[banderson623]

I don't believe that the author is saying that minimal is the same as undesigned. Rather if minimal is your goal, then your design choices will be different than if you try to design toward simple. In fact you may sacrifice great design choices that would lead toward simplicity in order to remain minimal. Minimal speaks nothing to: clear or obvious, both of which take a serious complete-product focus and choice to obtain.

[wlesieutre]

I'll admit that I find metro a lot more compelling on Windows Phone than on a desktop OS, but as a visual language I still thing it's an improvement over Aero. Things look less cluttered, it's higher contrast, and interface elements are obvious.

What they haven't done is reorganize how you interact with the desktop OS. And I think that's a deliberate choice not to redesign the mouse/keyboard model for using toolbars, icons, and all the stuff people are familiar with in Windows. The full metro tablet apps are perhaps more clear and obvious, but that seems like more a side effect of the "poke things with your finger" interface than any defficiency of desktop Metro. It's more intuitive.