Your input is perhaps the most telling here.
When the computer buying/using world was still young and naive, the choices were limited and a smelly little geek could con an exclusive deal out of a huge multinational like IBM, stuff like this would have wowed the masses - and sold.
But now, at a time when the entire computer market and user base is largely well matured, the take-up of what is little more than a demo gimmick is bound to be small, for the simple reason that it isn't useful.
It isn't at all surprising that MS have latched onto this though. Their experience of trying to rip off Mac OS X has spawned a wave of disappointment, followed by an unnaturally hasty announcement of a replacement.
The Zune, MS's iPod rip-off has been an utter embarrassment, mainly because it was such an obvious rip-off and it was fat and ugly, had crap, restrictive features, lame user options and buggy GUI.
So they had to go for something else. Even the demo video, is designed to mimmic the beautiful simplicity of the Apple iPhone ads, but without the pro editing and the cute tune.
And why not? If something works, why not copy it? Well, for one thing, eventually, when you've pulled the same stunt so many times, there will be enough people in the world who have seen the original and they are going to spot the imitator, and reject it.
In a mature, intelligent world, the market rewards true innovation, not imitation. And in this case, the numbers will surely speak for themselves.
And whatever anyone's personal definition of a 'fanboy' is, it's insulting to suggest that being a fan of any product is in some way a suitable state for derision. Intelligent people do research, form intelligent opinions and make intelligent decisions based on those opinions.
Therefore, since all the evidence is that Apple are ahead in the innovation game [and by innovation I include the sensible and appropriate application of other people's ideas], being an Apple 'fanboy' is therefore a compliment. It's easy to pretend that the imitator is better, but only in the same way Hans Christian Andersen did in his fairy tale "The Emperor's New Clothes".
Erm... it seems a little sloppy to me. Don't get me wrong - I'm not an Apple fanboy. I'm using Windows Vista right now. I just don't think touch screen functionality is ideal for home and office use of computers. I like my keyboard and my mouse/touchpad.