Re: Windows 8
When I was 12 I tried driving a car, it was rubbish, nothing like my bike, all the controls were in a different place, it crashed far too easily.
You may think that operating a new PC/Tablet/Phone should be the same as operating the previous one you had and that strategy may suit for a vehicle because of safety implications - although driving a Prius seems different than a regular car.
Using your view, we would still be typing at a command line for almost everything (Oh! you are, well carry on).
Swipiness on the Nokia N9 and subsequently on WinPhones is hugely better than the standard iPhone method continually clicking a back button/icon and selecting another menu sub-system - while ok for mouse use, not so much for finger use - those people must get RSI a lot. And, I much prefer icons that tell me things like the weather and my next appointment/birthday than some picture indicating that the weather could be ascertained if you just tap here and wait a while (what a fucking crappy system).
Windows 8, especially in a Surface or similar is easy to use, only an idiot couldn't operate it after a short introduction. The browser may have no back button, boo-hoo, more screen real-estate, swipe from the left and it goes back, swipe from the right, it goes forward, shall I explain it again? (clue, a bit like pages in a book).
Yeah! but the search is invisible - except that it is a) has a specific button (on a Surface and WinPhones) and b) The few minutes tutorial (which I have never needed - I am in IT so I get it), would explain these minor changes. Not to mention the Windows button/key shortcuts.
And, the lack of a Start button, FFS grow up, I have forgotten that the Start button even allows you to browse the program system, jeez, just type a couple of letters and there is the program you want. By a Strange co-incidence, that is exactly what happens with Win8.
I am sure that the slow uptake is more to do with the fact that it looks a lot different and operates somewhat differently and company IT departments just hate change. I subscribe to the Dilbert view that they hate us anyway so I don't care what they want.
Windows 7 is a very good product, If I ran a company I wouldn't see a reason to add extra cost to have Win8 as well as Win7 support and certainly not the extra cost of changing wholesale to Win8.
I haven't updated this laptop to get Win8 because Win7 works so well, with an SSD especially - it is not because Win8 doesn't work. I and my partner often use a Surface when the laptop is busy or we are elsewhere (it is much more portable than a laptop connected to a TV and a power supply).
A surface is always ready, stands on its own, doesn't need a case, allows real or close-to-real typing, has a lovely screen and was pretty cheap. It also means I don't need an ultrabook, which means I can have a desktop replacement laptop connected to a TV, which means I don't need a separate desktop.
All-in-all, I see PCs and tablets co-existing indefinitely but my tablet will always be a laptop-tablet running a PC-style OS.