Can Microsoft Windows 8 Fail?

In anticipation of the Windows 8 release, there has been speculation on Microsoft's future. Will the company break out of its slump? Will it get a new image? How will Windows 8 do? What if nobody likes it? What happens next?
Let's get a few things straight. Even if Windows 8 is a huge dog and bombs the way Vista did, it will not matter. There is still nothing out there that can take Microsoft out of the game. Apple has the only other quality operating system out there, and it is proprietary and still more expensive. Money and cost are important.

 Linux may have a chance, but it is held back by all sorts of factors. I've been using Linux but still prefer Windows. The reasons are minor, except for the fact that Adobe refuses to put its Creative Suite on Linux, where it could probably perform faster. A Linux box, as it now stands, is good for light word processing, order entry, and Web surfing. It would be perfect in certain office environments.
The Linux OS also has a peculiar feel that is hard to explain but it never feels the way Windows and Macintosh feel. This is something that concerns me because I cannot put my finger on it. Others will say the same thing.
The backstory: The programming language Forth that creates code gives me the same dubious feeling. I always get into trouble when I mention this, but since the 1980s, I've complained about it. It's a specialty language that seems to be popular to this day among people who write code for control mechanisms. Every so often, a desktop application shows up coded in Forth and I generally spot it because of its muddy feel. There is no other way to describe it. It is very subtle but uncomfortable.
Digital Research had one of the first PC-oriented GUIs called GEM that predated Windows. Microsoft is credited with destroying it in the market when Bill Gates personally went around telling people not to use it because Windows was going to be better, which it wasn't, until years later. This didn't matter, though. I used GEM and it was extremely muddy. Trying to use the unresponsive pointer was as frustrating as trying to control a helium balloon.
The point is that Microsoft and Apple both got the feel right and have maintained that edge over everything else that has since come along.
Before Microsoft ever fails in the marketplace, many things have to happen. Mainly, Microsoft has to shoot itself in the foot over and over, not just once or twice. It doesn't tend to do this. It will botch a product such as Vista or Windows ME and come right back with a fixer like Windows 7 or Windows 2000. Losing ideas such as the Zune, Microsoft Bob, or its VCR had very minimal impact on the company. The failure list for Microsoft is a long one, but its cash cows have continued to pump profits out.