Windows 8 is not Microsoft MSFT +0.45%‘s first rodeo, but it’s the most important version of the operating system since Windows 3.0 when it comes to the future of Microsoft. If Microsoft succeeds, it will cement its position atop the tech pyramid for another generation. If it fails, the next generation may regard Windows as a fond memory like floppy disks. Is that a tad sensational? Perhaps. I took issue earlier this year when one of my fellow Forbes contributors, Adam Hartung, predicted the imminent demise of Microsoft. I still think Hartung was being overly hyperbolic about the situation, and I don’t agree that Microsoft itself will crumble to the ground. But, if Microsoft doesn’t get Windows 8 right, it’s quite possible that its days of PC operating system dominance are numbered. The difference between Windows 8, and every other version of Windows dating back to Windows 3.0, is that Microsoft is facing competition other than itself for the first time. There has been backlash and dissent with virtually every release of the Windows operating system. People don’t like change, and they love to complain about it. Despite marginal challengers like Linux or Mac OS X, though, Windows maintained a virtual monopoly on a growing PC market. It was a sort of self-perpetuating cycle where the dominance of the Windows operating system assured the continued dominance of the Windows operating system. Read more http://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybra...ndows-8-is-such-a-crucial-step-for-microsoft/
