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Continuing to market a product toward which people have expressed bewilderment, annoyance and dislike merely because somebody on the carpet in the executive suite thought it’d be kewl and make a great Powerpoint presentation to show everything with matching UI, is hardheadedness, otherwise known as Ballmer.

Even the Edsel was changed due to popular distaste. Too late, though. It’s not as if there are no recognized principles behind good UI design. Microsoft violated them, trying to be different, to make a much-needed splash in the marketplace after several high-profile disappointments. The gamble didn’t pay out. Take the opportunity to respond to your customers while you still have them.

Continuing to market a product toward which people have expressed bewilderment

Do you really believe that's the way the powers at the top think at Microsoft. That would indeed be foolish and stupid.

Microsoft, like most other companies that have to answer to a user base, did a lot of focus groups, and they tested and retested, and presented and presented again, to those focus groups. They coded and tested, and modified the product, thousands of times, before they thought that they had a product they could present to the "testing" public, with their few pre-RTM releases of Windows 8. There were a few million people who downloaded those pre-release versions, and there were hundreds of thousands of tests, and suggestions, which Microsoft did take into consideration. I was one of those guinea pigs and my experiences with the OS were recorded, and problems and suggestions from me and the other millions, were indeed taken into consideration before a final product was released to the public.

Fact is that, there will never be such a thing as a perfect product that please everyone, and perhaps not even the majority, but, no one can deny that Microsoft didn't take into consideration the input from the many focus groups and from the "at home" testers. Windows 8 is probably the most tested software in history, prior to launch.

But, like all other things, you don't have to like Windows 8, and the problems that it is encountering right now, is with sales, and not with functionality. When it comes to Windows 8, it's problems with the numbers, is not the OS, but with the sales of the computers themselves. If the computers aren't selling, then it's not necessarily a problem with the OS. The biggest reason for slow sales of "Windows 8" PCs, is the rotten economy, which means that, most people aren't going to be plunking down some $800 plus on a PC in hard economic times. The tablets are easier to sell when they only cost some $200-$300. PCs aren't that cheap, and can't compete on cheap.