Yes, it's still there, in the same way that MS-DOS was still there in your shiny new copy of Windows 95. And as with DOS in Win95, the primacy of the new environment lays down a clear marker that Microsoft is going in a different direction from now on, so if the "legacy" environment is the one you prefer you should start planning to either live without it or move to a different OS.

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, etc.

As someone who's been using Windows 8 since it launched on technet, I would like to politely disagree with you.

>never have to see the Metro interface

This is a total exaggeration. When you boot up, Metro. Want to go to start and launch a program (like 99% of the general public would do)? Metro. Certain PC settings not available on the control panel? Metro. Accidentally click on the corners of the screen? Metro.

My main gripe is that the computer boots into Metro with desktop as an option instead of the inverse.

the problen with this viewpoint is that metro represents a fundamental shift in the window system. Stuff like appstore only, forced sandboxing and tons of restrictions that have never been an issue on windows before. Microsoft has made it very clear this is how they think everything windows should be moving forward.

Desktop mode might be there for now, but how comfortable should a user remain when everything that gives the system value for them just got marked "legacy"

I for one am moving away from windows as much as i can

What gives you the idea that Desktop mode is "legacy" mode?

People have been saying these types of comments since Windows 95