The Windows 8 nadir

I don't think anyone can argue that Microsoft needed to do a tablet OS (to follow the money). I do however disagree on how they've tried to accomplish it from two perspectives:

1. As a consumer I do not like how they've compromised the desktop experience in what appears to be an effort to get people to dislike it enough that they start demanding touch. In addition the "Walls without Windows", "No Chrome Even If it Hurts", "Full of Compromise" that is metro IMO, still isn't as efficient as the desktop metaphor with the hardware most of us have in front of us today.
2. As a developer I do not like the road they took to get to a tablet OS, how long it took them to get there, and the debris they left behind to do so. As I've said over and over and over again  sticking with SL, putting WP7 on a tablet, and start porting apps to SL (like they have for Android and iOS). They could have been to market long ago with a tablet story, avoided the whole debacle of SL/WPF's death, and had a nice desktop/tablet/phone/gaming system platform to write apps for to boot.

I'm hoping the RP will change my mind here but from reading the W8 blogs I don't think there's enough there to change the fundamental issues I have with Microsoft's OS strategy.

My only gripe is MS's insistence to redefine long established software release cycle terminology. Just stick with "Alpha", "Beta", and "RC". You aren't hip or edgy by using "release preview (RP) and customer preview (CP)" like they mean anything to me. Just being confusing for no real reason.

Other than that I like the fact that Microsoft is taking chances and being somewhat innovative with the future direction of Windows.

@Bass: DP and RP are fine, but CP is a stupid name - ordinary consumers should not be installing beta operating systems on their PCs.

21 hours ago, Bass wrote

My only gripe is MS's insistence to redefine long established software release cycle terminology. Just stick with "Alpha", "Beta", and "RC". You aren't hip or edgy by using "release preview (RP) and customer preview (CP)" like they mean anything to me. Just being confusing for no real reason.

The problem is that Google ruined the term "beta".