[efiftythree]

The vast majority of users will not have to worry about the distinction between versions. They will be using what they perceive as Windows. When they pick up a tablet running Windows it will be Windows and when they sit at their desktop or laptop they will be using Windows and when they pick up their phone it will be Windows. Add in the universal apps and you have even less confusions when a user can move from Desktop/Laptop to Tablet to Phone to XBOX and use the same app.

So, basically, the theory that they have nothing to do with one another is not looking at the entire ecosystem.

[TheOtherHobbes]

Well - apart from the fact that Windows 9 is rumored to have the old UI for desktop PCs and the new tiled UI and app store for devices.

Users will never be able to move from trad PC to tablet to phone to Xbox. The hardware ecosystems, UI models and user requirements are just too different. IMO it's nonsensical to pretend otherwise.

The Apple approach of creating fundamentally different operating systems with significant convergence and overlap while also simplifying interaction and data exchange looks like a much more intelligent solution.