The whole problem with Microsoft nowadays, is that they aren't inventive anymore.
I tried I think 90% of all Operating Systems available. Why, mostly out of curiosity. This includes very awkward ones like V2_OS (most of you probably never heard of it), BeOS and just plain good ones which didn't make it in the end; OS/2, AmigaOS
Currently using Linux (Ubuntu) at current job, CentOS, BSD and Debian as servers, Mac OS X and AmigaOS 4.1 for home computers and Windows 7 as studio PC.
Obviously, I tried Windows 8. For me, it looks like Microsoft is trying to hold on to a straw to be inventive again. Microsoft was having the first (known) tablet PC back in 2001 but didn't have an OS for it. Then Apple came around with it's iPod, followed by iPhone and then the iPad. With the first iPhone they made an OS for it (known as the non-Cisco iOS

) and they continue to improve it so it'll work with iPad...
On the other hand, Apple also had Mac OS X and gently merged iOS and OS-X together to what it is today. Resulting in a good working system on both devices, perfectly in sync with eachother.
Microsoft was inventive with Windows 95 and merging the NT-kernel with customer OS together was winning too, resulting in Windows XP.
But they didn't invent more and Windows Vista and 7 were not inventive anymore.
Microsoft figured this plus is seeing how Apple is having major success with their i-Everything which blending in just fine with each other. So, with their not so successful Mobile division they are trying to do the same trick but don't see they are too late in that..
Windows 8 is a desperate way to hook into the same as Apple, but is failing because nobody is expecting it. Windows 8 is made for touchscreen devices and is not working effective on normal desktop computers (or laptops), that's just a fact. I tried and I hate it. Apple does a way better job with the touchpad use combining the touch-devices and non-touch devices. Both will work in the most efficient way.
The reason why Windows 8 is being bought so much is explainable. They finally seen the light that Windows was too expensive, so they made a normal price for it. Plus they have this huge market and contracts with large computer brands so they can only sell a computer if Windows is put on there..
Try to get a Dell Desktop computer without OS.. impossible.
Microsoft is a software brand, Apple is a hardware brand. Apple created nice hardware and made software to run it. Microsoft is trying to please everybody by making software which should be able to run on so much different hardware... plus they are not inventive anymore and just following the mass like Google and Apple.. Microsoft has become a copy-cat.
As soon as Apple decides that their OS-X can run on all PC's or when hardware brands decide to support another OS (like Linux), Microsoft (the Windows division) will go bankrupt pretty soon.
In short, Microsoft is dying a slow and painful death and Windows 8 isn't helping anymore.