Love it or hate it, the Metro/ModernUI is here to stay.... Here is a keynote from UX Week 2012 by Jensen Harris, the Director of Program Management for the Windows User Experience Team. He tells the story of how Windows 8 became what it was.
Excellent presentation. I really want to like the OS, but still think the experience is less than ideal without a touch screen. I need to get my hands on a device to actually play with it.
From what Ive experienced.. the best representation of Windows 8 right now is a Surface tablet. If you live near a Microsoft Store, I encourage you to check it out. When you get to use the OS in a touch centric environment like a tablet, the parts that on a desktop, or non-touchscreen laptop that make you thing, "What the heck were they thinking?!" make sense.