We are speculating that the reasons for this all relate to the fact that Microsoft is also pushing out the Surface Tablet on the 26th of October. This means that they will be directly competing with their OEM partners and are capable of undercutting them on pricing. Microsoft does not have to pay a per-unit licensing fee and can offer deals granting access to their cloud services that the OEMs cannot (without making their tablets lose money). It is a prospect that many do not like at all.
There is also a small issue with the way that Microsoft has locked down the UEFI Boot loader to only operating systems that have the proper security certificates. This is an attempt to prevent people from buying a Windows 8 product and installing the OS they want. OEMs know that this type of behavior will slow market acceptance in the same way that the Intel serial number tags did back in the late 1990s. People simply do not like being locked into something, especially PC owners. If they wanted that they would buy an Apple product.
Microsoft has made an error in judgment and vision with Windows 8; they have decided to change their direction from being an “open” platform to one that is almost as closed as their competitor. Additionally they have made an OS that really only works on a touch screen (and a small one at that) which will alienate many desktop or laptop users. Why Microsoft has chosen to lock things down when for years they have talked about how an open and user choice driven platform is better we are not sure. It seems counter intuitive to make this change considering that this what people want from a Microsoft PC. In fact their “I’m a PC” campaign for Windows 7 was one of their more successful ones, why kill that feeling and movement to make a few buck on services. Microsoft cannot suddenly turn into Apple and expect their customers to follow. Likewise they cannot expect to fix their issues with mobile by simply forcing that interface (Metro) on all of their products. People do not like that interface; if they did Windows Phone would have more market share. Why Microsoft cannot see this we really do not know.
The signs have been there for a while, but as usual Microsoft decided not to listen and has plowed on through with their idea to create and maintain a new revenue stream with Windows RT and Windows 8. We just do not see it working as they planned and have a very strong feeling that this will be another Windows ME/Vista where they will realize their mistake, but not have any way to fix it other than rushing a new OS to the market in the form of Windows 9.
In a way this is too bad as Microsoft was a leader in the technology market and was, for many, the platform that you got things done on. I know of several hardcore Mac users in the graphics and design industry that switched to Windows and are now looking at Windows 8 with thoughts of returning to Apple. In most cases it is because of the choices that Microsoft has made around the use of Microsoft accounts, locking down the OS and as always MetroUI. So Windows 8/RT has gone gold and is in the hands of OEMs that are in many cases probably looking at it more like a plague rat than anything that will make them real money in the market.
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