a_bertrand wrote:The desktop part is not really better than Windows 7.... Even a bit worse....
Not really. Underneath the surface, the kernel has been largely re-written and locked up tight as a vault. Windows
finally has kernel security comparable to OSX and Linux. Boot-up times have been vastly decreased due to some creative disk work. Windows finally has a competent anti-virus built-in that works very well with the new core security model. Compatibility mode actually works for the first time ever, allowing older programs to run the way they were supposed to on Windows 7 (but never did). Networking has been vastly upgraded, and Home Group is finally not a stinking pile of garbage like it was before (no more constant disconnects caused by a bug in the exploration service; it was re-written).
I will agree with you that I don't really care for the way it looks at times, and I also did not like how some common file types were associated to Metro apps out-of-the-box (but that takes less than a minute to fix), but those are skin-deep. At its core, desktop has gotten a ton of love in Windows 8.
I will also give you that the media-disc playing tools being gone can be annoying to some people (why not leave them in?), but I just think it is a reaction to disc-based media disappearing. I have to say I haven't played a single media disc in over 2 years. But again, I will give you your irritation on that, because they should have given people the choice without making them get a 3rd party app or finding the MS option elsewhere.
EDIT:
@Vitinho: Seriously, get Pokki, which I linked above as a Start Button replacement. It is actually much better than the standard Windows < 7 Start Button. I am now hoping MS doesn't re-add it so I can keep using Pokki's.