As you navigate big box retailers like Best Buy this holiday shopping season, you're going to notice a uniform marketing drive when it comes to pushing Windows 8 PCs to the masses. In the U.S., you'll find Windows 8 systems configured to show emails, photos, and personal contacts from Allison Brown, a fictional character Microsoft created as part of an effort to humanize Windows 8 and to put the "personal" back into personal computers. In essence, Microsoft is flipping the script and telling retailers how to run their operations.

Lest there be any doubt whatsoever that Microsoft has a lot riding on Windows 8, the Redmond outfit's financial report for its first fiscal quarter of 2013 (which ended September 30, 2012) contained more thorns than roses. For example, the company's quarterly earnings dropped 22 percent sequentially to $5.47 billion, as slumping PC sales continue to adversely affect tech firms across the board. Revenue also declined, dropping 8 percent to $16 billion, down from $17.37 billion one year prior.

In case you haven't heard, Microsoft's Surface with Windows RT tablets are now available to pre-order, starting at $499 for the 32GB model sans Black Touch Cover. With the Touch Cover, the price jumps by a Benjamin to $599, and the 64GB version (with Touch Cover) is going for $699. Those are competitive price points compared to Apple's third generation iPad tablets, but as the Android camp found out, $499+ tablets are a tough sell.