Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Remember Pepsi Blue?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) introduced the berry-flavored soda in 2002. It turned heads originally, but it was doomed. Did I mention that it was Windex blue? PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) tried to be edgy — just as The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) thought it was being clever by appealing to Pepsi fans with the sweeter New Coke — but at the end of the day, the product was just flat out undrinkable.

It was blue. Nobody wants to drink Windex.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) discontinued Pepsi Blue less than two years later. Can the berry-flavored Windows 8 fare any better?

Windows 8 wants to be edgy. It wants to make the most of the touch-based nature of mobile operating systems that have made Apple’s iOS and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android so popular. However, the early tally isn’t very flattering. PC sales have fallen sharply in the first two quarters of the Windows 8 era. If this was Microsoft’s way to make a dent in the tablet market, that’s not working, either. Android and iOS combined for 96% of the category’s shipments during the first quarter of this year.

New Coke? Pepsi Blue? Windows 8? Set aside the sensationalism if you want to. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s dwindling share of the total operating system market is the fact that ultimately must be swallowed.

The article Windows 8 Isn’t New Coke — It’s Pepsi Blue originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rick Munarriz.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Coca-Cola, Google, and PepsiCo and owns shares of Apple, Google, Microsoft, and PepsiCo.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.