after finally making an install and trying it myself, and having looked at many reviews etc i have come to a couple of conclusions.
this is microsofts most progressive release. and i dont mean in the 'changing the way we think about computing' or even in the 'changing the way we relate to computers' but simply that android (through smartphones/tablets) and before that the limited presence of touch enabled devices has fully opened the door to a new age of 'touching' and seeing that one day, probably in the not-so-distant future, we will be carrying fully featured pocket computers (as opposed to just smartphones) microsoft decided to release a prototype hybrid OS. it is quite conceivable that we will simply dock our devices when at home (the os will switch to desktop mode) and change to 'touch' mode when on the move.
as a desktop os it is not intended to replace win 7. it simply doesnt have enough going for it, and is arguably less well equipped, to justify its existence only there. it is no xp->vista or vista->7 os. on laptops however it is much more feasible that users will find touching the screen on either side (desktop or metro) more natural and, at times, faster and more convenient....as long as you dont mind smudges on the screen.
it probably wont be that long before we will be installing or choosing the os we want on our 'pocket computers' and an 8-like os will almost certainly gain in popularity then.
i wonder if the *nixs are going to take this path too?
so while it has taken several wrong paths and still needs a lot of work, i dont hate it.