Sounds like Win8 isn’t such a success story.
After VISTA came out and few were buying it, there were rumors that MS was wanting it to be downloaded via torrents, etc. In effect, MS was sort of giving it away. And they still didn’t get many takers.
Per other reports, some computer companies are offering a back-to-Win7 feature with Win8 computers.
[I am still learning my way around Win7, its glitches and ridiculous changes. I have no desire to try Win8.]
Windows Millenium Edition (ME) ( Really Windows 4 ) was a dud
Windows XP ( Really Windows 5 ) was a success
Windows Vista ( Really Windows 6 ) was a dud
Windows 7 was a huge success
Windows 8 looks like a dud
My conclusion —— Buy the odd numbered Windows version. Which means we have to wait for Windows 9.
Spoken like a person who is simply trying to justify their hate/fear of change. Just because it has a bit of a learning curve doesn't mean the changes are "ridiculous". Most can be attributed to "Operator Error".
Windows 7 (home or pro, not basic) is superior to all it's predecessors in every way. The first thing I noticed in Win7 over Vista and XP was how much simpler connecting to WiFi was in terms of how many steps. Searching was another major plus. Vista tried to implement it but it hogged so many resources, it was no better than bloatware like Google Desktop. Win7 finally fixed that. If I have a dozen documents in my computer somewhere with the phrase "business meeting" in the file name or in the document, I can type that in the search and it pulls up in seconds. Try that in XP and tell me that XP or earlier was better.
That being said, I feel Windows seems to follow in a similar pattern as the Star Trek Movies (odd/even rule).
Our offices are still messing around with Win8 before we make our opinions for the office. It is efficient and smooth running, we will give it that. The problem is in it forcing the Metro Desktop on Desktops and Laptops that have no touch capability. I think MS pushed that a little too quickly. That's one thing I'll give Apple more credit on, they at least kept their workstation and mobile OS's separate. Similar maybe, but clearly separate.