[Fai Mao]

A bad economy doesn’t help neither does the fact Apple users are buying into the Apple Lifestyle as much as the product.

I also think that Windows 8 might be hurt from the fact that Windows 7 is actually pretty good

[JRandomFreeper]

Microsoft. It's what happens to global domination after a few generations. Sad, sorta, in a hilarious kind of way (he typed from a linux box).

/johnny

[Eepsy]

I played with a touchscreen Windows 8 laptop for twenty minutes at Costco and quite enjoyed the experience. It was fairly intuitive, and I liked having all the info right there on the display. This is strictly from a casual user’s perspective though, and my last great infatuation was with webOS, so take it with a grain of salt....

[arjay]

I HATE Windows 8.
Bought a new PC that Windoze 8.
Having a terrible time with it.

[chrisser]

I admit that I often don’t pay close attention to the evening news, but I could swear they said the Surface wasn’t shipping with Win8, but with Windows RT.

I haven’t paid much attention to this particular gadget. Is RT the same as Win 8?

[Secret Agent Man]

windows 8 with the 90’s aol-style menu screen? no thanky.

[RegulatorCountry]

I can just feel the excitement in the air.

Funny, Microsoft is resorting to temporary retail setups like those seasonal Halloween or Christmas decoration places that pop up this time of year in vacant storefronts on the third floor of the mall. Resorting to this to generate “buzz,” apparently.

Apple was forced into retail because very few retailers would carry them, and those that did were staffed with Windows PC partisans who would disable Macs, botch demos and put Apple in the back corner of the store, in a very unkempt area. Intentionally.

So, Apple went into retail. Because they had no choice. This they did so well, with such style, inventiveness and customer orientation, that it became something of a phenom. It generated buzz. They took a bad situation and came out smelling like a rose.

I don’t think hastily assembled seasonal stores in abandoned retail space is quite going to impart the same impression.

Why the urgency? Earlier this week I read that nunerous sources online were sold out of this product very quickly. Could it be another attempt at creating “buzz” that isn’t really all that indicative of a tual consumer retail demand? I suspect so.

That excitement in the air seems to be more like whiff of flop sweat on the breeze.

[RayChuang88]

My problem with Windows 8 is the interface--the biggest change in user interfaces for a Microsoft product since the switch from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95.

I'd highly recommend this book:

Because you'll need it to master the interface.