How are they going to sell this confusing mashup next to Metro-only ‘Windows’ tablets?  How well did Linux netbooks do when people found out they weren’t running Windows?  You’d think at least MS would remember that debacle.

Contrary to what the media wants you to believe, the ipad really isn’t THAT successfull.  Since it released, it sold 65 million units (a lot of which are actually replacements for older units, so these aren’t really individual sales either).

In the same timespan, windows vista was activated almost 200 million times.  And by msft standards, that was a disaster.

For the ipad to continue to be market leader, windows 8 needs to be the worst selling microsoft OS in history. 

It’s pretty clear that this simply is not going to happen.

I have no idea why you try to downplay this, because this is a LOT more then windows 7 beta.

I have no idea why you try to downplay this, because this is a LOT more then windows 7 beta.

Perhaps next you can predict that Microsoft is going to revert back to MS-DOS.

Do a search for it there are tons of headlines from when Microsoft announced that a couple of weeks ago.

Windows 7 will not be the XP of this decade. Windows XP (2001) went 5 years without an update to Vista (2006). Windows 8 is going to require a lot of people to upgrade because all of the new apps will be incompatible with older Windows PCs. If you try to stay on Windows 7 you will be cut off from all new WinRT apps and almost all new software developed for Windows. I don’t think consumers will be content being cut off from the Windows app store.

If you had the choice to buy a Mac that could run all iPad apps in addition to Mac software or one that could only run Mac OS software what version do you think consumers would buy? Consumers would not continue to buy the Mac-only version.

   Plus the lack of legacy support on ARM devices is not what Microsoft originally adverised. It was the idea of being able to install all of my programs rated to run on such a device that had me intrigued and excited about waiting for a fully functional OS on a mobile device. They failed to produce that product, therefore my interest in Windows 8 was greatly undermined, especially for tablet devices.

   Microsoft hasn’t lived up to people’s expectations for the new devices they are adamantly trying to bring to market, and that is and will influence market valuation and consumer confidence.

   They shouldn’t be trying to do a ‘so so’ job that compete’s with well established products and services, they needed to work on exceding expectations and bring to market something that surprises and excites the consumer. They are one of the only corporations in the world with the resources to do this and they droped the ball short of that mark.

   Regardless of whether or not microsoft has created a functional OS, they have already fallen short of expectations, and that will have far reaching consequences in their ability to penetrate a market already saturated with an abundence of products. This isn’t to say they won’t be successful, only that they have seriously hurt there efforts and undermined the companies intent; which was to regain lost market share and reposition themselves as market leaders in a new, ever expanding arena of technological innovation.

   They have decided to play catch up, instead of trying to jump ahead of the pack and do what they used to do best; Innovate. Innovate in a way that had people questioning the possibilities of future devices in the same way that surprised consumers when Apple released the iPhone in 2007, as Microsoft originally claimed they were going to do when questioned about being late to the scene. In my opinion the lack of good decision within the ranks of the corporation have damaged their ability to maintain market dominance.

   Of course time will only tell, and I for one can’t wait to see the outcome of this new development cycle. Not just for Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Rim, but for the many hardware development and distribution companies that seem to be locked into a death struggle over copyrights and production techniques as well.

XP was a fantastic OS, I still have a computer that runs it.

Vista is why I still have a computer running XP and

Windows 7 has grown on me; I have come to like it more and more.

The videos, articles, and photos’ I have seen regarding Windows 8 have been rather disappointing. I personally don’t want Metro forced on me. Nor do I want Live Tiles and other junk where my program icons should be.

I am waiting to see the final version before making any sort of decision. But, as it stands right now; Windows 8 looks great for a tablet, not at all great for a PC.

I just hope that Microsoft is actually listening to this input, as it has spread from one end of the net-verse to the other, and it is generally the same.

The actual beta won’t be released for another two months or so.

So we’ve yet to really see how it will all work and there’s a lot more to Windows than just a Start Menu.

Besides, the main reason they’re pushing Metro is for the tablet market and also because they need developers to start early on app development to get enough apps available for the actual launch date.

Especially for Windows RT for ARM as they won’t be able to run legacy apps and so would be completely dependent on the WinRT based apps.

However, this doesn’t mean they’ll continue to ignore the traditional desktop.  Bu we’ll see for sure once the actual beta/RC get’s released.

August 24, 2001 windows xp release date
November 8, 2006 windows vista released that was over 5 years of time for it to build marketshare

now fast forward to windows 7

July 22, 2009 windows 7 release date

windows 8 release date lets go with an rtm of January 2013 just to be on safe side thats roughly less then 4 years

if you view it like this windows 7 may not be as big a sucess as windows xp in terms of longivty