Windows is is doing the same thing...
No, Windows is embracing both. It's a simple matter of renaming a DLL in the Dev preview to get the 7 start menu back and disable the metro interface while retaining the new explorer features. I feel quite confident that The release version (if not the betas) will have a user-facing option to do the same. As it should be. The Dev preview was primarily an early look at the tablet side, with all other concerns being secondary (though I have found it to be a very competent and usable day-to-day OS nonetheless. Windows 8 on something like an Asus Transformer = best of both worlds.
Windows will always keep office users in mind
This.
Ugh, yeah, that Metro bullcrap. Even when you turn it off you get a dumbed down start menu. It's actually HARDER to use trying to figure out how to do things. You can reg hack it to go back to a normal UI.
Of course that's in an early beta of 8, so who knows what the GM release will be like. Hopefully a lot of that crap is out or at least easily turned off.
Refer to my comments above. Also, Metro has been quite successful, hence the porting of it from Windows Phone 7 (where it originated) to Windows 8 and Xbox. The general style of Metro (flat rectangular tiles) has also been widely emulated across the web, Google being the most prominent example.
Of course there's more to Metro than just looks. I am reserving judgment on the Win 8 implementation until I get a chance to mess with certified release hardware.
