Editorial: Why Windows 8 Start Menu's Absence is Irrelevant

It's an opinion piece, plain and simple. The reason I know it's an opinion piece, is that it is titled "Editorial: bla bla bla". Editorial = opinion. Before reading it, I knew there would probably be some opinions that I might not agree with, so with that knowledge I take things as they are, and I don't get over-excited when I see an opinion that I don't agree with.

As Guest above Archean said, the KDE-Kickoff-like menu W7 had worked like a charm, and was as efficient (probably more) than the Unity dash, or equaled KDE's. Metro's UI is better suited for tablets, where swiping would be faster than typing in the app name in All Programs.
As for avoiding Metro, the new "non-Aero" interface was a nightmare to my eyes. Way too bright for my taste. Feels like Classic! Ugly, IMAO!
Even with the search feature in Metro, it's not my type.
The whole of my point is focused on efficiency, which in a DE (Desktop Environment) experience W8 absolutely lacks.

Conclusion: Win8 tablets - yeah!
Win8 desk - needs work, but yeah.

What if I have 8 hi-res monitors? That would become a problem to full screen a Start menu.

I have not used Win8 yet, because I don't have time to goof off with it. This is not rhetoric or parroting other people. I am genuinely displeased with this change. If you can make Start metro menu Windowed, that would be ok. But I can't have the entire screen change just to open something.

I will be purchasing Stardock's Start8 if I find a reason for upgrading.

No offense, but gimme a break, "Guest"s, the thread title tag reads "Editorial". It's editorial opinion, not a review.
So read before you post.

Man, this guy gets mad respect from me for speaking it how it actually is. But still people are too blind to see some reason...

Well I have all my programs listed at two mouse clicks away, more organised would be one mouse click. does windows 8 offer this?

What in the world, this fails. At least give me the option of having it or not having it.

ppl cry because it SOMETIMES takes ONE additional click to acces a program and that they are losing time. but don't they know the OS is faster... -.-'

There's more than one way to measure efficiency within a system
More organized for me is my programs 2 mouse clicks away (or a kb shortcut) Metro (I will persevere) > Desktop > shortcut or taskbar...pretty much everything I usually use -esp. early in an evalution- Resource Monitor, CP, Performance Monitor, Excel, Docs, Libraries, Word, pdf, Core Temp, video transcode, benchmarks....and once I use those two mouseclicks (or kb shortcuts) the program -esp MS Office, transcoder etc, loads tout de suite . The lower initialization time for loading and opening a large Word or Excel doc, or the better framerate processing in Handbrake or FVC more than make up for that one click I had to endure (!) when I logged on....and of course, for most people using Win7/Married to the Start orb, shutting down usually involves mouse to Start and two clicks to shut down. With Win8 it's pretty easy to get used to Alt+F4 > Enter.
Hey!, but thats my personal take, but most of my productivity is generally measured between desktop and shutdown, not Power ON to desktop.

Hey if Microsoft wants to come up with an alternative to the Start menu that's fine by me. But the Metro replacement consists mostly of squares of largely empty space on a plain background. To my eye, it's visually jarring, unattractive, and wasteful of space.

That's a deal-killer right there, even without getting into other questionable decisions regarding Windows 8's design. Coupled with the fact that Windows 7 is still good, and has an interface that I actually enjoy using, I don't understand the expectation that I should just accept Metro.

There are some things that could potentially change my mind. Bevel some edges. Make submenu arrays of tiles unroll in a way that draws the eye rather than overwhelms it. Put some controls on the amount of information that is presented onscreen at once. And above all, get rid of the fullscreen transitions. I have a PC, not a 1080p tablet.

@Author

You seem bitter. IMO

@ Guest
"(Windows 8) a bifurcated OS that seems to regard Windows 7 with shame rather than the success that it was."

+1

I feel like the abscence of the start button will change peoples view on windows -- as a hard to use and slow operating system.-- and recreate the image as a great easy to use OS. This may be a make or break strategy for them, we will wait and see.

I love all the spin to try and make Metro look better. We'll have to wait and see how the market adopts this new trend.

"The truth is, functionally speaking, Metro is basically identical to the Start menu."

Wrong. The Start menu doesn't take up my whole screen.