I'm sure Apple fans will agree, but consider this statement: "Without a doubt, [Microsoft CEO Steve] Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today." Well, that doesn't mean ALL CEOs, of course. But it's not something that came from a Mac fan site, or even a tech commentator for the mainstream media. Instead, this pronouncement originates in a story published in a prestigious business publication, Forbes magazine, entitled "Oops! Five CEOs Who Should Have Already Been Fired (Cisco, GE, WalMart, Sears, Microsoft)." I won't bother with the other four.

Number one, with a bullet, is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who, over his twelve years on the job, has utterly wrecked the company's reputation as the dominant player in the technology industry. Yes, Windows still powers 90% of PC desktops. Yes, Office is still the most popular productivity suite on the planet. But Microsoft's efforts to spread the joy beyond their 1990's accomplishments have been largely unsuccessful.

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Do you remember back in 1985 when some lame brained executives at Coca Cola decided that the soft drink's famous recipe had to change? As you know, the unfortunate case of the "New Coke" is regarded as one of the greatest marketing failures of the 20th century. It didn't take long before we had a "Classic" Coke that was basically the recipe we all knew and loved -- well at least those who didn't prefer Pepsi all along.

Now before I go on, it's fair to say that major product changes aren't always failures. Dominos, the pizza chain, redid the recipes and succeeded, largely because the original pies were never very good. People bought Dominos pizzas for convenience, not because they tasted so great. The result? The chain's revenues went way up.

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Somewhat lost in the news about the build up to the arrival of the next iPad is the fact that Microsoft has also released a "Consumer Preview" of Windows 8. Now Windows 8, in case you've tuned in late, is Microsoft's latest and greatest effort to somehow seem relevant in a world where Apple Inc., the former beleaguered tech company, is now worth more than Poland.

The Face of Windows 8 is Metro, a tiled-based overlay that's meant to replace the venerable Start menu with something more catchy. Those of you who are familiar with the Zune music player and Windows Phone will find the interface familiar. Similar to Apple's move to graft iOS elements into OS X, Microsoft is also adding loads and loads of gestures, which is the reasoning behind the "slide, swipe, and zoom" concept that is supposed to have a deep meaning to bored PC users.

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So we all know that Microsoft plans to unleash the final version of Windows 8 by the end of the year. The key feature is Metro, which replaces the Start menu with the same tiled-based interface theme that has already failed on Windows Phone and the Zune. Otherwise, it's still just Windows for better or worse.

Sure, there will be a version earmarked for ARM processors, but those using regular PCs, and aren't enamored of Metro, don't have an awful lot to chew over. The new feature set, at least so far, seems pretty slim.

Apple's Mountain Lion, in contrast, promises over 100 new features. Sure, some will be little more than modest enhancements, but there are ten major or tentpole features that are being touted, eight of which are derived from the iPad, such as the Notification Center. In addition, there's Gatekeeper, an app security feature, and an enhanced version of iCloud that will also be rolled out to iOS users. However, the basic OS X interface will be substantially unchanged, except for an Open/Save dialog box that integrates iCloud for document storage of 10.8-savvy apps. You won't be saddled with a huge interface change you didn't want, or didn't expect.

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