Windows 8 is a solid OS. I have been using it since it was in beta, and I find that the vast majority of people hold feelings and opinions towards it that do not reflect the reality.
In my experience the typical person "weighing in" on how they like windows 8 has not used it for more than several minutes at the most, or has never used it at all.
A couple comments to address:
1) Windows 8 not having a start menu. This is not true, the start menu is there but it does not look the same. In addition, it is very easy to restore the windows 7 style start menu with a simple registry edit that can be quickly google'd.
2) Raw drivers on Windows 8. Out of XP, Vista, 7, and 8, Windows 8 has provided me with the least amount of driver-related frustrations. With the exception of video drivers, the installation DVD and automatic updates does a fantastic job of finding the correct drivers and installing them in correct order.
The one exception I have found with this is a printer driver, but the problem stems from Cannon's end, not Microsoft.
I have yet to find a single problem with Windows 8 that I could not correct, myself. It is true that it is optimized and focused on touchscreen-enabled devices such as tablets, but to think of it as a phone OS port is narrow-minded, I fear. It still performs great on my desktop machine, and I am more productive with it than I was with windows 7.
-Blue