I played with W8 at a Best Buy last night. Very fast and smooth on the new hardware. Windows RT tablet is amazing too. Perfect for work. Just needs more apps.
That said, I did not like the touch screen laptops, for I never felt compelled to use the keyboard. Waste. The GUI is their biggest change since Windows 95 debuted, IMO. It will take time for me to adapt. GUI feels "hollow". The screens will need customization, which is what W8 brings. Overall, I think its innovative and Microsoft needed to do this to stay on top of Apple and Google. I did not come away disappointed. On the contrary, it made me consider Apple as another viable option for my future computing. I checked out a Macbook Pro to compare W8 to Mountain Lion. It's GUI left me with the same "WTF" look on my face.