Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Win 8 Launches, Doubts Persist

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been trying to ready the world for its most transformative operating system in about 20 years in the months leading up to Thursday’s official launch event. But now that the company unveiled the new Windows 8 OS officially Thursday to start selling pre-installed devices Friday and having the OS vetted pretty thoroughly over the last month by critics, techies and tech reporters alike, there are still a few Doubting Thomases in the audience despite the efforts of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer to show energy, enthusiasm and passion for the new system.

To be fair, Windows 8 overall has elicited positive feedback for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), essentially stating that this operating system is a strong “bridge” that transitions from PCs and laptops to tablets – because it can be used with either, as evidenced by the Surface tablet that has a keyboard cover attached, and many new PC devices that will have the new OS installed on them. However, even after Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) executives showed some of the features in Windows 8, there seem to be still some who claim risks of consumer confusion due to the variety of mutually exclusive hardware that this software will run on.

However, it seems that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) created Windows 8 – and its smartphone partner, Windows Phone 8 – to be an operating system that can easily transfer from one device to another – like apps, documents anf files that are ona Windows 8-based PC being easily accessed on athe Surface tablet or on a windows Phone-based smartphone.

“It’s all ‘new and better’, but I don’t think they are being honest with themselves or the public about how big a change this will be,” said Frank Gillett of Forrester Research to Financial Times. Whether the doubters will outnumber the believers in the marketplace will be something to watch, and certainly will make this launch weekend something for investors in Microsoft Corporation (MSFT:MSFT) stock, like billionaire fund manager Seth Klarman of Baupost Group.