The horse and buggy worked so well in the past, why introduce automobiles?

(Note: Example with exaggerated contrast is used here for illustration purposes only, not for comparing size of change.)

Maybe you were thinking of the Ford quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

Microsoft wants to leverage their desktop dominance to introduce people to their mobile offerings. The change from start menu to start screen fits right into that strategy. However you can get back the start menu by installing classic shell, pokki etc.

You don't have to install anything. Click the giant button that says Desktop, and woah, it's like Windows 7 all over again.

Uh... except for the Start Menu, which is what the parent comment was referring to.

Perhaps it will be a very good year for Stardock...

http://www.bing.com/search?q=windows+8+start+menu+replacemen...

(First result for me was "Stardock’s Start 8 Windows Start Menu replacement to cost $4.99")

For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life.

And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

And those who cannot remember the past (and only look to the future) are condemned to repeat it.

Sounds like a good case for change.

Mostly importantly, tablets and hybrid tablet/laptops are taking off and people want to use the same OS for both. And Microsoft has tried using the Taskbar and Start Menu for tablets before, and it sucked.