the apparent rush to move to Windows 7 and the perception of that move by their customers.
WTF is with that perception, though? The time between Vista and W7 isn't really any less than most previous versions of Windows, XP to Vista was the exception. I'm sure MSFT will aim for a similar timeframe for W7 to W8 even if W7 is seen as successful.
Hey, I'll even do a comparison chart (consumer versions only):
Windows 1.0: Nov. 1985
Windows 2.0: Nov. 1987 (24 months)
Windows 2.1: May 1988 (6 months)
Windows 3.0: May 1990 (24 months)
Windows 3.1: Mar. 1992 (22 months)
Windows 95 (4.0): Aug. 1995 (41 months)
Windows 98 (4.1): Jun. 1998 (34 months)
Windows Me (4.9): Sep. 2000 (27 months)
Windows XP (NT5.1): Oct. 2001 (13 months)
Windows Vista (NT6.0): Jan. 2007 (63 months)
Windows 7 (NT6.1): Oct. 2009 (33 months)
Pretty much in line with all the previous non-Vista transitions.