So this is my prediction on WP success

[fisci]

People shouldn't knock Windows Phone cause their experience using a mouse on a PC. Kinda stupid to compare a device you strictly use your fingers for to one that uses a mouse. Will people complain about it? sure but I believe if MS was smart, they would mandate touch screens for all new PC's and laptops running Windows 8. That would be the best thing at the end of the day. People with old PC's can just buy new touch screen monitors. That should at least be an option but we'll see how it turns out

By the way, Microsoft is working on a new touch mouse. Maybe that mouse will be the ideal mouse for a UI like metro on PC

What people "shouldn't" do and what people do do are vastly different...

 

[Los]

What people "shouldn't" do and what people do do are vastly different...

Well duh

 

[pjs37]

I think the big key for MS with Windows 8 in terms of tablets have been mentioned here already. They need to be cheap. $1200 for a lousy constructed HP Tablet that is ugly and bulky will doom the Windows 8 Tablet market. It has to match the iPad's price if not beat it. The sales staff can go on and on about how it has this or that feature etc. but at the end of the day when faced with the choice of a $500 iPad 3 with a high quality feel or the cheap bulky Windows 8 Tablet for $900 with assorted bloatware and plastic construction what do you think the average consumer will do?

 

[Laura Knotek]

The main thing is going to be the distinction between Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Tablets will run Windows RT, not Windows 8. They also will need to be cheaper.

Tablet PCs running Windows 7 already exist, but they are an expensive niche product.

The new Windows RT tablets definitely cannot be priced more expensive than Windows 8 laptops. Even the Windows 8 laptops cannot be priced more expensive than MacBook Pro. Yes, a few niche brands like Alienware will be expensive, but the Dell/HP/Acer/Asus/Toshiba/Lenovo will need to be competitively priced; they cannot be as expensive as Apple products.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I admit I haven't used Windows 8 yet except very briefly on a tablet, but can't you just click one button and be back to a somewhat "normal" Windows desktop?

I can't believe people have this much sand in their va-jay-jays over some live tiles on the desktop that I'm sure you can turn off.

Really???

Paul Thurrott explains it well here:

Rest in peace, Aero. I liked you, a lot. Still do. And I?ll miss you. I?m curious why Windows 8 can?t simply include Aero themes in addition to something flatter and duller, especially for those desktop PC-using power users who will primarily use the desktop environment and not care about (let alone need) better battery life. But I?m starting to see more clearly what?s happening here and starting to accept that Windows is growing into something that isn?t so much for me anymore as it is for some mythical tablet user base that may or may not appear in the future.

That brings me back to my central complaint about Windows 8 generally and Metro specifically: This is a neat thing that Microsoft?s building, it really is. But it should have occurred in something outside of Windows. (It should have been just Windows RT, minus the desktop.) Windows 8 isn?t even Windows anymore. It?s a tablet OS that?s been grafted onto Windows like a monstrous Frankenstein experiment.

 

[socialcarpet]

Paul Thurrott explains it well here:

Maybe I need to play around with Windows 8 some more, because I was really under the impression that it's 95% the same old Windows, it's just got a launcher screen with some live tiles on it that you can slide right past to a normal desktop.

That seems to be a far cry from the "frankenstein monster tablet OS" that people seem to claim Microsoft is foisting on everyone.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Maybe I need to play around with Windows 8 some more, because I was really under the impression that it's 95% the same old Windows, it's just got a launcher screen with some live tiles on it that you can slide right past to a normal desktop.

That seems to be a far cry from the "frankenstein monster tablet OS" that people seem to claim Microsoft is foisting on everyone.

You won't see the difference yet. From this article:

Users will not get to see Windows 8's new GUI until the operating system appears in final form later this year. "While a few of these visual changes are hinted at in the upcoming Release Preview, most of them will not yet be publicly available," Harris acknowledged.

Here's another link. Windows 8's new UI: A return to Flatland | Microsoft windows - InfoWorld

 

[Laura Knotek]

Maybe I need to play around with Windows 8 some more, because I was really under the impression that it's 95% the same old Windows, it's just got a launcher screen with some live tiles on it that you can slide right past to a normal desktop.

That seems to be a far cry from the "frankenstein monster tablet OS" that people seem to claim Microsoft is foisting on everyone.

I have no issues with bland, flat icons on tablets/smartphones, but I do not desire a desktop OS that features icons that look more like something used 10+ years ago on XP/2000 and older versions of Windows.

 

[Los]

Ehhhh your always gonna have people complain and scared of change. The Xbox gets that every time with every major dashboard update. Then through time people actually get used to it and forget about it. That's just the way it is. People are always gonna complain, it's in their nature. Some people aren't happy unless they complain. Lol

 

[Laura Knotek]

I do feel that most people want "eye candy" on their desktop OS. The only folks who tend to like a bland-looking desktop OS are the Linux users who either are running outdated hardware or are hardcore geeks using the CLI, not a GUI anyway.

Desktop Windows 8 is not expected to be a hit. Windows 8 will "disappoint": Analysts cut price targets on HP, Dell | ZDNet

 

[jege41]

Totally

I tried W8 and I really didn't like it in a desktop environment, however as a tablet OS it would be great. I think it is a real easy fix here for MS just have a classic version built into the new W8 OS like they did with XP.
It's like why aggravate your base older users give us the option to continue on with a look that we are accustomed to. Personally I have always upgraded my OS right away even though knowing that issues regarding drivers and older software could be an issue, but throw in a whole new UI, nope I'm not going to buy it.

Paul Thurrott explains it well here: