Have you used Windows 8? Thoughts?

Why, exactly? It's HTML5 with SVG.....works fine. It's UI markup.

I have been spending lots of time on Windows 8 so my response is limited only to that platform. HTML5, js, etc are all NATIVE on Windows 8. The UX feels the same whether it is XAML/C# or HTML5/JS. IOW, your web app is a local app.

Good point

Windows 8 has a Desktop for Mouse and Keyboard and Metro for Touch. All legacy apps will run on Windows 8 x86. And this quote "developers ain't preferring Windows 8 to Apple or Android" is funny!

Windows 8 Metro is Touch first. You CAN view apps simultaneously in Metro with a Snap View. The Desktop works very well, like previous versions,/ with a keyboard and mouse.

Why would the legacy Dektop be "hard to control on a small screen" with a mouse and keyboard?

Windows 8 will execute legacy Windows apps perfectly on the Desktop. Windows 8 will be touch first so legacy apps will be touch enabled but not optimized like Metro apps.Windows 8 Desktop apps (like legacy apps) will operate as they always have with a keyboard and mouse. No change. ISVs probably love Windows 8 because they have many, many choices. Much easier to port from a lagacy mouse/keyboard desktop to a first class touch enviroment like Metro. ARM is simply a different platform that ISVs may want to target.

Windows 8 supports both; it supports the standard Desktop as well as Metro apps. What evidence do you have to support your prognostication that "their foray into the tablet market will be a disaster?" Just in case you have no idea what you think you know. There are 450M+ Windows 7 PCs on the planet and 1.5B Windows PCs. Just in case you don't know, there were 32M iPads shipped in 2011. I don't know what you think you know but I'll bet on that Windows tablet "thingy" making a couple of bucks.

Windows 8 includes both the Metro side of the coin as well as the standard Desktop. Your traditional apps will execute normally on the legacy Desktop. No change to the User. Metro applications are Touch oriented so of course they have different controls. They are SVG based so they will run on screens that are 7" to 70". Not sure why you feel they are "obviously written under the assumption your screen is 13" or smaller." Your comments about IE seem to indicate you don't understand how to use Peek. Meaning, you can touch the left side of the screen and Peek at apps in Memory. IE 10 on the Desktop will support Plugins, like Flash. IE for Metro will not support Plugins. Which leads me to the next point. Apps don't "exit", they are suspended. Have you not looked at the Task Manager to learn this? And really, Plugins like Flash are nagware anymore anyway.HTML5 is native in Windows 8. And to respond to your incorrect opening statement, Windows 8 is a Touch first OS that is always operable with a Mouse and Keyboard. Assuming the User is capable of operating them. Why would you wants apps that "can't be Windowed" while running in Metro? You want to switch between them? Why not use Peek or SnapView or Charms like Search or Share? I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that you haven't really experienced Windows 8 Developer Preview on a Touch Device. Another observation, Adobe CS4 adding 25 tiles to the Metro Desktop isn't an indictment of Windows 8 rather an editorial on the bloatware of said software suite.

Typical. It is entirely more difficult to engineer to a client than it is to engineer to a spec/plan. There's a reason EE/CS degrees are stuffed in closets with a "Do Not Feed" sign. Don't get me wrong, EE/CS can read and follow specs. However, they CANNOT sit in a hot conference room with a dim projector and socilaize the necessity of a Business Solution to tired and hungry Execs. Sales > Engineering. Why? Because you can outsource Engineering to China and spend triple on Sale to pimp a weak product. BA/MSEE/JD