Mostly what I don't like is that they've replaced the Start Menu. Why would I want a full-screen Start Menu? We got rid of that when Windows 95 replaced the Program Manager in Windows 3.1.

I don't like having to bypass the Start screen every time I log in to get to the desktop. As a support tech, I log into multiple machines dozens of times a day. That's dozens of times I had to get past the Start screen to get to the traditional desktop where I can get some real work done.

I don't like the inability to arrange the tiles to my preference. You can't push them all the way to the top or left sides of the screen; that leaves a lot of wasted screen space. You can't arrange them in horizontal rows; they get forced into vertical ones.

I find the ones for traditional apps to be ugly when compared to W7 Start Menu shortcuts. That's my personal opinion, but so is your 'expression' that everyone thinks they look nice.

I have no use for the 'live' feature of the Metro app tiles. I don't participate in social networking, don't need a constant weather update, don't need to track my 401K every second. There are plenty of cases where these would be a waste of slow bandwidth. I'll bet they're fighting tooth and nail to download e-mail in the northeastern US right now; streaming Tweets by default isn't going to make that any easier.

Yes, if I forget they were built by Microsoft, they might be easier for me to accept. That's because if the OS was from another source, I wouldn't expect it to behave like Windows. But it is from MS, and it doesn't behave like previous versions of Windows. MS is expecting me to abandon habits and behaviors they've spent years ingraining in me (and the users I support), for what I regard as minimal benefits.

W8 is going to rock on tablets and phones, but I don't see any benefits to it on a desktop, laptop, or any other device not designed for mobility or content consumption. I'm glad you like the tiles, but don't tell me everyone does. If it's 'just an expression', it's grossly inaccurate and I suggest you stop using it if it isn't exactly what you mean.