Nobody liked Vista either, but eventually it was the only option readily available on new hardware, so businesses and individuals who didn't have the savvy to put XP on those boxes had little alternative than to get Vista.

In like manner, eventually 8 will be what you get with new hardware. So, like it or not, businesses and individuals will again be at the mercy of forced change/obsolescence. So, it would definitely be a benefit for consultants who take it upon themselves to learn 8 now, and particularly learn how to either 1) make it more familiar to users of 7/Vista with a view to helping them transition to it, or 2) make it integrate and play nice with their masses of existing equipment and various flavors of Windows/etc.

Clients look to us for guidance, and we can't always just tell them to 'stick with XP/7/3.11', or the like, even if that's the current popular ideaology. Sometimes they need us to guide them into new, unfamiliar waters safely.

That's my $0.02 anyway.