I think that we're all dismissing just how seriously game changing this might be. Microsoft has a bunch of really smart people sitting in Research working on this stuff.
Just think how cool this will be if they make a jump like the one that Apple made from OS 9 to OS X, and Apple made that jump with far less resources.
But you're right in so far that Microsoft's all-important "legacy" stuff is by now so old it can easily be run in virtualization or even in emulation, so they're probably on the right track.
What about the WIMP (windows, icons, menus, pointer) interface?
What about cloud computing (as stated in the article)?
What about the future of the internet (call it web 3.0 or whatever)?
Looking at the timeline of operating systems and "game changing" improvements, I would imagine that it will continue to grow exponentially as it has been for the last ~30 years. Microsoft, Apple and Linux all have a great chance in contributing to these advances.
do i need to buy win7 to use this?
What about cloud computing
plays to the strengths of linux, not windows
What about the future of the internet
MOBILE. steve jobs is right on this one and msft will end up having an even larger "skunk works" project to try to catch the iphone
whatever will be "game changing" in 2012, my guess is that it won't be a new version of windows, or any other desktop os
make a jump like the one that Apple made from OS 9 to OS X
yeah that was about the time apple nearly went under. how soon people forget