BTW....following that trend by now [June] the ratio of XP to Win7 would be about 50-50 ...

I'd wager that part of the reason Win7's numbers are so high is that Vista was such a dog.  Had Vista not been so problematic, I'd imagine that a lot of Win7's percentage would be in the Vista column.  In other words, with Win7 being a decent o/s, I doubt Win8 would experience such a solid showing unless it's truly spectacular.  I also imagine it's a pretty safe bet that upgrading from XP to Win8 would not be much of a plan, a new machine would probably be involved.

Anyway I'm sure one way or another there'll be plenty to skin/customize on Win8.  No matter what it looks like, variety is always good.

I agree. Lifehacker's article and MS VP both clearly state that it's for touch screen computers. They also state that keyboards and mice will work as well.

Then I added: 

I bet this is a way to market the same thing two different ways, and that the user will have a choice which to purchase, OR a choice which mode to deploy on the same PC. 

The world economic situation will not change by end 2012 (when Ballmer insists it will deploy Wndows 8) so I doubt we'll see a a shrinking customization market if at all... depends on whether Tablets replace laptops, which they seem to be doing. I believe that this "build" is not a "final choice" and that MS is sowing the seeds for future markets. I stated and still believe that the Orb/Taskbar will be with us a long time as an option: Not as a separate OS. Very few will be able to afford that, and MS has always gone for the largest market. In this case, that will probably be an option for either/both on the same installation except for the Tablet, only the "Immersive Mode" as Brad put it.

Just a thought, but wouldn't it be great to have a TabletWB... I remember we used to skin phones... with "PocketBlinds". I'm officially old for remembering that. 

I also believe this is a great way to generate "buzz" in the computer world and the blogosphere, again in MS's interest.

Incidentally, I like the way it looks, and plan on investing in Windex futures. Especially when it comes to HG's computer.

That would be interesting. HG_Eliminator's Pizza PC. Sounds yummy.  

Yo...we can learn how to skin pizza.

per Jafo's post it looks like there are still alot of xp users out there. maybe I'll reconsider and up my win7 to include the one that has the xp mode also??

Another question. I think I asked this before but what the hey...is the XP mode limited to the Ultimate version or can it found on the Pro version too.

 Decided.... I don´t like it. 

@gmc2 of the snappy new icon, depends whether you have programs solely suited to XP (that will only run on XP). If so, and you find no alternative to them, then I'd up to 7-Pro or 7-Ultimate. 

BTW, there's a great site where you can search for free alternatives for pricey software items: http://alternativeto.net/  

@PurpleUvah, 7-Pro and 7-Ultimate both have "XP Mode" in which you can run "XP only" software (which has no W7 alternative) - look at my answer to gmc2. 

XP Mode is on Pro too.  I've got Win 7 Pro 32-bit so I know how XP Mode works. However, it will generally only run programs that don't require special graphics drivers and the like.  So a lot of productivity software will work, but games (apart from simple ones, like in-built OS games) in general won't.

Best regards,
Steven.

Thanks for the clarification Brad, phew!

Looking at those numbers the 'drift' is about 4% per month.

That's likely to level out [that bell curve thingie] but XP is definitely a dying market....

it won't work for real computers, can you imagine the changes people would have to do?!

the first time my parents gets on it and they look at me and say "Where is the start button?" and then ditch it to go back to xp or vista or 7 (funny my family has all 3 os)

Even the mac lion's iOS homescreen design isn't driving tons of people to use that features, we love the way we use our computers we control what icons goes on our desktop. what we see on it and we definitely don't want to use IE.

Tom... much has come out about this new OS which is still being built. One thing is clear, though: This is for PC's with touch screen capabilities as well as for Tablets as MS has clearly said so. They also said it will work with keyboards and mice as well.

What is not clear is whether/how the taskbar/orb will work. I read here: http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-windows-8-is-the-biggest-shift-in-design-since-win-95  that the orb and bar exist "under" the new start screen. I'm willing to believe it, but I didn't see it in the demo, unless the dock like thing from the right part of the screen is a "taskbar" or taskdock....

Maybe it'll be skinnable. Maybe not. Not that much is clear from the rather limited video. Maybe the bar that comes in from the left will also be skinnable. Maybe the icons too. But this much is clear: It's a MAJOR change, and it's not just for touch screen devices: MS said so.

It's not by accident they put together their new "gesture" mouse, and I'm betting there'll be a special keyboard as well.

I have a few games that I'd like to play that would be for XP and also skinning the OS for those that still do.

I'm going back to the drawing board with metalwerks to include xp. I have some templates and older blinds to draw info from.

Not sure the games will work... because of the drivers on your computer - are W7, not XP... you can always try.