Ask five geeks about Windows 8’s greatest flaw, and you’re bound to get five different answers. Some diss the new Start screen. Some hate the big hole where the Start button used to be. Others rail against the indignity of having to swipe open a Charms bar to print or search for anything. And what’s with those Microsoft Accounts?

But you know what the biggest problem with Windows 8 is? It’s just too much new at once—and it absolutely had to be. Traditional Windows development was so glacial, so grossly slow and lumbering, that the original iPad hadn’t even been released when Windows 7 saw the light of day. So Microsoft was forced to play a massive game of catch up with Windows 8, or risk falling behind the eight ball forever.

That won’t happen again.

Microsoft is ditching the lethargic release schedule of past years and shifting to a continuous development cycle focused on releasing “ongoing rhythm of updates and innovations.” The move to smaller, more rapid updates is a gigantic change for Microsoft—and it’s a change that holds earth-shaking implications for the entire PC ecosystem.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here