I'm hoping for a lot more customization. I don't understand why that's being taken out of every modern operating system. The biggest thing I dislike about Windows Phone is that I can't change the tiles to be non-insane colored. I just want them to be white, dammit! I'm hoping that level of customization is present in Win 8, but I have a sinking feeling that it will not be.
Take the current start menu-- what are the usability problems? -- nested folders, stuff like uninstallers squatting there, small mouse target. The new start screen tackles all these issues, whist still keeping the keyboard/search support (what most here have been doing since vista no doubt). Why should the start area not fill the screen? Similarly, there is no point in a little windows logo/button bottom left.
That said, Metro dashboard aside, it's a nice OS. If you stay in the desktop mode it's really just a faster and more stable version of windows 7. I've been using it as my primary OS for the last few months. The lack of a start menu will confuse people at first, but the keyboard driven execution of programs should be a welcomed change for many power users. There will certainly be a backlash from users, much like there was from Vista. Down the road though, I can see Windows 9 learning a ton from 8. That's where I see the true value of Windows 8.
Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft.