Since Windows 7 is a big hit I fail to see the reason for hoping Windows 8 will somehow improve anything.  It is a radical departure from the Windows interface which will cause all sorts of problems and make users resist switching over.   Microsoft is probably dying from the other side of the company---its software division.  Much of their software is extremely expensive (around 90% overpriced as is their operating systems) compared to free apps that credibly do the same things.  Hard to compete with free when yours costs $300 and next year's upgrade path costs $149 or more.  DOA.