Why Windows 8 is Microsoft’s most vital launch in years

I think this article is specious.<p>The premise appears to be that the world is moving towards touchscreen/mobile, and thus, the desktop computing experience is going to be relegated to the dustbin of history (because, you know, its not cool anymore). This is silly. Tablets have their uses, but they're a niche compared to a general purpose computer. There are a lot of things that are just very awkward to do on a tablet; ie, almost anything involving a lot of typing or creation of content. I could get along just fine without my tablet, but without my PC I'd be in rough shape. I like them both, but it's pretty clear to me which one is a powerful tool and which one is a luxury. So to be honest, I really don't care if windows 8 ends up being a failure as a tablet OS as long as it stays a decent desktop OS.<p>It seems like the thing to do is to place this topic in competitive terms, where somehow the success of the tablet implies that the desktop has to "die". Why is that? We can't accept that they all have their uses? I have both a hammer and a screwdriver, but I've never really felt the need to view them as competitors.

Amazed at such headlines, they seem to show up every time Microsoft launches their new OS. It is always the same.

This is a serious release for Microsoft since it might be the last significant desktop OS they put out. There might never be a Windows 9 for desktops. It might be strictly server or mobile at that point.<p>It's going to be harder to make any money when you're getting squeezed on one end by crazy low prices and a free OS like Android which could be a desktop OS with some hacking, while pressure from above is coming from OS X and iOS alternatives. There's no room for a $300 desktop OS any more. It's an anachronism.

Microsoft has been pushing metro throughout its ecosystem. Microsoft Kinect looks like the real game changer. It will change the Windows experience. A new way to interact with our PCs.

Here are my audacious claims:<p>I would say that Microsoft Windows is no longer relevant... and hasn't been for a long time.<p>The one thing that would make them relevant again, if it is true (and not just rumor), is MS Office for iPad.<p>It would sell like crazy, and it's really only the data that matters anyways.

<i>yawn</i> inflammatory headline and zero meaningful or insightful content.<p><i>Windows ME was a joke, Windows XP was an updated but essentially similar experience to Windows 95</i><p>Um. Windows 2000 was the Win 95 UI married to the excellent NT backend. If you think that XP -- which was a somewhat optimized Win2k -- delivered an experience similar to 95, then you don't know your Windows OS history very well.<p><i>Windows 7 was what Vista should have been</i><p>Not really. Nothing is yet what Windows Vista should have been, because Vista was supposed to be Longhorn, which was going to be a radical departure from all previous Windows versions, at least under the hood. Win 7 was a somewhat hackish, superficial update to Vista, with better UAC, and (from what I recall) greatly improved deployment and scripting features for IT people. In other words, it did just enough to shut the consumers up about how bad Vista was, and it did a whole bunch to appeal to big business.<p>And that's the point, isn't it? Continue to appeal to the big businesses that are the source of vast income for Microsoft. Win8 is just another iteration of Windows. Nothing truly revolutionary, nothing to write inflammatory blog headlines about. Business as usual: developers aren't certain what path to follow, Microsoft providing too many APIs and insufficient documentation, and companies acting slowly to pick up the new OS.