I have one I'll sell ya.

Are you in the market for a Win7 laptop?

That's right.....because innovation always tailors itself to some legacy shit.........screw the innovators!  We don't need innovation.......we need more of the same, so we can stagnate and never advance.  Seriously.......

It is ever so nice that as a consumer I still reserve the right to run what I want to on my computer system. 

Of course, but I'm sure you understand why a business (in the business of selling new hardware/software to customers) would no longer stock older versions of software/ hardware.  If you as the consumer don't wish to run the latest software (pre-installed) you are of course free to reformat the machine as you see fit.  That was the point! 

I seem to remember when Vista first came out, retailers had to put XP PCs back on the shelves.....

People were so unhappy with Vista, no one was buying new PCs.

Largely because Vista suffered a major hatchet job by media and people who knew people who had a cousin who didn't like it.  Sure, Vista had some issues early on with some 3rd party drivers lagging behind, but it was a solid OS and by SP1 was easily in a better state than XP at the same stage of development.

A similar thing is happening With Win 8.  People don't like change and the media hasn't exactly given it any credible reviews, etc.  However, Win 8 is a solid OS pre-SP1, and will lead personal computing into the new era.

I've used Win 8 exclusively since its release and have found it to be rock solid, so no complaints here.

Someone called me delusional. Now it's my turn.

Anyone who believes the plan was that win32 will stay part of Windows and you won't be locked into MS store is delusional.

However seeing the latest developments with the reshuffle at the top there is still hope MS might give up on entering the gadget market (stupid idea, it's totally dominated by Apple and Google) there is now hope it might stay.

We'll see in a few years. Win7 will hold me for a good 10 years so i am not in a hurry.

So what if MS decides to pull support for all prior OSes to Win 8 when they release [say] Win 9 or 10 or 11?

And there's no point saying it can't happen.  There's no such thing as can't, and if MS wants to push its future OSes/concept to the exclusion of all others, then there's no stopping it.

As good as Win 7 is, it was still only a precursor to the next phase MS has planned for Windows.  What?  You didn't think the concepts of Win 8 just suddenly sprang up in 2011 - 2012, did you?  I think it'd be a pretty safe bet that the concepts for Win 8 and beyond began with Vista and possibly even before.

really? i mean, the first iPad is from 2010 and the App Store started 2008. if MS would started the planning of it's touch interface and store even before, their development must be amazingly poor.

compare the developement of an OS with a graphic engine 5-6 years period combined with making a game that makes use of it...
I could write over 10 pages of the process here but i think i can have it more easy if i point you over to an expert interview of John Carmack that explains pretty much everything and goes even deeper - The 3 hour non stop interview of him can be found on the Ytube Quakecon2012 keynote
the main task for them is it to provide a game that is graphically close to the release year while it is made 5 years earlier/advance and it should be fun to play...+ it must sell to cover the costs and beyond / meet expectations.
Same goes for a OS it has to be stable, bring new innovations, be faster + it has to support a vastly broad spectrum of hardware + and it has to sell
Even before windows8 was out MS was working on codename Blue...  

XP is still supported til 2014.  7 is still supported til 2020.  I don't think you have much to worry about there.

As I recall the Edsel was no different to the Leyland P76 ....both victims of their time...not inherently bad.

The Corvair on the other hand inspired Nader's 'Unsafe at any speed'....

It's cheap because they want to speed adoption and because the marketplace no longer supports hundreds of dollars for an OS.  

Anyone who thinks MS expected early Windows 8 to be received to universal praise and viewed as a giant win is fooling themselves.  MS knew it would be a rocky change.  It always is when you upset people's longstanding comforts.  They clearly thought it was worth the rocky start to upset people's long-learned habits or they wouldn't have done it.  Time will tell if they're right or not.