Looking at those numbers the 'drift' is about 4% per month.

That's likely to level out [that bell curve thingie] but XP is definitely a dying market....

Tom... much has come out about this new OS which is still being built. One thing is clear, though: This is for PC's with touch screen capabilities as well as for Tablets as MS has clearly said so. They also said it will work with keyboards and mice as well.

What is not clear is whether/how the taskbar/orb will work. I read here: http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-windows-8-is-the-biggest-shift-in-design-since-win-95  that the orb and bar exist "under" the new start screen. I'm willing to believe it, but I didn't see it in the demo, unless the dock like thing from the right part of the screen is a "taskbar" or taskdock....

Maybe it'll be skinnable. Maybe not. Not that much is clear from the rather limited video. Maybe the bar that comes in from the left will also be skinnable. Maybe the icons too. But this much is clear: It's a MAJOR change, and it's not just for touch screen devices: MS said so.

It's not by accident they put together their new "gesture" mouse, and I'm betting there'll be a special keyboard as well.

Not sure the games will work... because of the drivers on your computer - are W7, not XP... you can always try.

I think the choice I will be faced with in the future is what do I WANT and what do I NEED in an operating system. This new interface seems attractive. One the other hand customizing and skinning are part of the things I really enjoy doing on my computer so if an older, function able version of windows still allows me to get my fix and get done what I need to get done then I will probably stay with that until something more attractive lures me away. Windows 8, by that video clip, probably won't do it.

Okay, hold on a second there Doc, let me fasten my seatbelt, this looks like it's going to be a wild ride with Windows 8.  

I was just going to make that observation (having read more about Win8). For some, it is really a good idea.  I know my mother would be a lot less confused with fewer choices.  But for many of us here on this forum - it is going to suck big time!  I wonder if MS is really coming up with a new ME?  At this point, I do not like what I read.  But perhaps when it is released it will have what I want and need as well.

or on your smartphone?  Me thinks that is what 8 is aimed for (and the articles I read seemed to insinuate that as well).

Except in my house - we got 2 cell phones - but we also have 6 computers (one we use as a file server)

There's a start menu analogue at 1:31.

Additionally, at 3:08, it switches to normal windows, which to me suggests that this whole thing is just an app environment pasted over Windows 7.

It got me a bit worried, since the current school of thought at Microsoft seems to be 'backwards compatibility be damned' (one of the major reasons why Vista was such a flop, although I personally used it and liked it).

On the other hand, touch is great for iPads and the like, but I for one wouldn't like to get finger grease on my 30" monitors (well, I suppose I could always wash my hands first)

I specified RETAIL sales for a reason. I would say the majority of win 7 users are running win 7 OEM models preloaded with new PCS (or purched OEM copies either way its not retail versions).

At retail windows is always a slow seller with their pricing(not hard to figure out why when a retail copy of windows 7 isn't much cheaper than a brand new netbook  or cheap laptop with win 7 preloaded). Either way my major point was that any retail sales of windows 7 there may or may not be are likely to die off with the release of windows 8 retail copies.

So lets see if I got this straight.

 I say win 7 retail sales were poor.

You say but look at all the people using windows 7.

And i say... yes but those were't retail sales.

and you say ya so what...

lol non sequitur much?

Anyway my major point was simply that (yes i'll say it again) any retail sales of 7 will quickly die off and be replaced by win 8 sales on release.(not only retail but new PCS will be coming loaded with win 8 instead). If win 7 users are unlikely to upgrade so soon.. and xp levels off where are the sales of win 8 gonna come from? (again horrible retail sales) pre loaded PCs.

End note: Dwindling or not 40% of users using xp is still a large chunk of the market. Even if it were to level off at 30% of users its still a large chunk of end users and ignoring support for apps/games for xp in the near future is liable to cost sales no matter how you look at it. The faster MS pushes out new OS the less often people are likely to upgrade. Here in 2 or 3 years people with vista are going to be told they are in the dinosaur days because they haven't paid MS for windows 8. lol its a never ending upgrade cycle and the more stable OS are going to continue being used longer into each cycle.  Which is why XP still holds such a sway.. and win 7 will probably hold a similar chunk in the future while MS is pushing windows 9 and directX 14.

The question as a consumer comes down to why upgrade every 2 or 3 years.. when you can wait and for the same price as that new upgrade you can just upgrade further every 10 or 12 years. (leap frogging a few of the versions for the sake of saving the cash). Which is where I'm at personally.. why would I upgrade to 7 when 8 is on the horizon?

(granted I may be abnormal since I've never really understood the whole "I need that new thing right now so I can sell it and buy the next new thing next year" mentality many people have these days. Post modern consumerism? lol)

Fistalis, the stats are clear... the movement to 7 is coming from the dwindling XP user percentage. True, there is still a very large percentage of XP in the user population but that's also a function of businesses (still on XP because of the poor economy and lack of popular knowledge of W7 in the work force, and not wanting/affording upgrade of machines and peripherals) and of the economy - more people are trying to 'make do'... just as you state. The stats also make no mention at all of the mobile market... in which XP is zero. I agree with Jafo, as well: XP will disappear because the machines are growing older and because W7 is a much better OS.

I think that when/if the economy recovers significantly, the W7/XP balance will shift more quickly and radically. Since the mobile market isn't represented, then the stats don't reflect the 'true' market share of the OS's, as OEM will be 100% there, and the other mobile platforms aren't even mentioned. My guess is that the stats only represent PC's and laptops and they are far from the whole market: Tablets, netbooks, etc. are a significant part of OEM sales, now. I think retail sales will be dropping in the future for all OS's... and I don't like the "Buy a new one every two years" mentality, either.

This whole new OS thing every 2-3 years is absurd. They should be making patches/upgrades more frequently and cheaper. There should be more effort being put into uninstalling the 'older' parts of the OS's and making them more modern if the hardware can tolerate the change. People should also understand "futurizing" PC's, etc. at the time of purchase.