For those of us with Microsoft based PCs, it is time to think about the next generation of Windows. 

I have been using Microsoft operating systems since they began. Before that, I used CP/M and also dabbled in Unix. I dabbled in Unix because I worked for AT&T and they invented it and, therefore, I had access to computers which ran on it. But these computers were specialized machines, not something we could actually play with.

I had been sent off to weeks upon weeks of schools in 1977 to learn how to troubleshoot and repair a new digital long distance switching system. Amazingly (to me at least), I understood what they were trying to teach us. I got intrigued by computers and I started considering buying a personal computer. I had friends who had bought Radio Shack computers and the first commercial Apples.

I had no idea what to do with one. It's a bit like wanting to date a pretty girl. You aren't sure if she'll be worth the expense and you wonder if you can handle her but lust overcomes all logic and common sense.

I made the plunge in 1981. I bought an Osborne1. It was not cheap. I had no real uses for it but I wanted it. I went through CP/M and then bought an IBM clone,  jumped on MS-DOS 3.1 followed by 5.0. I avoided Windows until Windows95 when it seemed impossible to ignore any longer.

Now comes Windows 8. And it looks like it wasn't designed for this PC on my desk. It looks like a tablet interface.

I have no idea if I will follow along with the crowd on this one...

Sometimes I think they create new operating systems simply because they can.