Thurrott seems to look at the computing world through a magnifying glass pointed squarely at MS, overreacting to every little shift and bump there, while never being able to see what's going on elsewhere particularly clearly.
The advice in the final paragraphs is just plain wrong as well. It should be "Don't use one OS GUI for two different user paradigms", not "abandon an entire market segment". Windows needs to go back to a traditional desktop, and Windows Mobile should continue on as is.
Following the Google/Apple model of having cloud profiles maintain/inform/manage (depending on home/gaming/work platforms) all the Microsoft devices seems the best approach.
It's also what people want - they want unified logins (note: plural, Google!) so that they can get on with their work/personal/gaming needs and ensure that new devices that are platform compliant "just work" with minimal/no config.