Some like the Modern look whereas some don't. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I thought it to be a refreshing change myself. Some like the polished aero glass and are fighting to get it back. I don't think it'll return.
The return of the Start Menu in 10 is nothing but a mini combination of Start Screen and Apps screen. I think that's a compromise for those wanting it back and that's all MS will give. It's basically 8.1 with a new screen door on the front. They reversed the order of boot out of the box. It boots to the desktop and configurable to boot to the Start Screen, which is grayed out at the moment.
Seems to me that they keep refining the kernel to make it smaller, more efficient, and safer at the same time. I think their ultimate goal is one OS across multiple devices. That's why the RT environment. From a business standpoint this would save millions in development.
As soon as some geeks understand the business aspect of it all and that MS is no longer a "give me what I'm used to" company, the better off they'll be. Just my viewpoint for whatever it's worth.