said by El Quintron:Just a general response to the OP:
I think Win8 will have a similar effect on Linux that Vista did, it's going to be pretty bad, and will generate a lot of interest in Desktop friendly Linuxes like Mint, Ubuntu, and others...
This time around though, I think would an excellent opportunity for "Desktop Linux" (if I can make up that term) to polish a product that would be non-intimidating to non-technical people that don't have friends who can walk them through the basics of getting started on Ubuntu.
Except the fact there IS desktop in Windows 8.