Exercising downgrade rights in business is not unusual, but they will be more important than in 2009, when Microsoft launched Windows 7.

"On the enterprise side, my thinking would be along these lines. I've just finished my plan to upgrade XP to Windows 7, and along comes Windows 8," said Michael Cherry of Directions on Microsoft. "This is the last thing I need right now. I don't want to stop to evaluate Windows 8."

Cherry has a point.

Most companies have either recently finished, or are in the middle of, migrating from the 11-year-old Windows XP to Windows 7. Even Microsoft acknowledges this.

"Today, approximately 40% of enterprise desktops worldwide are on Windows 7, and we see continued momentum as the remaining desktops upgrade from Windows XP over the next two years," said Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, in an April 2012 earnings call.