For me it is not that difficult, but I am not saying that it is a better desktop interface than in Win7, and I can see how people with large monitors may find it a bit jarring.
yes, that's just part of the problem, and it is a big issue seeing as i have a 24" monitor. The crux of the problem is that there is no way to fully disengage from Metro. Yes, you can get to your old desktop and fine, there is no Start button (not ideal, but not the end of the world). This is fine until you use some of the built-in Windows apps/features that jolt you back into Metro mode. If i can run Windows 8 -exactly- like Windows 7, then there would be no issues. Side note, i actually like the Metro UI, it looks refreshing and interesting. However, it's simply unusable to people that are used to having 3-7 windows open/apps running at any given time. Power users, developers, designers, engineers, etc. ... people that use various apps to "produce" content will struggle with Windows 8. Now, if you're primarily a consumer of content, that's a different story and i can't speak to that on a desktop. Personally, I use my iPad to consume content and that's been a pleasant surprise.