Say it ain't so Brad!

Changing yes but there will always be those who prefer 'hands on' meaning desktops won't go anywhere because lets face it no handheld device  will be able to do what a regular computer does and will do. Who wants to look at 3D images and such, when it does come out, on a screen smaller than the palm of your hand. And what about CGI. Will you be able to create, manipulate and otherwise interact with them on a small screen, I doubt it. Then there are the games ...... I don't know of anyone who wants to play GalCiv or SOASE on a small screen. Sure there are game boxes but IMO a big screen action game beats that out big time.

Brilliant move on Microsoft's part.   BRILLIANT move on Microsoft's part.   The best microprocessors out now are the ARM's, hands-down.  They just don't have the market positioning.   Microsoft and Intel have always had a love-hate relationship, and Microsoft, in coddling a relationship with ARM, they are obtaining leverage from Intel, big-time.   There has been talk of ARM entering the PC space, and it's further along than you might think.   And if they do, I can't begin to tell you how awesome that is.   We finally--FINALLY--escape the x86 instruction set.  That's been an albatross around our necks for decades.  And the configurability of ARM lets you do all kinds of things you could never do on an Intel or AMD.   ARM has traditionally been in the embedded market (which comes in all shapes and sizes), and embedded applications commonly don't need an OS--or at least very minimal, or something funky like an RTOS.  They need a good mainstream OS to launch them into the PC space.  Microsoft obviously saw that, and here we are.

As my pastor says:   This is a "get to", not a "got to".

Looking at Stardock's non-games portfolio, i.e. the non-games half, this screams of opportunity.   If you get in on MSDN sooner than later (Stardock has to be in it already...), be among the first to pursue multi-platform solutions on Microsoft's developer products.   And do note I mean MULTI-platform solutions--*NOT* just you implementing ObjectDock for PC and then ObjectDock again for ARM.  I mean like a QT, or a Java write-once/run-anywhere environment.  While people are pursuing different consumer computer environments anyway, you get to sneak in Object Desktop, WindowFX, Multiplicity, Fences, blah blah blah--and if you are first to the finish line in getting those products out for ARM/multi-platform use, you win the contracts.   This could be a gold mine for Stardock!    The more the market fractures, the more market YOU get.  Aw heck, now I want in. 

So is that worse/better/same than the iOS or Android markets?

Bluetooth input devices. Airplay output to displays.

Its going to be a tinkerers dream or nightmare depending on how you look at it. See a rainbow in the sky, quickj ... pull out your phone, 'droid and or whatever and snap a pic. Send it streaming to your home PC over the wifi and when you get home you won't have to ask why your house got a paint job that looks like it came out of the psychedelic sixties.

More pcs were sold in 2011 than in any previous year. Hard evidence suggests that the PC is not a dying market, it is merely not the quickest growing one any more.

I envision a future where many formats exist, and the PC will be one of them, but it will not be the largest.

I think the largest will be the tablets like iPad and such, not so much the phones, more versatility. Second will be the PC then the phones. Computers per se aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

WTF? not only do they force all apps compiled for metro to be sold via MS store, they ALSO put in a 5 install limit (per purchase)? Screw that.

And then they work extra hard to sabotage compatibility...

I'm not sure about iOS, but for Android, they take 30% (there's no drop off in percentage after a certain amount that I'm aware of). This is also true for the Amazon appstore.

Even though I have an app on Blackberry AppWorld, I still don't know what their cut is. I've dug through their whole site, and can't find a damn thing about it. I guess it's moot anyways as BB is almost dead at this point.

I believe Steam also takes a hard 30%.  As far as I know its a common number across the industry.

Personally I'd rather have a Win8 x86 tablet, but the Win7 ones are not cheap so I expect I'll end up with an ARM one.  We'll see.

As for the main topic, I mostly view WinRT as a framework for the future.  I'm sure as time goes on it will be more pervasive across all their products...right now it's one OS.

Last I checked WinRT apps will cross compile to ARM and x86, but it hardly matters to mainstream developers yet.  I'm sure it will be something to consider past Win8.

I will argue yes, it matters to mainstream developers now.   But I'll admit it hasn't hit the marketplace en masse yet.  The wave hits the developers before it hits the end consumers.

If there's no customer base how CAN it matter to mainstream developers now?

Who are they making the app for?  Themself?

If you want to make an app for wide distribution, making an app that only works in Windows 8 means it won't GET that distribution.

Sure, you don't end development as soon as you start it.  I get that.  But until you've got people to buy your product, there's not much sense making it.