Well the criticism I have read has really been from people in the tech community (who again, I feel are misinformed or making judgements without actually trying it) and not the "market" itself
I think you're right that it's coming from the tech community and your probably right that much of it is missinformed too... but the market does listen to to the tech community and, even if they don't understand whet the tech community is actually saying they do tend to pick up on the vibe.

The sad reality is a huge chunk of the computer buying population has 0 clue about versions of anything. They think Windows and Office are the same thing. You ask them what OS they run and they say "Microsoft Word 2005". So they will just go out and buy a PC or a Mac, and get whatever OS comes on it. After Oct 26th, that will all be Windows 8 on the PC side of things.
I laughed at this because it's absolutely true and describes my family to a tee. But it's also the reason that the market listen to the tech community. They know they don't know what they're buying so they just go with what's easy to buy. That's why MS can afford 2 or 3 "bad" releases. But after 2 or 3 the drip, drip effect of the tech community bad mouthing MS would start to become enough to convince the market at large to start loking at the alternatives.

I think the anti-Microsoft people want it to fail.
Yes but I don't think it's just limited to them. We all like to see the big boy's get taken down a peg or two from time to time. I've got to admit, I do harbour a secret desire to see W8 be a disaster and will gleefully gossip at the water cooler if it does. It's not a rational desire and I will freely admit it's an uninformed one. And it doesn't come from hating microsoft either, I'm far more pro-microsoft than I am linux (which I view as being for pompus techies who aren't in touch with the real world) or apple (which I view as a fisher-price my-first-computer operating system for people with no technical understanding). And that last sentence should reveal how schizophrenically irrational I actually am. Google Chrome never even made it on to my radar. In fact, I revel in my own ignorance - it helps me empathise with the market.

No, for me the desire to see W8 be a disaster comes purely from that dark and ugly side of the human psyche that like to see bubbles burst and egos popped. I just like to see the big guys fail every so often. And I'm not alone in that.

I am willing to bet that there will be substantially less negative consumer press about it than there was for Windows Vista
Now that's a brave statement. Mind you, Vista set the bar pretty high so perhaps you're right.

Ahh.. but no star menu you say.... True, but how many consumers use the start menu versus an icon on their desktop? If you put the icon on the desktop it works just like... an icon on the Windows 7 desktop.
I think my fear of this is that I like to keep my desktop fairly clear. I'm the same with my actual desktop too. I hate having piles of paper floating around it so I file everything away, it helps me feel organised. A cluttered desk, a cluttered mind and all that. The removal of the start menu sounds to me like the bolshy office manager just walked into my office, announced loudly that I'm not allowed to used the filing cabinet anymore and just dumped 6 years of paperwork onto my desk. I struggle to see how the desktop is an alternative to the start menu but, as I'm happy to admit, I haven't tried it so maybe there's a great alternative built in.

It might be that we should create a few threads to discuss various aspects.
I agree. A couple sprung up in chit chat and were pretty healthy but this would be a much better home for some serious discussion.