The hurdles may be a bit closer and in the case of win 8 a little higher.

With he sustained growth in portable devices across a broader spectrum of consumers all the programmers have gone to ground with expectations of making plenty of dollars. Everyone wants a piece of the action while it lasts. This current trend in web development has attracted a lot of wannabes as many of the forums can testify.

Big names like Microsoft and Intel take a back seat when it comes to the next big thing in the technology world these days. Microsoft may be burning a bridge or two trying to stay with it but so are others like Google. Again this is not new when you look back at names like IBM, SUN and others. Remember Java? It was going to take over the world. Sounds a bit like Linux.
Consumer computing is only 10-15 years old and like any pubescent teen has to grow up and find its comfort zone in this world.
As for programmers they are malleable lot and welcome change especially if there is a buck init.