IMO it's actually not too bad.
I like how they went retro and plain. They went too far with the Window's logo, however.
That's an incredibly weird choice for a logo. I mean, its not the WORST they could do, but it looks like a square simon says. Yeah I know before it was the same color scheme but now they're just sitting there with a perfectly straight negative space and I just this random urge to push the buttons to make them light up. Windows 8 just looks uninspired. Hey guys, if your way of communicating the name "windows" in a logo is literally a window with its borders converted to negative space, then you're not playing the brand recognition game right. Seriously. People look at the apple logo and go "Oh, its an apple." They're going to look at this, pause for a few seconds and go "Oh. Its a window. I get it." Its the bad pun of logo designs.
Windows 7 edited quickly for flat colors and no shadows. Obviously not cleaned up for smooth lines or anything, but its the basic idea. Also it's not really possible to have a flag shape with straight lines? I assume you meant you wanted flat colors/no shading. The whole point of a flag shape is to NOT have straight lines, otherwise its just a flag lying flat which is boring to look at.
I really can't figure out what could be wrong with it. It's plain, clean, reminiscent of the brand as we know it, recognizable, subtly iconic, and there's really not much about it that will age poorly. If they could've paid more to get something else, what else would it offer? Pretty much anything that will "dazzle" people now is a sure shot to looked dated and tacky in a couple years.
They were tripping balls, that's for sure: http://creativecriminals.com/documents/pepsi_gravitational_f... (pdf)
I suppose they need to justify the bill. The golden ratio application to the Mona Lisa is hilarious.BREATHTAKING is a strategy based on the evolution of 5000+ years of shared ideas in design philosophy creating an authentic Constitution of Design. This chart documents the origin and evolution of intellectual property.