Unfortunately, Wacom's the only name in the game right now in terms of performance and reliability, and that lets them keep their prices high. If some legitimate competition ever enters the arena, I expect prices will drop. Plus, this is the very first product of this kind from Wacom, so those prices reflect the early adopters' tax. I doubt they'll be in the hobbyist's price bracket any time soon, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them go down to $1000 or less on the low end within three years or so. Still steep, but within the grasp of a working artist. And I know a lot of us in SoCal and the UK have long commutes on public transportation that could allow a device like this to pay for itself in short order.

As for the Windows issue, Microsoft isn't going to license a new device with 7 at this point, Apple won't license their OS at all, and Linux doesn't appeal to a large enough market share. So it's 8 or nothing for now. I'm sure the jailbreakers will immediately break it open and install TinyXP.