There will be many challenges for Microsoft's (MSFT) next CEO and now Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) has added another one. The world's biggest PC maker is promoting PCs with Windows 7 over Windows 8, citing "popular demand," and offering $150 worth of "savings" to those who buy them.

"HP is essentially saying 'If we want customers to accept PCs, we have to revert back to the Windows 7 platform'," says Mike Santoli, senior columnist at Yahoo Finance. "And Microsoft, which sets the rules for how hardware companies can pre-install its software, is saying to HP 'go right ahead'."

Related: Is Microsoft a sinking ship without a captain?

That's not  surprising given the unpopularity of Windows 8, regarded by many as a flop.

Windows 8 didn't just affect Microsoft. It probably hurt PC sales as well. PC sales fell 10% in 2013 compared to the year before -- the biggest drop ever -- and are expected to fall again this year.

Related: Is the PC market in terminal decline?

As for Microsoft, the giant tech company has seen much better days.

"It wasn't that long ago that everybody hooked their wagon to Microsoft,” says The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task, in the video above. "Microsoft was so powerful the government had to clamp down on them."

Related: The Worst CEOs of 2013

But now, says Santoli, "Outside of its legacy [products] -- Windows and Office -- every other effort has been mostly thwarted."

Microsoft reports earnings this Thursday.

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