on HP’s site with the slogan “back by popular demand”, offering US$150 worth of “savings” on the deal.

In fact, at first glance HP’s website doesn’t seem to offer any Windows 8 deals. According to The Verge, if you browse to HP’s home page and navigate to desktop PCs, you’ll only see Windows 7 machines as the default listings. Windows 8 PCs only come up if you select the appropriate filters. On the laptop side there are some Windows 8 machines, but a large banner advert promotes a Windows 7 laptop, again “back by popular demand”.

Does this mean that Windows 8 has joined Microsoft’s long series of duds, along with honorary members Windows ME, Windows 98 and Windows 2000? Quite possibly it has, and definitely in HP’s eyes. Windows 8 has struggled to win over fans because of its mix of not-quite-a-tablet-not-yet-a-desktop operating system and design choices like the removal of the Start button. Even bringing the latter back in Windows 8.1 hasn’t done enough, with Microsoft itself already moving on to the upcoming Windows 9.