So if you think the start menu should have been gone a long time ago, what do you consider a better replacement than Metro? In terms of efficiency, it's equal, you can still just type to open shit. It's just more visual and looks a lot better. The categories make it easy to use.
Also, noise=/=facts. You can still install whatever you want onto your computer, MS just has a very up-front "store" now. That's what Gabe and the Blizzard exec are complaining about. Microsoft's store is what every single user of Windows 8 is going to see first thing, rather than Steam, rather than whatever the hell the Activision-Blizzard guy wants you to see. That's very powerful. Average joe doesn't look for alternatives. Then again, if no one puts games onto it (all that's there so far are tablet/phone style games) then it's not going to be a big deal as people will still download Steam for gaming.