>>I understand that, Craig. The single paradigm across all devices is exactly what I question.
>>
>>IMO Microsoft has nearly no chance of overtaking the iPad, or even competing against it credibly. Apple has opened a huge gap in the tablet market.
>
>Microsoft may yet reclassify this as a tablet OS as it should be. Somewhere Microsoft has people smart enough to know that shooting themselves in the foot with another DOA desktop OS (like Vista or ME except worse in this case) is a bad thing. Windows 8 might be nice for some POS apps and the like, but other than that, it's a pad/phone OS.

But it's only one part of Windows 8. The rest is Windows 7-like with (from the announcements) at least finally some optimizations and reduced hardware footprints. That sounds like a good deal for consumers to me - it's a win-win as you can stick with the old or go with the new on all levels.

+++ Rick ---