Windows 8 users snub 'Modern' apps, stick to desktop

A majority of consumer and small business Windows 8 PC users launch fewer than one "Modern" app a day, signaling that they're spending most of their time on the classic Windows 7-style desktop, according to data released Wednesday.

According to Soluto, an Israeli PC management service provider, just 39% of owners of desktop PCs powered by Windows 8 launch a Modern user interface (UI) app more than once a day. Laptop users fire up a Modern, née "Metro," app slightly more often, with 40% opening an average of more than one app daily. Even touch-enabled notebooks infrequently access Modern: 42% of the owners of those devices launch more than one app a day.

Only tablets tilt toward app use, said Soluto. Approximately 56% of Windows 8 tablet users open an average of one or more apps daily.

Soluto calculated the app launch rates using a pool of about 10,800 Windows 8 devices -- PC desktops and notebooks, touch-ready laptops and tablets -- that use its management service. Soluto pitches that service to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, and IT managers in larger companies, but the polled systems were predominantly consumer-owned and in small businesses, said Roee Adler, Soluto's chief product officer, in an interview Thursday.

"[The 10,800 PCs] do not include any enterprise systems, but very significant amounts of consumer and small business PCs," said Adler.

:story: Computerworld