Re: You really want to "deliver a delightful and personalized Windows experience" to me?
Elaborating on my post (I was on my way out,) Windows, up to Windows 7, was suitable for power users. From Windows 8, that has declined.
The reason is Apple. Bear with me here . . .
Microsoft's products are no longer well-suited to power users because they don't see their customers as "users" at all; they see them as consumers. Apple have shown that there is a pile of money to be made by making 'consumer electronic devices' that bundle customers into an eco-system of constant consumption, of which Apple gets a healthy share.
It started, of course, with the iPod and Apple getting a chunk of each track sold. Then the iPhone, with Apple getting a nice slice of the carrier charges and then through apps and, again, through track sales on iTunes. Now they have moved that into the desktop world with the increased convergence of OSX and iOS, inlcuding the iTunes/app store.
It's a formula that has seen them reap vast profits; profits Microsoft are envious of.
This is what the cloud-first, mobile-first strategy amounts to - it is MS's attempt to turn users of software into consumers of services and, hopefully, to capitalise on it as Apple have.
The stumbling block, however, can be summed-up thus: Windows XP.
I believe that Microsoft's moves that started with Windows 8 are a result of what they have taken away from the persistence of Windows XP long after they expected it to fade away. They have realised that people don't really want to update and only tend to do so inline with a hardware refresh. Apple, as a 'consumer electronics device' manufacturer doesn't have this problem as it does what all electronics manufacturers do - it releases newer, shinier hardware that is faster and brighter and smoother and smaller and more desirable. MS doesn't make PCs and laptops so they can't drive adoption of new platforms that way. A Windows user can buy a machine far more powerful that a Mac user can and so be happy with performance for longer. It's also a simple fact the most PCs are just not that glamorous and so people aren't as concerned with having the latest, shiniest one - so many of them look outdated when they are released!
And so, 'learning' from XP, MS want to make sure that there is no ability for their consumers to stay on an older OS anymore. And that;s important to them because they can roll out new 'features' and EULAs that better align with their corporate goals which now seems to mean forcing people onto online platforms. Look at the removal of long-time stalwart Outlook Express, replaced with something that is simply an on-ramp to MS's online services, rather than the lightweight e-mail client of days past. Imagine such a thing happening on-the-fly without your knowledge or approval - delivered through an update that was forced upon you with no ability to opt-out.
And don't discount the ability to force new EULAs onto people either - just look at what Sony did with one of their updates after the class-action following their (several) massive PSN breaches.
So that's it - MS wants to get rid of people who want to use their software and convert them to people who consumer their services.
I do have a Linux desktop (and server) at home but I am also a sysadmin and most of the people I support use Windows - servers, desktops and laptops. Microsoft are making it more and more difficult to operate in their world unless you unquestioningly gulp down their Flavor-Aid, preferably thanking them in the process.
I still view Active Directory and GPOs as the 'killer app' for MS as the offer such excellent control for administrators. A pity then that their new direction is to remove as much control from us as possible.