They dumbed down the desktop from a customization perspective and it was most annoying, and that's before the removal of the Start menu and addition of hotcorners and other Metro/Modern features.
[1] See Types for a tool that brings this feature back: http://izt.name/apps/types/
[2] OldNewExplorer for a regular toolbar: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/170375-oldnewexplorer-make-y...
This usability expert disagrees, and explains his position in detail: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/windows-8-disappointing-usab...
I like the fact that the Start Screen makes full use of my 27" 2560 x 1440 LCD. With the Windows 7-style Start Menu all of your shortcuts are shoved into a tiny corner of the screen.
In other words, it's both modal and it wastes real screen estate.
The Windows 7-style Start Menu is modal too in the sense that you can't interact with the desktop at the same time you are interacting with the Start Menu.
The other thing I don't particularly like about the Start Menu is that shortcuts and folders with long names get cut off due to the width of the menu itself.
Screens are a bit like RAM in my opinion. There to be used.
Huh? If you define it that way then everything is modal because you can only ever interact with one window at a given time (one mouse, one keyboard, etc.)
If I open it, start typing, and switch to a different window, then it loses all of its state, and has to restart from scratch if I go back to it.
Not a chance. IMO, not only was the the best Windows from a technical perspective, I quite liked the interface. I use Linux mostly for philosophical and technical reasons (much easier to program in Linux), but Windows 8 has great UI.