HP’s latest promotion offers a customizable PC running Windows 7, labelling the operating system “back by popular demand”. Not really the vote of confidence that the struggling Windows 8 probably needs.

With Microsoft’s hit-and-miss record with operating system upgrades, this should hardly come as a surprise to a lot of users who haven’t taken well to Windows 8. Whilst the Windows 8 operating system is definitely the future for Microsoft, there is no denying that it is nowhere near as popular as its predecessor yet.

If users aren’t comfortable with Windows 8, they’re less likely to invest in a new PC running on the update, so promoting Windows 7 isn’t too surprising coming from HP. During the last quarter, HP recorded an 8.5% drop in its PC shipments according to statistics from the International Data Corporation. With global PC sales falling as mobile devices take over, HP has to give its customers what they want- whether Microsoft is happy about it or not.