I find this amazing.. re the ribbon in Windows 8 Explorer..

“Other tweaks Microsoft highlights in its blog include several to Windows Explorer. One sets the default to minimize the ribbon across the top of the window so if users want it, they have to set it up. This was in response to an apparently large and blunt group protesting that they didn't like the ribbon. Microsoft says it appreciates their opinion but will continue to develop ribbons and urges customers who don't like it to try third-party tools to customize the navigation.”

This would appear to be the MS attitude to Metro, as it was with the revised Windows 7 Start.

The article then goes on to say that there will be a learning tool which drops hotkey tips for users who prefer to work that way. How curious that they make provision for users who like the really old hotkey method for accessing features, but are completely oblivious to the calls for retention of a classic menu.

Microsoft is sliding back down the slope on a few fronts. Windows 7, despite good sales, is not doing as well as XP did. Windows 8 is an unknown quantity as yet, but with scant regard being shown to the many millions who still use variations on the desktop, it might not do so well either. The phone business is hanging on how well Nokia does in the market against some very stiff existing products, and Internet Explorer has become the browser that people love to hate.

Apple was saved by the return of one man and a vision which included ‘slick, lifestyle, nice to use, good to be seen with’. Who will save Microsoft? The man with a vision now has other worthy pursuits, like eradicating Malaria and Leprosy. Bill Gates’ vision was never about slick. It was all about usability and bringing technology to the masses in the cheapest vehicle. The vision worked well until he started to turn his back on Microsoft.

Those left in charge, in my opinion, have lost sight of Bill Gates’ vision, and have been grabbing at straws, often too late to get anything but the short one. Microsoft is anything but dead, but it is a company going forward in slow motion while all other IT companies (other than RIM and maybe Mozilla) are racing ahead.

Microsoft is in danger of losing the customers who gave it life, and should be careful that it doesn’t dump them along the way, because new customers may be hard to find.  

The clip was taken from this article.. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/413970/microsoft_fine-tunes_windows_8_beta_input_from_users/