Hate Windows Vista as much as you like, but the fact remains that Microsoft’s failed intermittent operating system between the incredibly famous Windows XP and Windows 7 set the grounds for the major leap that the Redmond company took from the former to the latter, both in terms of feature set and graphical uplift, and not to exclude user experience. Windows 7 itself was a huge success, and from the looks of it, Windows 8 is following in its footsteps, despite the controversy surrounding the removal of Start Orb (and menu) from the operating system.