[hackinthebochs]

Other companies don't have the legacy that windows does. For windows 8 to be successful, they need the buy-in of consumers in all the various use-cases of the OS. Apple never had that legacy to deal with so the comparison isn't fair.

Determining what the general public wants is a crap shoot. the only reason we're even talking about Apple is because they got lucky a few times. What about the countless companies that were creating the future only to fizzle out for lack of interest? Microsoft can't take those sorts of risks on their core cash cows.

[iamadesigner]

Yes but what happens when everyone wants different things? How can you be bold when you have to keep your foot in the past, the present and the future?

[hackinthebochs]

That's a good question. Microsoft's solution in the past has been to simply not try to be bold. It's worked well for them so far and it probably will for the foreseeable future. Metro UI is their attempt at being bold, but they also can't risk alienating their core users in the process. Whether or not they will accomplish this, seeing how hard they're pushing the new UI, remains to be seen. But I understand what they're trying to do.