"Yes you do - even if you're just passing through on your way to the desktop. You must boot into the metro ui."

Nope, you can boot directly to the desktop using the program Classic Shell. :

It also gives you a start menu which is lacking in Win8.

I don't actually have Windows 8 but because of programs like Classic Shell I've been getting more interested.

Does anybody here have Windows 8? How's it working out for you? Should I stick with Windows 7 or upgrade?

Edit: You can use classic shell in Windows 7 too. It brings back certain features from XP that were removed.