[TheVerge] Microsoft explains why it killed the Windows 8 Start button - Page 11  

I was 5 when Windows 95 released. I'd hardly call myself an 'older chap' being 22 and while I'm not refusing to buy Windows 8 and am definitely open to change. I believe Windows 8 is changing for the worse, in the desktop environment anyway.

Tablets and desktops are not the same and I would say are hardly used for the same purposes as each other, so why the need for a unified OS? I am using a highly accurate method of an input called a mouse, I do not need to fiddle my way through obtrusive animations and barriers that force me to replicate swiping and touch inputs to be presented with tiles the size of my fist and fingers.

In the corporate environment I work in I honestly see little to no benefit to the Metro UI, for both myself and other IT personnel and the clients and I am not saying it just to hate. In this environment no one needs a real time weather, stocks, photo or other rubbish tiles pushed in their face. Most clients in this workforce will log-in, open Outlook, IE to access web based + remote applications, MS Office applications, Explorer and little else. Metro DOES NOT aid in this at all and I personally think it will hinder their productivity.
I do not need tiles to open AD, GPP, Outlook, Orca, SCCM or any of the other tools I need so why must I and other desktop users aiming for productivity and business be forced through a dodgy tiling job of an extra step to jump back to the Aero UI.

How many people have you OCN users and Metro supporters seen using WIN 7 based tablets? I'm guessing very few if any at all, that is because while WIN 7 supports touch devices through gestures and other aids, realistically it fails as a touch based UI. It is too cumbersome and 'accurate' to be used effectively through touch or anything other than a mouse, and maybe stylus. This is where Win 8 and Metro belong, tablets and touch interfaces.

Surface is a prime example, that is the first case that I have seen WIN 8 running and actually gone "wow" probably due in part to the hardware it's running on but I thought to myself 'I could actually buy a Surface and use Metro and Win 8 and be comfortable with it'.

Oh, and on a side note. People aren't exactly rushing out in droves to buy into Metro on WP. Why they put such a massive gamble on this UI is beyond me.
Edited by jtickner1 - 6/28/12 at 10:09pm

i dont even really like the start menu. i prefer ubuntu/linux system where they have several equivalent options, makes it less cluttered imo. replacing it with full screen is obviously a waste though

Oh yeah? Since the Win98SE I have been teaching my mom how to work with computers, slow baby steps and teaching more and more concepts along the way. Today she can reinstall Win7 on her laptop, she hunts for free anti virus, is mad about DL'ing media and makes well use of nation community services through the web.

Win8 will make her have to start over most of that process again. Not everyone is techsavvy and is able to switch to something different on a whim.

Personally I stick with windows 7 and will regard Win8 MS' Win ME2 if it is released as is.

Closing metro app is done by alt+F4 only, going to desktop when app is opened is done by win+d and more stupid things are there. I do hope it's something bugy with preview and it being installed in vmware.

"press start button and type " is common answer I provide when I get call from users. Now I'll have to teach every gramma at work what is start button on keyboard

+1 for classic theme and start button

Well if they wanted a better way to launch applications and thereby avoid the whole start menu, my opinion is that they failed.

The start button is useful to search for programs when you have a lot of programs quickly and efficiently for me (i.e. Win key + quick type), but they're right in that I don't find myself using it otherwise.  Pinned icons + bins taskbar organizer!!!

I hear you can disable the Metro UI.. to the "classic" Windows start menu, etc.

What will my windows key do now? I guess I'll be forced to buy a new keyboard...

It will do the same thing - open up the Start menu, which is now the Metro UI.

Metro = Start menu