[cpleppert]

The big problem going forward is what to do about the metro/desktop app dichotomy. They work in totally different ways and essentially require two different interfaces in a single platform. Now that they created this they will essentially have to support both for the foreseeable future.

I can't believe Microsoft didn't think through how they were going to improve windows incrementally instead of making a hail mary pass that essentially bet Windows(the brand not just the desktop OS) on a vision that touch screens would be everywhere for laptop/desktop users.

I don't now how to interpret this comment from the article: "Reller admitted Microsoft hadn’t focused “all of its financial incentives behind the touch screen PCs that show off Windows 8 to best advantage,” the FT said." First of all, you can't force consumers to buy your products just using financial incentives for system builders. Second, this looks like classic microsoft of throwing money at the market and hoping to succeed eventually.

It would have been a lot more flexible just to adapt windows phone to touch screens instead of going the other way and shoehorning windows into mobile devices with a totally different interface that now has to be supported on the desktop as well and dramatically increases the complexity for microsoft, its developers and users.

People keep talking about how the start screen replaces the start menu and it is actually an improvement(even Microsoft claimed this); I think this is a rather strange argument as no one was clamoring for a new program launcher in every version of windows since 95! And even if it is an improvement in a very narrow aspect the weirdness of using a component designed for touch screens as the main launcher for a desktop environment can't be overcome.