Windows 8: Disaster, Catastrophe Or Home Run?

Windows 8: My 'disaster' is not their 'catastrophe' | ZDNet. Here is another take on the whole, Windows 8 may be a disaster discussion. Mary Jo Foley posits that everything depends upon the hardware; specifically the Microsoft Surface tablet. This is a real change from previous Windows roll-outs, which have always run on the dullest, most standard, most common forms of computers. Now, the tablet revolution has placed the real spotlight on the hardware; and, the Surface is an exciting looking device. We won't know the answer to this question until next year; but, Microsoft executives must be worrying a lot.

Comments

[John Kraft]

I don't see how Windows 8 is going to be anything other than a disaster. Microsoft is sacrificing 50% of their existing business in hopes of satisfying a market that doesn't yet exist.

And the thing is that it is all so unnecessary. There is no reason why the UIs on tablets and the desktop needs to be identical. The fact that Microsoft keeps insisting that it should be shows how totally out of touch they are. Which, in a way, is far more worrying than the commercial prospects of any particular release.