User inputs in software development

If we again talk about software Giant Microsoft; before developing new version of Windows like Windows-8, do they take the input from the user, okay how they want windows-8 to look like and feel like.  As per my limited knowledge, Microsoft simply design the new operating system using their innovative capabilities, and then launch the product in the market and wait for user reviews, 

There are several factors which are used for new version. Customer feedback, market demand, technology competition etc are focused before providing new version. Along with this, they have multiple teams for innovative design capabilities. Beta version technique is also used for this purpose. In this technique, new version is provided to users and on the basis of feedback from users, it is further updated.