Windows 8 has reportedly failed to boost the collapsing PC market, but the new operating system has also led to a dramatic decline in customer satisfaction for the Redmond-based tech giant.

According a report by Examiner, Microsoft’s American customer satisfaction index (ACSI) declined to 74 after the launch of Windows 8, even though everybody expected to see the tech giant improving its overall score in this ranking.

What’s more interesting is that Windows 8 caused a drop almost similar to the one brought to Microsoft by Vista in 2006 after it was launched. At that time, Microsoft’s index fell to 73, but it was then improved by Windows 7, still the number one operating system in the world.

"It seems clear that the release of Windows 8 did not give Microsoft a significant bump, as the release of Windows 7 did, nor did it dramatically lower customer satisfaction in a rather short time frame, as the release of Vista did," David VanAmburg, director of ACSI, was quoted as saying by the source.

"One of the issues with PC software appears to be that there is less of it out there now. While productivity software remains in demand -- Office, TurboTax, Acrobat -- with so many households that own PCs relying more and more on their tablets, smartphones and gaming systems for entertainment and recreation, the range of PC software may be shrinking, not a welcome sign for diehards [who are] still very loyal to the traditional PC."

Of course, all eyes are now on the Windows 8.1 update due to this summer that’s expected to focus a bit more on consumer feedback.

As a result, the next Windows release is very likely to fix some of the issues reported in Windows 8, including the lack of a Start button. What’s more, Microsoft could even include an option to skip the Start Screen and thus let users boot directly to desktop instead of getting the Start Screen every time they turn on their computers.