What? No Windows platform has ever been a substantial failure. Also, why do you state this without support?
Are you a Microsoft representative?
To me, Windows 8 looks terrible, but so did Vista and 7. The last few iterations has added a ridiculous amount of badly performing eye candy, which for the most part I find annoying. I feel that the move towards touch screen interfaces and modern GUIs overall is detrimental to people's ability to effectively compute and use devices. Many people have the idea that it makes it 'simpler', or easier, and somehow inherently better. I really disagree. I think it hides more of the system from the user and encourages locked up software. Also, the less the user knows about their system, the more easy it is for them to be taken advantage of. There's nothing wrong with having a graphically rich and intensive interface, but I don't think it should be the only option ( or lack thereof ).