I have been programming for some 32 years now and seen all kinds of OS.
Microsoft had their take on the GUI OS nailed at service pack 6 of Windows NT 4 - minimal memory leaks and it would stay up for weeks.
Their business model of new product to keep the windows druggies hooked is what has produced newer iterations of this same tired and creeky OS.
Can you believe it can not do threading properly - where is the quad core support for my twin-CPU system ?
Linux GUI still feels like design by committee and Mac OS X is not mainstream as it is tied to a tightly controlled hardware configuration.
At present there are no OS with the correct technical approach.
What is needed is fresh eyes - new university grads. that have not been indoctrinated with the outdated 50's OS crap people involved in the creation of modern OS have been fed.
OS design needs to be revisited so we can all benefit from the improvements in multi-core and multiple CPU and their ability to process data, RAM availability and hard drive access and capacity.
Microsoft, all I want you for is to run games - ( bootable DirectX 11 DVD version anyone ? ) in the same way my child uses wax crayons on paper.
After that I will go back to my OS X Macintoshes until someone produces an OS that is up to the job.