They know what we want. THEY want to add another market and are prepared to sacrifice the needs of their current customers to do so.
[...]
Microsoft's coercion of its customers--its war on customers--is an extension of marketing by other means.
I agree.
Microsoft wants to add the cellphone and tablet markets to their (laptop/desktop) Operating System market. The spreadsheets presented to the board most likely all indicate that doing so will increase profits ... if only the customers would just fall in line.
By creating a "one-size-fits-all" operating system (in order to add the cellphone and tablet markets), Microsoft does indeed sacrifice the needs of their current (laptop/desktop) customers .... who have already rejected Windows 8, and if Microsoft refuses to listen to its customers and has merely made Windows 10 a follow-on to Windows 8, then customers will likely reject Windows 10.
The fact that Microsoft has designed Windows 10 with forced updates seems to imply that Microsoft is not listening.