quotes
if Microsoft Windows 8 or RT is backwards compatible and works with the billions and counting software that is available for the Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/Win7 OS' families then I am all for it. ....

Microsoft's own enterprise products work seamlessly with other software/services whether email (exchange), communicator (lync/ocs), sharepoint, etc
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Microsoft software is NOT backwards compatible and it only ever plays nice with the other Microsoft applications designed for that same version of Windows. Microsoft Office 97 will NOT run on Win Vista or Win 7 and has some troubles with Win XP. Documents created in versions of Microsoft Office products prior to MSO 97 are scrambled and destroyed if opened in a copy of MSO 2003 or later unless it's one of the rare ones that you can get a special add in for. Then we can move onto the issues with drivers because Microsoft refuses to use the industry standard command sets and keeps changing the Microsoft Windows command sets.