everyone here knows, I like windows 8, and 8.1, however a lot of people don't like it.
So I'm wondering what M$ might do with windows 9.
will they separate the two OSes?
Will they add a third Os?( it's windows phone OS)
will they toss out Metro OS all together?

also a lot of app companies refuse to makes apps for the metro OS and the phone OS.
so was buying nokia a mistake?
will M$ continue to loose faith with app makers?
will metro OS be turned into a phone os or vise versa?

They have potential I believe with there Surface line up, however I'm not sure others see it that way.

What do you guys think, is Microsoft to big to fail?

Well, considering that Windows 9 will be the "tick" in a "tick/tock/WTF" production cycle (where the "tick" is a decent OS, "tock" is a bad one, and WTF is something so bad I'm surprised that they even bothered releasing it - more on this in a second), I suspect that they'll have their heads out of their collective arses just long enough to make something vaguely usable.

Now it's pretty well known that M$ has a spotty track record when it comes to their OS releases, and some of them are so bad that it makes me think that Douglas Adams was secretly (and prophetically) comparing M$ with the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, the latter of which has often been described thusly:

Quote from: Douglas Adams, THHGTTGIt is very easy to be blinded to the essential uselessness of their products by the sense of achievement you get from getting them to work at all. In other words - and this is the rock solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation's Galaxy-wide success is founded - their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.

Here is a list of the various Windows OS releases, starting with 1.0, along with where they are in the "tick/tock/WTF" cycle, along with my personal observations:
1.0 - WTF - This was more of a "secondary pre-alpha release" of Windows 3.11 (the first, usable OS M$ really made) This OS version only made it into a very small number of computers "in the wild", and I was one of the very few who got a copy (don't ask how - it wasn't pretty )
2.0 - WTF - Primary pre-alpha for 3.11 - See above - also didn't see wide-spread release.
3.0 - tock - Alpha release. This was the first wide-scale release of Windows, really.
3.1 - tock - Beta release for 3.11
WFW* 3.11 - tick - Finally! a decent GUI for PC's! And adding networking, though clunky, is an improvement
95 - WTF - WTF did they do to my GUI?!?!?!
NT 3.5 - tick - I never used this particular offering, so I have no personal observations, but it was (by all accounts I've read) a solid, stable OS, so it gets a "tick"
98 - tock - Ok, used to the new look/feel, and they've made some improvements to the way things work. Still $##%, though.
98SE - tick - Much improved interface, new color depth options, and other nice features.
ME - WTF - Migraine Edition pretty much sums it up, I think.
Win2K - tick - Very little personal experience again, due to the exorbitant cost of this OS, but what I've seen and read also makes this deserving of a "tick"
XP - tick - A "merging" of the best of 98SE and 2000, probably the best version of Windows up to this point.
Vista - tock - A failed attempt to take Windows "into the 21st century", which pretty much failed to do so. Some nice new features, but some crap new ones, too. this wasn't quite bad enough to warrant a "WTF", but it was very close.
Win 7 - tick - So much to say here; vastly improved security and stability, and while the code is still severely bloated, it's not as bad as other previous versions.
Win 8 - WTF - Sorry, lads, but after careful consideration, this version strongly deserves the WTF. Trying to force desktop computers to act like a tablet/smart phone was a colossal blunder, and the list of other "downgraded features" is too long to list.
8.1 - tock - While a vast improvement (and a sure sign that if the public raises enough of a stink, even Uncle Bill is forced to listen), it still fails, in my view. We're sorely due for a "tick" cycle!

It's my considered opinion that Bill Gates has a plan here, and I have the sneaking suspicion that at some future point, he's gained control of a means of time travel, and is carefully feeding our current version of Bill information to aid him with gaining total control and power over our galaxy. And that's why I know that no matter what M$ does, it will succeed, because our darling Mr. Gates is using "temporal crib notes".














* Windows for Workgroups

I broadly agree with you.

Though I did like ME. Having said that, it was the point at which I learnt to use various 'Ghost' software due to ME breaking very easily. Normal install survival was about 3 months for my machine.

When even your operating system spells W8, I think they were trying to say something. Lets all hope W9 is on the way.

well then Dave remind my future self to kick himself in the arse for not using

Quote"temporal crib notes".

QuoteWhen even your operating system spells W8, I think they were trying to say something. Lets all hope W9 is on the way.

w9 is a tax form here in the USA, I'm sure hoping w9 does not tax system resources  

I've always been a bit of a M$ fan boy if I'm honest 

It boils down to this.

We all use Windows why? because it's the best OS for the desktop PC, whichever version we choose.

I've also made a living partly through windows installs, especially back in the win 95, 98, ME days 

I like a lot of flavors of Linux and apples older operating systems, but I always prefer windows over them all for daily use.

I spent a lot of $ on programs for windows and no $ on Linux or apple programs, I think that says something there. YES I'M A FANBOY ASWELL and not  about it   

I await the day M$ adds a Ultra Hal like A.I. built into there OS, Maybe it will come in W9