I have one I'll sell ya.

Are you in the market for a Win7 laptop?

Not quite yet. Perhaps in the coming year. Still using the old HP.

That's right.....because innovation always tailors itself to some legacy shit.........screw the innovators!  We don't need innovation.......we need more of the same, so we can stagnate and never advance.  Seriously.......

Feel ever so free to take the notebook home uninstall that evil MS shit and install your beloved "more secure" linux or some other crap.  Feel ever so free! 

It is ever so nice that as a consumer I still reserve the right to run what I want to on my computer system. 

I only use Linux when the system I am using can't run Windows due to lack of memory or other hardware issues and I need to get stuff done. This system, with the upgrades it got, supports XP so I am using XP. I admit I like to dabble in Linux but when it comes down to it I will use Windows because my games run on Windows.

Of course, but I'm sure you understand why a business (in the business of selling new hardware/software to customers) would no longer stock older versions of software/ hardware.  If you as the consumer don't wish to run the latest software (pre-installed) you are of course free to reformat the machine as you see fit.  That was the point! 

so, you think the changes MS made by going from XP to Vista to Windows 7 was "stagnant", was not an advance, and had no innovations? Seriously..........

I seem to remember when Vista first came out, retailers had to put XP PCs back on the shelves.....

People were so unhappy with Vista, no one was buying new PCs.

I think you misread what I was saying......

Largely because Vista suffered a major hatchet job by media and people who knew people who had a cousin who didn't like it.  Sure, Vista had some issues early on with some 3rd party drivers lagging behind, but it was a solid OS and by SP1 was easily in a better state than XP at the same stage of development.

A similar thing is happening With Win 8.  People don't like change and the media hasn't exactly given it any credible reviews, etc.  However, Win 8 is a solid OS pre-SP1, and will lead personal computing into the new era.

I've used Win 8 exclusively since its release and have found it to be rock solid, so no complaints here.

Vista deserved it, at first.  It took six to ten months for the drivers to clear up, and they fixed that stupid DirectX thing where it kept an extra copy of all game graphics in main memory...

After that, yeah it was solid.

I've certainly had a glitch with 8 but it's definitely solid.

Biggest overreaction I've ever seen....getting tired of talking about it.

Someone called me delusional. Now it's my turn.

Anyone who believes the plan was that win32 will stay part of Windows and you won't be locked into MS store is delusional.

However seeing the latest developments with the reshuffle at the top there is still hope MS might give up on entering the gadget market (stupid idea, it's totally dominated by Apple and Google) there is now hope it might stay.

We'll see in a few years. Win7 will hold me for a good 10 years so i am not in a hurry.

What he said...;)

So what if MS decides to pull support for all prior OSes to Win 8 when they release [say] Win 9 or 10 or 11?

And there's no point saying it can't happen.  There's no such thing as can't, and if MS wants to push its future OSes/concept to the exclusion of all others, then there's no stopping it.

As good as Win 7 is, it was still only a precursor to the next phase MS has planned for Windows.  What?  You didn't think the concepts of Win 8 just suddenly sprang up in 2011 - 2012, did you?  I think it'd be a pretty safe bet that the concepts for Win 8 and beyond began with Vista and possibly even before.

Yeah? So what?
Windows 7 won't get any worse just because MS isn't hurling weekly updates at it......
Same goes for XP and Vista.

really? i mean, the first iPad is from 2010 and the App Store started 2008. if MS would started the planning of it's touch interface and store even before, their development must be amazingly poor.

Some famous "precursors"  in automotive history.

Ford Edsel

Tucker Torpedo

Chevy Corvair

Chevy Vega

Regardless of some design teams "vision", if it goesn't sell and make money, the bean counters will give it the axe. This can happen before or after the company is covered in red ink. Profit/loss will rule over innovation in the long run.

So you happen to think the Edsel is a fine automobile? Enjoy the ride while it lasts.

compare the developement of an OS with a graphic engine 5-6 years period combined with making a game that makes use of it...
I could write over 10 pages of the process here but i think i can have it more easy if i point you over to an expert interview of John Carmack that explains pretty much everything and goes even deeper - The 3 hour non stop interview of him can be found on the Ytube Quakecon2012 keynote
the main task for them is it to provide a game that is graphically close to the release year while it is made 5 years earlier/advance and it should be fun to play...+ it must sell to cover the costs and beyond / meet expectations.
Same goes for a OS it has to be stable, bring new innovations, be faster + it has to support a vastly broad spectrum of hardware + and it has to sell
Even before windows8 was out MS was working on codename Blue...  

Okay, so some cretin has written and released a particularly nasty piece of malware that affects ALL versions of Windows, but MS is ONLY releasing patches for Win 8, 9, and onward.  Hmmm, now that's gonna gel well for Win 7 and before, isn't it?

I know if I were MS, I wouldn't want to be supporting obsolete OSes that are 20 years old and older, not when I've built more modern and secure OSes in Win 8, 9 and 10 that can be universally patched with just the one application.  It's not if it will happen but when, and given MS has made Win 8 the cheapest, most affordable OS upgrade ever, I'm betting it will be sooner rather than later.

XP is still supported til 2014.  7 is still supported til 2020.  I don't think you have much to worry about there.

A:Know what it is worth. At 40 bucks, it becomes a disposable OS that people will be willing to dump when Win 9 comes along.

B:Knew it wouldn't sell at the higher prices of previous OSes with such a wild departure from tradition.

C:Generate high early adopter numbers to use as a sales tool. (and as a "feel good" number for the developers and shareholders)

D:Leave adopters some cash left over to buy apps to get the same funtionality that used to be included with the OS but now are sold as  add-on apps at additional cost.

In my honest opinion Windows 8 is a "gimmick" OS. It sells at a discount, like any cheap set of tools as opposed to being a high quality set of tools with lasting value.

As I recall the Edsel was no different to the Leyland P76 ....both victims of their time...not inherently bad.

The Corvair on the other hand inspired Nader's 'Unsafe at any speed'....;p

That's the biggest load of crap I've read this week.

A. The $40 is a promotional price lasting only until January.

B. It probably wouldn't have, for reasons I've already mentioned (7 is a fantastic OS.)

C. Also generate higher early adopter numbers to generate sales through Windows Store and to spur development of WinRT apps.

D. What are you even talking about here?  What exactly is missing from 8 that was in 7?  The number 7?  (If 'the start menu' is your only response that's a pretty retarded thing to say in the first place.)

It's cheap because they want to speed adoption and because the marketplace no longer supports hundreds of dollars for an OS.  

Anyone who thinks MS expected early Windows 8 to be received to universal praise and viewed as a giant win is fooling themselves.  MS knew it would be a rocky change.  It always is when you upset people's longstanding comforts.  They clearly thought it was worth the rocky start to upset people's long-learned habits or they wouldn't have done it.  Time will tell if they're right or not.