What went wrong with Windows 8

All of us now know that Windows 8 requires the user to learn quite a few new features, most of which, once learned, are handy. But why are they puzzling in the first place?

Well: Microsoft assumed all Windows 8 users would be familiar with Apple or Android smartphones or tablets.

But if you're not used to smartphones, a lot of things in Windows 8 are puzzling. It's as if someone built a car whose controls were designed with the assumption that the driver knew how to ride a motorcycle.

But a PC is not a smartphone and does not benefit from acting like one. Windows 8.1 backtracked a little, toward normal PC behavior; Windows 10 will move back even more, thank goodness.