I've actually been incredibly curious about how well the on-screen keyboard works for these windows 8 machines on a long-term basis (or at least actual usage, not just fiddling around in the shop), but nobody talks about them.
I can therefore only conclude that they're quite terrible?
actually, the onscreen keyboard is quite good IMO. You can switch between the full sized mode (similar to any other tablet), and a layout designed for using your thumbs when holding the device.
On the contrary, if they were terrible, everybody would be talking about them. This is Microsoft after all. If no one says anything, I would assume it was good.
I can therefore only conclude that they're quite terrible?