There will be a way, there always has been. A fine, fun tradition. 98Lite. What Browser?
OT: Metro is effectively a "skin" or layer on 7? The "registry" is still there?
Safe prediction? Simple corrections will fix these "issues".
How is market research relevant to patent squabbles?
OT: A still open question, how much credit belongs to Jobs? (Has it been documented?) Fans will dismiss the market research as a curse, blasphemy, when perhaps they should be happy about it? Any part of the process that did not require Job's input can be reproduced, and would mean the company could continue its happy, profitable path.
Many factors. Number one is there really are No Bands around, because there are so few places to play, everywhere. A few in urban centers, but live music was once the thing, everywhere. Feminism, MADD and the trend towards disco/DJ's combined to shut down the live stuff. Dance influence required steady beats, no changes. Female dominated disco/dance meant men followed along, as contrasted to bad boy rockers intent on blowing the doors down, women on the chase. Police state enforcement meant everyone had to tone it down. Busted for drivin while blind. Yuppification of urban hot spots is another force. Greenwich village, eg. Get off my lawn.
So there are far fewer live performers, less competition, less experience with live, knowing what moves people. If the band sucked, there was another club around the corner, down the street, in the next town. So you needed to not suck. Stuff that develops out of a jam lives/breathes grows, accidentals become changes, etc.
Modern music on the radio is most often not derived from live work, where the band gets feedback , instead it is constructed piecemeal in a studio. Finally, and to the primary loss, the thousands of hours of interplay between the members does not happen as often, the stuff is made up by one or two people. Repeated plays via corrupted channels forced into specifically limited formats is the final blow. It has been known since the 30's that just play it again reduces the resistance, people end up "liking" the stuff.
It's a naive, domestic operating system without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption.