Windows 8 isn't a bad idea. It's the marketing that is awful.
Microsoft is taking good ideas and ruining them through their marketing. It's insane. Compared to their track record, Microsoft has been very open to new ideas and fearless to change for the past couple of years, but their execution is just completely awful.
Things are looking bad for Windows right now. Windows 7 was an attempt to keep customers and save their reputation (which was damaged because of the poor execution of Windows Vista). Windows 8 is an attempt to broaden their horizons and actually bring people back to them. But, more than that, it is trying to evolve with the times.
No one has a Windows phone. Why not?
Windows 8
Windows 8
Windows 8
Their reputation for hardware is generally pretty good, not counting the 360.
Why are these things not selling like hotcakes?
http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US/surface-with-windows-rt/help-me-chooseHere's a problem. The ARM version of Windows 8 (Windows RT) is only available for their devices. Oh, and they haven't (yet) opened their API up for programmers to take advantage of the OS.
So basically consumers find Windows RT and the ARM-based Surface to be thing that doesn't have an real apps they are familiar with (iTunes, Firefox, Chrome, etc)
So why even make the ARM version if you are going to stand in the way of people developing for it?
I really find myself rooting for Microsoft hoping they won't fuck something up nowadays. And I don't even use their products anymore.