If people wanted a fundamentally different UI than Windows has then they wouldn't use Windows in the first place. When we went from XP to Windows 7 that was a huge improvement. It was fundamentally still the same UI with the exact same workflows, just nicer in every way.

When you have over a billion users worldwide there's an expectation that you don't treat your product like a startup's art project. I haven't met a single person who wasn't completely confused by Windows 8's UI or who liked the changes. I've seen lifelong Windows users spend 10+ minutes desperately looking for the shutdown button.

There's "inspiration" by different products but in the end you need to know your own product in order to improve it.

Really, why though? Is there something inherently wrong with satisfying user expectations?

If you want innovation, how about performance, accessibility, compatibility,...

It's one thing to be inspired, it's another to be completely ignorant of how you are breaking workflows for a billion people