What I hope is that with Windows 8 arrival, that standard desktop/laptop OSes won't disappear entirely.

All I can tell you is that I run win8, and I use it exactly the same as win7. The only difference it makes is that the start menu from the left lower corner now fills the screen and uses tiles, but that's it. You can choose whatever view you use, and I chose to fully use the desktop, as I'm used to it, and the apps for the metro style are not that developed yet. E.g. there's no decent media app yet, iirc i saw vlc developing one (on kickstarter), so it's still a major PITA to get everything running in metro, that's why I use the desktop. Everything compatible with win7 is compatible with win8 desktop, so no worries

I kind of doubt that this will become a major competitor in the phone industry because it seems like Apple has all of the "I just want my phone to work and look nice" people and Android has the "I want a cheaper phone than the IPhone but still want a smart phone" or the "I really like modding and customizing my phone." people.

I think that the only people that will mess with it / use it will be the people that already use android that really like trying out new things / rooting their phones an all that other stuff (me included).  I doubt an IPhone person will switch over and I barely know anyone with a Windows phone so I just excluded that category.

It's up to the mainstream and the businesses. Whatever works best for them.

No, people want to continue using software they're already used to.
Best example:

All I can tell you is that I run win8, and I use it exactly the same as win7.

I personally loved those BlackBerries with the trackball. I like it better than touchscreen.