Just right-click a blank area on the Start Screen and select "All Apps".

Or on a touchscreen swipe up from the bottom works for me.

So the user has always to go to the Start screen?

Instead of the Start button .

It boots to the Start screen. One tap or click on the Desktop tile takes you to the familiar Win x screen. Quick launch, Taskbar, System Tray, desktop icons as desired. No big deal at all.

I've been concentrating on getting that working and getting stuff across in the short periods my old Vaio works. Next step is to learn about the Start screen, and play around with the tiles.

Delete some, replace some (Mail goes, Thunderbird comes), add some, (right-clicking programs in Desktop mode has an option to pin to the Start screen just like pinning to the Desktop), and generally re-arrange to what suits me.

Given how I find a smartphone system brilliant, I'm sure I shall rapidly take to using the Start screen nearly full-time. It has to be the future, and I like it.

I suspect that most users will do as they did in 7 and put icons for the applications they use on the Task Bar or the Desktop. I hardly ever use the All Programs menu in 7; everything is in folders on the Desktop - the very common applications are on the Task Bar.

But, it's only a single button press to get to the Start Screen, so no problem if you do it that way. Or if you are really fussed just add a Start Menu.

In reply to a post by AEP:

I suspect that most users will do as they did in 7 and put icons for the applications they use on the Task Bar or the Desktop. I hardly ever use the All Programs menu in 7; everything is in folders on the Desktop - the very common applications are on the Task Bar.

But, it's only a single button press to get to the Start Screen, so no problem if you do it that way. Or if you are really fussed just add a Start Menu.

Exactly what I've done with all my shortcuts in appropriate folders on the desktop.

I've also added a scheduled task to run at logon that takes me to the desktop. This works 95% of the time but every so often it fails and I have to click through to my desktop - no big deal.

When I first got Win8 I thought I was never going to take to it but I've got used to it now given that I see virtually nothing of that awful Metro crud!

In reply to a post by AEP:

I suspect that most users will do as they did in 7 and put icons for the applications they use on the Task Bar or the Desktop. I hardly ever use the All Programs menu in 7; everything is in folders on the Desktop - the very common applications are on the Task Bar.

But, it's only a single button press to get to the Start Screen, so no problem if you do it that way. Or if you are really fussed just add a Start Menu.

And this is the trap MS itself fell into, assuming that people will behave in a certain way without proof is a surefire way of coming a cropper.

I use the start button and programs menu a lot more than the desktop and will only have 1 or 2 bits of active projects sitting on the desktop and only 3 icons next to the start button.

Given that there has been tens of millions of downloads of start menu apps means that MS doesn't understand it's user base or is acting in a dictorial manner. Although it is amusing as they abandoned widgets as the claimed nobody was using them and brought them back in the form of charms.

I'm sure that people who feel like that will give Windows 8 a miss. No point in using an OS that doesn't work the way you want it to. Luckily, upgrading is not compulsory (indeed, it's not even compulsory to use Windows!).

In reply to a post by undecidedadrian:

Although it is amusing as they abandoned widgets as the claimed nobody was using them and brought them back in the form of charms.

[cough]
"Gadgets"?

How do they know whether or not I used them? I really liked the processor/memory one as it gave an early indication of summat oop. The one doing a slide-show through several years of photos was brilliant at bringing back memories. A couple of copies of the of the Exchange Rate one. I do regret those going.

Charms aren't really the same thing at all. Or can you add to the standard ones?

Widgets?

Charms aren't the same as gadgets, which were abandoned as they were a security risk. You can't add charms.