I would expect they are always listening and evaluating. Capitulation being the change of their assertion that Windows 8 features were 'best' and then going back to the way they were in Windows 7. The reasons for that change of opinion might be that they listened to customer complaints, it might be that they compared adoption rates of this version of Windows to the previous version, or it might be something else.
So when the opinion changes from what it was, to something it was previously, I see that as capitulation. When an opinion changes from what it was, to something new, I see that as advancement.
It isn't a negative evaluation, its a statement of direction of change.
I can follow that reasoning, though I always looked at their Windows 8 features were 'best' statements as pure marketing instead of an actual assertion (you know, like commercials for washing powder which somehow gets better than the previous version every couple of months) - no way everyone at MS was really considering it 'best'. The idea of the hybrid-style OS isn't all that bad, but the way it came out wasn't exactly top notch.
So when the opinion changes from what it was, to something it was previously, I see that as capitulation. When an opinion changes from what it was, to something new, I see that as advancement.
It isn't a negative evaluation, its a statement of direction of change.