I'm just old enough to remember working with dos. And then windows came out and we got to type windows to start windows. When windows started booting directly into windows, I remember some oldies bitching about it. My brother was one of those that initially thought the new interface was crap and that he just wanted to go back to dos.
Every time a new interface is introduced the first 6 months or so people will cry armageddon and the end of life as we know it. After that initial period people will begin to think it's not that bad and once they learned how to use it efficiently people will even come to favor the new interface over the old.
I absolutely don't see any problem with windows 8. My tablet/laptop hybrid that I take with me everywhere I can do everything with it super fast. And my old i7 desktop with a 24" monitor (before it got taken from me during a burglary) I used it with windows 8 without any problem whatsoever. Whenever I wanted to open up a program, all I did was type really fast the first 4 or so letters of that program and press enter. That's faster than any start menu can make it.
And when I want to do a search, it's a lot faster for me to swipe from the right side and press the magnifying glass to start searching than any start menu.
The fact of the matter is 3 months from now the new windows 8 interface will not even be on anyone's radar. Why not argue that we need to go back to dos and that if you want windows you could always launch it from dos? I don't see anyone making that argument these days.
Remember those good old days when dos command prompt was there for you to run everything you needed to? Remember how everyone cried bloody murder when the OS launched directly into windows and if you wanted to run a dos program you have to open up a command prompt (OMG extra steps!)? Why the hell aren't you oldies making such arguments nowadays?
Technology is about change. Change to be more efficient. Change for the better. Nowadays I can launch apps faster than ever before. All I did was spent a whole 2 minutes getting to know windows 8.
Added by edit.
Now that I think more about it, I remember as a young lad trying to become tech savy I hated the mouse. Most things were dos based back then. I hated going into windows 3.1 and I hated it when the new computer my parents bought me launched directly into windows. I also heard a lot of people complaining about it as well.
I am absolutely convinced that metro is THE RIGHT PATH for Microsoft. With new interfaces like leap motion, Kinect, optical control, and other interfaces being developed or have already developed, the new interface will become much much more than just a work station. Imagine controlling your home utilities from a single system. Imagine linking your cars to your home system.
The military is already using touch interfaces in a lot of places. I have a friend who sells those tough devices with touch interfaces from Panasonic to military and law enforcement agencies, and they are more profitable than ever. Controlling drones, ships, robots, etc. won't rely on the user typing in command lines anymore. Touch will reduce input time by quite a bit.
Touch interface applications are endless.
So, again, why aren't you guys arguing for them to bring back launching directly into dos and if you want to you can launch windows from there?