I see a lot of change for the sake of change in our industry, and I understand that some of it is an improvement. For those of us that amuse ourselves or troubleshoot for a living (me) it is easy to speculate. I work with a lot of people who do not want to learn a new way. They get their emails, do their invoices, check their Facebooks, and go on with their lives. They are over dedicating time to learning a new second language.
I clearly see the Microsoft and Apple models as generating income through planned obsolescence, and they need to make a profit to stay in business... I commend the Open Source community for their excellent contributions to computing (I use Ubuntu and Knoppix).
I think users would be a happier lot if they could choose when to go to the "new" whatever, even at the expense of some perceived functionality.