I'm not a Luddite Alex.
I skipped 98 when it was mainstream and went straight to ME. I was an early adopter of Vista and liked it (ME too come to that,despite the "lemon" reputation of both). Like most of us here I switched to W7 as my main OS before it even hit the stores, though I confess to a degree of "bitching" when the second Beta was a backward step from the first.
I'm not quite so egocentric as to think that I'm the only person in the world with an efficient work setup, and those billions of others you mention are in the main also users of a mouse and keyboard. The point being that on a desktop PC, a mouse is still more efficient than waving your arms about (any mouse, not just my highly customized version).
The bitching, (not just me, by the way) is designed to have exactly the effect you mention about the MS blogs, just get the message to them not to forget that there's still a customer base on desktop PCs, not just phones, tablets and laptops, and to make sure that an integrated OS is equally usable on all devices and doesn't make the mistake of thinking they can all be used in the same manner.
If the Betas contain that intelligent switch capability, we'll both be happy.
If W8 streamlines and improves W7 the way that W7 did to Vista, I'll be a happy bunny, always provided that it has the right GUI for my hardware.
Like I said before, I'm always ready to change (funds permitting), if the change is progressive.
I won't be the only one of the billions to opt for the status quo though, if 8 is faster under the hood, but slower at the coal-face (if I may use such a clumsy mixed metaphor). I'm confident (or hopeful at least) that MS will get the message for their own self-interest. There's a lot of potential revenue in desktop PC licences, (just think of all those office PCs across the globe) and look at how resistant some of them have been to move on from XP. (not me btw. I'd hardly been using XP before switching to Vista. The only reason I still have it available was the reason why I ended up on this site in the first place. Vista didn't support the TV function on my graphics card so I needed to dual boot just to have the PC available as a backup telly. A new dual-tuner DTV card made that redundant, so my XP and Vista boots are pretty much surplus to requirements and only really there for a sense of nostalgia).
If MS launches an upgrade which is slower than what it hopes to replace by virtue of an inappropriate UI for the mountains of office hardware, the real Luddites will have all the excuse they need to ignore it.
We, the users at the bleeding edge, are the very ones who must not be uncritical when we perceive a flaw (especially one so easily fixed). We're helping MS hone the product to a larger market, and I'm sure they're grateful for the feedback.