I remember stories like this from previous Windows releases.<p>The narrative goes something like this:<p>1. Geek decides to install/upgrade to newest version of Windows for some reason.<p>2. Geek encounters many technical roadbumps in doing so.<p>3. Geek discovers that once installed, newest version of Windows has $major_user_interface_drawback (no start button / is slow / looks designed for children / etc).<p>4. Geek concludes that the masses will reject this version of Windows (and perhaps adopt $Linux_distro_of_choice instead).<p>This fails to account for:<p>a. The increased likelihood that a geek's PC (-v- a non-geek's PC) will encounter problems upgrading Windows due to<p>a.i. having another OS installed (dual booting);<p>a.ii. having relatively esoteric hardware installed.<p>b. The vast number of Windows installs out there; and thus the relatively high number of failed installs/upgrades that can occur based on a low failure rate.<p>c. As geeks we are relatively likely to hear about problems other geeks are having.<p>Tldr: this is not the sort of anecdotal evidence that will persuade me Windows is dying.<p>(Am I saying that there are no problems with Windows 8? Or that Windows is categorically NOT dying and NOT being superseded? No. But the linked blog post is not terribly relevant to that debate.)
It seems that in the end the install was performed on a system where no Ubuntu disks were present (Ubuntu disk was removed). If true, the whole dualboot discussion is moot.
Personally I also encountered registration hell. After some time trying to get it working I just quit on windows and installed Fedora without dual boot on the new system. No windows (XP) traces were left. And everyone (at least in my home) lived happily ever after.