Many hate the new Start screen and Metro UI, while there are a few that actually like it. I’m in the middle. I don’t care for it much, but it isn’t anything that I can’t get used to. I am used to it after testing Windows 8 for a while. But, I still miss my Start menu. Start screen as a replacement isn’t as good for my use. That doesn’t mean that it is a failure or anything else – just in the way I use the Start menu, it isn’t as good. I can use the Start screen very well, as can my kids (11 and 13).

The quote in the article that got me is this – if using the Start menu is a three second affair, why replace it with something that makes it a 5 or 6 second affair (or more)? Sure, I can type what I’m looking for, but I have several programs that I know very little. Some are called one thing but listed as the company name first in the shortcut. Too many things to customize to make it work perfect, whereas the Start button required little to no customization and worked great out of the box.

I’ll use the Start screen, and I don’t mind it. It’s just a huge change, and many things don’t feel like they are finished. Desktop applications and the Metro UI along with the Metro UI Start screen are NOT seamless. Switching from 2 desktop applications side by side to a Metro application (which isn’t a dragable window) is a pain. Sometimes, I have multiple windows open, along with the task bar (for time and other info), and maybe a command prompt window. Maybe as a system admin, it isn’t the best solution. Perhaps there are work arounds. I just haven’t found an elegant solution with Windows 8 yet. Windows 7 has it down great… Maybe I’ll just use pure desktop applications and stay away from Metro applications (which there are some great ones, too).

The difference being Metro’s fullscreen, tiled presentation, which is admittedly a little jarring until you get used to it. Aesthetics aside (I think it’s ugly too), detractors insist Metro hinders multitasking because it blocks vision of the desktop — a sound argument until it’s confronted with reality. Again, we’re speaking about Metro strictly as a Start menu successor and I don’t know about you, but when I use the Start menu, it’s a three-second affair: I open the menu and I click a program.