Everything I've heard about Metro suggests limited customisation of the desktop and apps that insist on being full-screen or some guaranteed fraction. All of this feels like evolution in reverse to me.
I've never used Windows 8, but the stories coming out make me never want to.
http://kotaku.com/5929067/gabe-newell-wants-to-support-linux...
The desktop is still there, icons are still there, overlapping windows are still there, the only thing gone is the start menu, replaced with the metro launch screen that can launch both desktop and metro apps.
There are still some issues with the two different environments, especially the difference in look and feel, but it still works well.
Well, it is and it isn't. Native Metro apps do more or less behave the way he's describing. The thing is, almost no native Metro apps exist right now, so you'll spend the vast majority of your time in traditional desktop mode anyway.
Only the new start screen (which replaces the start menu) will expose you to Metro. But in my experience with the Release Preview, this start screen is pleasant to use and still allows for keyboard search like in Windows 7 as well as keyboard navigation.
You can still use your desktop in precisely the same way you're doing right now. Nothing has changed there.
What happens when the majority of apps you want to use are Metro apps?
I seriously, seriously question in half of the people attempting to spread shit about Windows 8 here have ever seriously used it for more than 3 minutes in a VM.
It's going to get harder and harder to avoid metro apps.