Last October, Microsoft released Windows 8 for forty dollars on a digital copy. If somebody wanted to purchase the physical DVD, then it was going to cost another thirty dollars.

After February 1, however, Microsoft increased the price of the Windows 8 upgrade to two hundred dollars. When I first read this, I laughed thinking it was a joke, considering how much of a terrible disappointment Windows 8 was to begin with.

Then I looked at my computer screen again and thought “uh-oh.”

Up until Windows 8 made its debut, just about every PC user couldn’t have been more excited to get their hands on it. I was one of them.

As a consumer, I had to ask myself why Microsoft would do such a thing. I speculate a major reason might be if they didn’t sell as much as they expected, and needed to increase the price to gain more profit. If this is the case, then all I have to say is “Bad move, Microsoft, bad move.”

It’s already bad enough that people aren’t buying the software to begin with, so why increase the price instead of reduce it?

I haven’t gotten much down time with Windows 8, but within that time, I came to discover how much I hated it. Why? For many reasons, a primary one being that its user interface (UI) is meant for touch screen computers and tablets. Not to mention that the “Start” button that every Windows consumer should be VERY familiar with has disappeared, along with DVD playback via Windows Media Player.

I just feel like Microsoft took their Windows mobile platform and dragged it onto PCs. Then again, there is not much wrong with that, as an ecosystem of similar software and hardware can be convenient and very advantageous for its user.

My grandfather, who is now sixty years old, knows Windows XP and 7 like the back of his hand, literally. To prove a point to myself as well as to similar consumers, I had my grandfather try out Windows 8.

Long story short, he opened Windows Explorer and after five minutes of hopeless efforts, he couldn’t figure out how to go back to the original desktop screen.

Now, I’m not saying that every Windows user will have the same problems; however I am saying that the average user will struggle with this upgrade. Simply put, unless people want or feel the extreme need to change, they will not like it.