Who cares what MS wanted. As long as it is possible to add utility to Windows then it could be argued that is what MS wants.  Heck I haven't use IE for years because to me it sucks, for example. From what I understand Win 8.1 will add direct boot to desktop. Is that indicative of what MS wants?
 
Thing change sometimes what was once an add on becomes a built in feature. I have always customized my workspace going back to DOS. 
 
 

Customization has always been MS's ace-in-the-hole, whether they intended it or not. I suppose it's one of the hazard's of being a software-only vendor.....

W8 has better multi-core management. Increased speed.
 
The only real reason to not go w8 is lack of stable drivers for your existing audio card.
 
Once a computer is properly configured for its intended use, and user, all the drool about lack of start menu, and 8 is only for touch, is revealed to be just C R A P.
 
I think the Start-menu-metro-shortcut-wall is way stoopid. My music computer displays nearly 90 shortcuts.  This is just plain dumb. I prefer a well organized hierarchical menu.
 
So, on the desktop is a shortcut to open the windows explorer to display the actual start menu folder. Just like the old days.
 
I support about 40 computers (xp, vista, 7 and 8) for a dozen small businesses and home users. Most users/owners never attempted to configure the old start menu, or deleted all the factory debris on the desktop, or remove all the showroom stickers.
 
Very few of my clients ever need to use the start menu: new or old. I configure the desktop, and taskbar to contain links to most all the tasks they perform, I add utilities (PDF reader,...) and default programs to use the correct (desktop) versions of these tools.
 
It takes me 6-8 hours to setup a new computer. This includes creating the factory restore disks, updating the OS, installation and updating of additional programs (office, FF, Thunderbird), transfer of data, configuring UI for intended use, disk cleaning and disk imaging.  Onsite: install printers, network, internet access, shared folders, and data transfer,...
 
Got updated audio device drivers? Get w8. Drivers never gonna be updated? Get a new interface, and w8.

Slightly off topic, has anyone tried the free "Recording Studio" and/or "Music Maker Jam" from Windows app Store...
 
I don't mind the Windows 8 Start, its a fairly good attempt to encourage the user to use touch. The new touch pad on latest notebooks works well with it.  You can use two finger swipes across the pad to navigate and scroll across, up and down the pages.  It does however get a bit awkward using the pad to drag and throw the running app down the screen to close it - I don't mind the search feature either... Windows start time is very impressive - some of the other features as mentioned above do seem to be a little dump, I just think the mindset I have don't seem to gel well with those ideas - All in all, (as a user and not as an administrator) I personally like windows 8 more than all previous versions of windows, mainly due to the responsiveness of the apps, they mainly appear to run much smoother and quicker than they did in windows 7.