I moved into Storage for a long time (EMC, Hitachi, Xiotech, and NetApp). I didn't do much in windows, but had to leave the Storage job I was in due to a lengthy surgery (I'm a Disabled American Veteran (DAV)). What kept me sharp was reading the threads in this forum and using my VMware Workstation to test and/or work on some Windows stuff. I recommend, should you leave Windows for something else for a while, do the same, it will keep you sharp enough get another job.