I've heard that PC stores are seeing plenty of people interested in windows 8 but walking away when they learn that current laptops don't have touch screens. I

I've heard that PC stores are seeing plenty of people interested in windows 8 but walking away when they learn that current laptops don't have touch screens. I think microsoft underestimated the incompetence of the PC vendors. They sort of assumed that the surface would set the bar for touch devices, and that this meant PC buyers this holiday season would be getting a good touch experience. I don't think they considered it a possibility that the PC vendors largely wouldn't bother with touch (aside from some token devices at the luxury end of the price range). It's like the PC vendors collectively gave up and decided they didn't much care for selling new PC's. Anyway, we'll see what happens this year. Once the majority of PC's for sale are touch-enabled you could see a turnaround for windows 8, but that really hinges on ability to execute from the PC manufacturers.