Sorry, joe, but I just don't go along with your post, but we are all entitled to free expression.
The early Beta releases were, by there very title, not complete. The store was to be made up by third part additions. The nucleus of the Microsoft additions were, in fact, in place.
Traditional users, and, I have to presume that those who were interested enough to download and examine the early releases were, at least, somewhat computer savvy, quickly noticed the large icon which said "Desktop". This would have taken them to the intended old legacy style desktop, where they could test out the product in familiar surroundings. Yes! The absence of the start menu was noticeable and objected to. But a simple and cursory examination of the various docs and publications available, would have shown those users where to find the necessaries. Installing a third party program or two would have revealed more.
I had no prior insight into what was coming, but had no difficulty in finding my way around. The so-called charms bar I left alone in the first instance, as it was, and is, only a new representation of the Control Panel.
Maybe irrelevant, but for the sake of example, I wonder what the average window user thinks when he first sees a Linux release, or, better, tries to install it! Or, closer to home did you not think the transition from XP or windows 98 to Vista/Windows 7 had its navigational problems?
If you are able to look back at the foundation of many forums, including the Windows 7 companion to this one, you will find that they gained there strength from supplying copious help during the Vista and Windows 7 release eras