This post is so bad for Microsoft in every way, it is hard to. believe it actually was written by a UX designer for Windows 8. I seriously doubt it is an official Microsoft communication. Paul Thurrott, however, has responded to it, making it obvious he thinks it is legitimate. You can read the post in its entirety by clicking on the link:

UX designer for Microsoft here.

The first thing I noticed is that Microsoft is not allowed to refer to the tile interface as Metro for legal reasons. Yet, the writer of this post used that word several times to refer to the interface. He claimed that Metro was only intended for casual users, not power users. He defines a power user as anyone who creates content. It is not clear to me if content creation includes composing email. I am also not sure if a gamer is considered a power user. The post was clearly written for power users, as his tone was extremely demeaning and dismissive of casual users. He made the obligatory references to things like Facebook and cat videos.

He offered a familiar excuse for why Windows 8 boots to the Start screen instead of the desktop. He said that had the OS booted to desktop, casual users would have never found it, and no one would have used it. A twist on the theme that has a clearer ring of truth is that Microsoft tried to force everyone to use Metro. Otherwise, no one would have used it voluntarily, and developers would not have written apps for it. It was done from a position of desperation, not confidence.

As was pointed out in the comment section, his reasoning played false when one considers that Metro is also used in the server edition of the OS. With that edition, there are no casual users. They are all power users. Responding to this observation, the poster acknowledged that Microsoft was going for consistency, and that by then, the damage had already been done. 

This post is a blatant attempt at retcon that even the most loyal Microsoft fans aren't buying. After you read the original article, be sure to read Paul's response from the link below.

Is This Really Why Microsoft Made Windows 8?

David Johnson