They'd be better off going back to XP-- you know, the one that was a rousing success for them for nine whole years-- and tweaking a few things. The problem is, when you deal with Windows, you have certain expectations. It has had the same basic format since the early 1990s. It wasn't broken, so why fix it? Tablets could use a start menu just as much as any desktop.
From what I understand, with Windows 8 they have tried to change too much, too fast, and they confused people.
So now we have Android slowly becoming more familiar and more viable, first with tablets, and now slowly with laptops, while Microsoft begins its decline. As for me, if I could put Linux on this laptop (it's currently on Android), I would, but quite frankly I haven't figured out how yet.