I suppose when you're doing a pre release you've got a right to think that you own the product and are trying to get people to look at it in a certain way. They've already said that now they don't care what people do. If I were to lend you my automatic car I wouldn't appreciate it if you pulled the gearbox out and replaced it with a manual.
I personally have never thought that Windows 8 was the end product, just a start to try to get everything looking the same and then get it all working the same. Eventually one ecosystem across devices.
Pre-releases are issued to seek out faults and to gain feedback on the design. Microsoft either failed to listen to feedback, or their source of feedback was skewed or limited. One has to worry if Microsoft has officially stated that they don't care what the world thinks about Windows 8, as that indicates they don't care about any other aspects either. However, I do think they care, or are seriously worried, as evidenced by the backflip regarding licence transferability.
Your car analogy doesn't make any sense at all, so I won't go there. Windows has always been an evolving product, affected by the advances in technology and the needs of society/business. But in doing so, it has evolved and generated a userbase that has made it what it is, by supporting the needs of that userbase. Now it's thrown the baby out with the bath water in the mistaken belief that it knows best, or perhaps it's really a fear of being left behind in a market dominated by what you and some others call 'toys', that's driving Microsoft into transforming Windows into another toy OS.
Be careful what you wish for, as it may come true.
