The problem with Microsoft wanting to retire things is that they have to convince the public that new is actually improved.

If I'm normal consumer with a seven year old PC with WinXP and and the full Office suite that I paid the $300 retail price for. I paid a $1k for the whole setup. I have enough hard drive space and the speed isn't too bad. It works for what I do.

So convince that person to go to a Win8 with a completely different interface and Office 13 with a ribbon that slows him down for no reason. Especially when he can go find a decent old WinXP machine at a thrift store like Goodwill for $25.

I'm on a laptop with Win7 with Off2007. I'm planning to downgrade the Office to 2003 because the ribbon slows me down and takes up too much real estate. As for Win8 -- I'm hoping Win9 will actually be an improvement.