How will Windows 8 fare in a business environment?

Having worked for very many years in corporate environments I know that the adoption of a new operating system is fraught with problems.  Corporate paranoia and risk aversion dictates that the rule of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applies, sometimes for many generations of operating system. Sadly, Windows 8 will be no different and despite Microsoft's desire to get the operating system in front of corporate customers it is very unlikely that many of them will consider it for some years to come.  This is a shame, because windows 8, despite the perceptions of these corporate paranoiacs, is very much the same operating system underneath as previous versions.  The most radical change being the introduction of the metro system which is little more than a supplementary windows explorer designed to provide a far more kiosk like environment to users. 

Interestingly, in many ways this could be an advantage to corporate customers because reducing the possibilities for users to step outside of the bounds of the application is something that many IT departments would very much enjoy. 

Applications written for the metro environment would be easily transportable to tablet PC Systems which are becoming more popular in corporate environment nowadays and would provide a more consistent experience from desktop to portable platforms.

Unfortunately, Microsoft's reputation for creating version one problems whenever they introduce a new operating system is legendary.  Personally, I don't believe that this reputation is justified because I am an early adopter but one has to remember that the users in a corporate environment may very well be five years behind the times.  This means that there is a disconnect between what Microsoft desires to support and what the customer requires them to support.

I strongly believe that the if Microsoft concentrated more on absolute reliability and provided certified versions of its operating systems to corporate customers that profitability would rise because it is the corporate customers after all who have all the money to spend.  The predicted reduction in PC sales for home use will surely eat away at Microsoft's profitability as more and more home users turn to Computer Systems that do not require desktop machines.  As the Chinese say, we are living in interesting times.