I can answer this for you. I'm a Microsoft Certified Professional and speak with MS types quite a bit. Microsoft wanted a "fresh look" for Server 2012/Win 8 and opted for the flat look that is found almost everywhere on popular websites now. FoxNews, WeatherChannel, Yahoo, etc. have hopped on the "flat" or "2D" bandwagon, and Apple, with their release of the latest iOS revision did the same. Far be it for Microsoft to be left behind, so they did the same.
I can completely understand your side now that you mentioned the vision impairment. Microsoft tries to accommodate everyone, but I've noticed as well that oftentimes their default choices are appalling.
The Modern (nee Metro) interface was Microsoft's attempt at changing how people use their desktops. Once people realized they could just go to their old-school desktop, it's stopped being a big deal. I personally love how much more power you have by right-clicking on the Start button whereas before you had to right-click 'My Computer' > Manage, etc. For Windows "power users," Win8 is a great step.
Yes they did. Since I also use Apple products (iPad) I have to say I HATE the changes Apple made visually to iOS.
iOS 5.x and prior had a much richer, much more aesthetically pleasing interface to use. The new iOS incorporates tiny word-based links everywhere which are impossible for me to use without a stylus (I'm a big boy, large fingers --- and my vision impairment which makes depth perception difficult makes the new iOS really hard to use.)
I was so pissed at Apple when it came time to purchase a new smartphone (replacing my old "feature phone" blackberry knock-off) I went with a Samsung Galaxy S5 which allows me to customize (read that ENLARGE) the fonts on the phone to a usable size to me. I only purchased that phone last week Tuesday and am already using my iPad mini and iPad 2 less and less as the days go by.
UI's are somewhat "personal" and the ability to customize them to the way one wants to work is really key. In many ways, Microsoft lost that in Windows 8. Yes, some of those customizations or ablity to create them are now back, however IMO going back to a Windows 7/Aeroglass rich UI would win many customers back.
As I said above in this thread, I really prefer Windows 8 from a performance and resource utilization perspective. It is very efficient in CPU and memory consumption and overall so much faster than Windows 7. Did enough of those benchmarks to know that's true, and I see those performance differences every day. From a UI perspective, IMO it sucks rocks. Putting Win7 Aeroglass UI back on top of Windows 8 while keeping Windows 8's performance gains would really be "the best of both worlds" for Microsoft desktop OS Users and Microsoft's bottom line.
Again, IMO.
Appreciate our back-and-forth here today. :-)