Windows 8 is certainly a very different operating system than what I'm used to. I have a machine running Windows 98, one running XP, and one running Windows 7. If these operating systems were to suddenly disappear from the face of the earth, I could probably force myself to use Windows 8 at home even though I don't have any overwhelming need for Metro. However, I cannot envision big businesses that are still using XP (and slowly transitioning to Windows 7) making this huge leap to jump on the Windows 8 bandwagon.
I work for a company with about 600 employees. Every work station has a desktop and most employees are also issued a laptop. Every computer is/was running XP because it just plain worked. Our IT department started upgrading to Windows 7 late last year. They expect to be finished by early 2013. Some computers have to be replaced because they are seriously underpowered. All employees will be going through a training program to familiarize them with Windows 7. This is a tremendous added expense for any business to undertake in a questionable economy.
Windows 7 RTM has been out for a bit more than 2 1/2 years and a lot of people/businesses are still using XP. I don't see businesses upgrading to Windows 8 any time soon. I do see a lot of individual computer enthusiasts making the move. But will that be enough to keep Microsoft out of the red?
