Win7 was good, heck it was great compared to all the previous operating systems MS has released. I just can't fantom what the heck they were thinking with this Metro UI crap they did with Win8. <SNIP>
Because Microsoft refuses to acknowledge the notion that "mobile" is a separate product category from "PC". To them, they are all PCs in different form factors. And while they have a valid point to some degree, the simple fact is that they are very different form factors and as a result, you have to use different metaphors in terms of GUI.
I can't say I blame them. The computing market (in general) is shifting radically and it is making Microsoft irrelevant in the consumer space as they failed to anticipate or quickly react to the trend.
Most people (and I mean, the "average Joe") don't need or want a PC. Period. What they want is an easy, appliance-like means to connect to the Internet. PC sales boomed in the mid-90's when the Internet became accessible to the average consumer. That was the PC's killer app and it dramatically changed the landscape for companies like Microsoft, who until then, had limited success in the consumer space. The problem is that PCs are not simple machines. Most users have no desire to invest the time and effort into learning what makes them tick, or maintaining them. They want to click a button and have it do what they want, whenever they want it to, every time they do it. Think of it like a refrigerator - one needs no special knowledge to operate it. You open the door and get the milk out and when you're done, put it back in to keep it cold. You can train a chimp to do it. A general purpose PC will simply never work like that. Sure, you can make Windows run well and keep it clean, providing that you understand it well enough and respect its needs. Most people don't want to do that.
So, here we are in 2014... and now, users are starting to get choices beyond what they typically used a PC for. One can argue that an iPad (or just about any tablet) is the perfect fit for the average Joe's computing needs. You can get the web, email, entertainment and type the occasional document, or edit a photo without expending much effort at all. And because of Apple's walled garden, the chances of ever picking up malware are next to none. Beyond that, it's instant on and off, zero maintenance and can run for days on battery alone. You can hand it to a person in a third world country who has never seen a computer and within a relatively short time span, they can figure out how to operate it at a basic level and find it useful to some extent.
And consumers have spoken, they like it that way. Hence, the dramatic shift over to iDevices and Android devices. What this means is bad news for Microsoft. The PC market is gradually returning to its roots. Businesses and schools, and those of us that are enthusiasts (read: geeks) are going to continue to buy PCs (or Macs), but they're simply not going to sell in the kind of volume that they once did.
Indeed, if you're Microsoft, this is very bad news. You can't blame them for sticking their fingers in their ears, closing their eyes and churning out a version of Windows that they deem good enough for all form factors, regardless of whether it really is. An even bigger problem they have now is that they are alienating those core markets for Windows (business and enthusiasts). This further exacerbates the already on-going trend of those users jumping ship to Mac, or worse yet (for them), Linux. They can't even sell 'em their other cash cow, Office, if they're running Linux.
I don't envy Microsoft, but I do wish they'd accept reality, figure out their core strengths, and put all their energy and focus onto them. They have talented and enthusiastic engineers and I harbor no illusion that they can't churn out a decent version of Windows - Windows 7 is evidence of that. Trying to change "mobile" devices to be something they're not, and in turn, change PCs into something they're not either, is a lose-lose strategy that I think will ultimately be their undoing.
But hey, as a long time alternate-platform enthusiast, who has loathed Microsoft for decades, it is certainly fun to watch - and may Ballmer rule for "as long as it takes".