There's the problem: I don't want to buy this new hardware. My hardware is quite good enough with Windows 7 already. And how many folks really have a docking station at home? Laptops that split the screen from the laptop? Hardly anyone has one of these.
If that's what Microsoft is betting on, I'd be concerned for their overall strategy.
Something like 300 million PCs are predicted to be sold in 2013 I think? Most of these will have this new hardware.
Just like someone above mentioned, Microsoft needs to jump first. Windows 8 is more extreme, but a similar example is that the release of Vista made 4GB of RAM become the defacto standard for laptops without raising price.
I'm sure this new hardware will be more expensive, but I would predict that less than a year after it's out, the prices will stabilize such that a split-screen laptop will cost the same as a normal one with the same specs would have a year or 2 ago.
You miss the point. If Microsoft want to make a lot of money in the mass market, then they will need to support the current generation of laptops, not the bleeding edge.
I'm not saying that splitting the screen from the laptop is not cool, as I'm no Luddite! I'm merely remarking on the fact that Windows 8 seems to have been designed for the next generation of hardware, but there is no guarantees that this sort of hardware will be adopted by a large proportion of the market any time soon.
It's usable by both. Windows 7 was not. There were many times on my touch screen laptop I wished buttons were better for touch. People act like Windows 8 is only usable on a tablet, when it's not. It will install and work fine on your desktop.
If that's what Microsoft is betting on, I'd be concerned for their overall strategy.