I wasn't aware that Windows 7 had left.

Saw this in yahoo news. Apparently their pushing Win7 because of the lackluster sales of Win8. Not to mention its unpopularity.  

I wonder if HP has or needed to have MS approval to do this?  

I think the problem is Hardware based not Software based 
It is by far easier to blame someone else than to confess that the cause lies within your own roots...
I had a HP-system - waste of money and it perfomed like a 386 compared to equal systems
No OS can change that 
Still a good thing for those that want Windows7 but the wrong choice of Hardware in my eyes.

MS brought the start BUTTON back in 8.1.

This is nothing but backward movement on the part of HP. There is much more than Win8 to blame for sales drops in PC's but it seems that Win8 has been the scapegoat for no VALID reasons. There isn't a damn thing wrong with 8 other than people not wanting to learn something new.

I think it was just too different. I had an HP desktop awhile back with Vista. Never had a problem with it. The machine I mean. Vista......yeah well.

I think the only guy around here that never had an issue with Vista is Snowman. But then again Windows ME never gave me any issues.

My Mother is 77, I have an Aunt close to that. They have both used a computer since Win98.  They both have new laptops with Win8 on it and like the performance but hate the UI. Quite frankly, they get lost and wish now they had kept their old laptops. They don't want or need to learn something new, nor should MS have taken it upon themselves to FORCE people to do so. There should have been a choice between new "Modern" and old "Classic" Windows, imho. Face it Phoon, it isn't like going from rotary dial to touchtone telephone or B/W to Color TV. It's tossing out most of what you know about interacting with a computer and starting over.

I predicted early on that OEM's would end up with a huge backstock of  unsold Win8 machines and I think this is just a move by HP to give the market what it wants. (HP needs all the help they can get in the sales department)  I suspect other OEM's  to follow suit and sell off any remaining Win 7 machines and limit their production of Win 8 rigs that will gather dust. It's all about shareholders and profit and investing in technology that doesn't sell is a sure fire way to lose money.

I never had problems with Vista and it's still on one of my machines.  I was a late adopter and got it for free, so I considered it value for money.

I like my Win 8.1 machine too. The OS cost a whopping $40.00.  It has Start8 on it, so it's pretty nice.  The best $5.00 I've ever spent.

Oh well, here we go again.  I was sort of hoping that we would have a break from all of this and just hang around waiting for Windows 9 because no matter what ones opinion is of Windows 8........Windows 9 is coming and then after that Windows.............

Well, I will only say that I like 8.1 so much, I just removed 7 from all my machines.

Now running 8.1 on my main rig, laptop, and touch screen AIO Dell.

Yeah, yeah. And you like Bessie so much you got rid of your wool underwear.

People are also failing to consider that around and since the time that 8 was released there has been a tremendous surge in tablet sales. That, along with the fact that a large number of Win7 systems still function just fine are major contributors. It's way to easy to just point the finger at Win8 and lay the blame. (Burn it.. It's a Witch!!).

The learning curve, while steep, is not a 90 degree angle. It isn't that difficult at all with a few hours of solid use. However, for a 77 year old it MAY be a bit harder. The transition from 3.x to 95 was radical as hell but the pc to people ratio was considerably less as well...

It's a never ending (for now) debate but at some point the debate WILL be over. It IS the way MS is heading, with a universal theme across all MS devices and will be the norm in no time. Bringing the old style start menu back would be silly (IMO). Time will tell on that one as well

The regular Startmenue IS here to stay. 7, 8, 9 or whatever

-Just look at all the Startmenu replacement software for Win 8.  If people want it, it will be provided.

That's not going to be the case...as it is 'alleged' that 8 is lighter than 7......eg, you know...it boots faster [desktop [for what it's worth] functions sooner because a lot of loading is hidden in background]....

The slow take-up of 8 is not 'because' there is a lot of perfectly good functioning 7's around.....as the same would have been said for 7...because there was a lot of perfectly good XP's around.  The difference is that 7 was seen as an improvement worth getting....and 8 simply is NOT.

Yes, a lot of people have tablets, etc....but you still need to look at new PC sales percentages/increases to 8's uptake....and again here is someone saying 'nope, 8 is a dud....we'll stay with what the customer asks for'....

Spin it all you want...but MS needs to thank Stardock for providing so many of its [MS] customers with sanity-saving software functionality.....