It's change, and I think the human race has learned over the last tens of thousands of years that change can be bad. It isn't, really, but there's a knee-jerk reaction to change you can watch in any aspect of life - people generally DO NOT like change, period. I find folks generally are complaining that it's a new interface and that it's jarring, both of which are true. However, different doesn't always == bad, which unfortunately for the bulk of the tech crowd who think users are stupid sheep, they've been complaining. It's apparently too hard to have a screen of icons versus a menu of icons. Ultimately, Windows 8 is pretty fantastic once you get used to it, which (if my wife can do it.....) anyone can
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The thing people forget is how *horrible* the desktop interface is for touch (which is why Office 2013 has a "touch" mode - it's not fantastic, but Office is a gigantic product and will still run on Windows Vista and Windows 7, which are desktop interfaces). Microsoft sees the world moving to computing everywhere - in appliances, electronics, and even computing devices (iDevices, tablets, phones, ultrabooks, etc). I think Windows 8 (and the new interface in general) really shines on those types of devices, and there's a LOT of flexibility that you don't get with the "old" interface.
It's sad to see something that's worked so well go, but it won't continue to do that with the devices of the future. People will like it, others won't, but Microsoft has to get with the future, or it'll simply become a remembrance of the past.
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