Lemur's New Rig

[Husar]

I think that's a more apt description for Windows8 itself. Microsoft has removed functionality in order to meet their arbitrary decision to (attempt) unify the desktop & tablet experience. There's no valid reason for removing the Start menu.

Which functionality of the Start menu that you loved so much was removed?
Shutdown is a click or two more now but it's not removed.

My latest annoyance regarding Win8 comes from wondering why I couldn't play a DVD on my computer with Windows Media Player. After searching Microsoft's knowledgebase, they apparently decided that hardly any PCs these days have DVD/Blu-ray drives, hence it was easier to remove the functionality to annoy everyone than it was to leave it in there.

That's a valid criticism, they removed the entire MPEG-2 codec IIRC, you can however get the K-lite codec pack for example to get the functionality back, which is not an excuse for the removal though. The quality of free codecs also varies a bit but new drives often come with a DVD player software that includes a codec.

I'm also THRILLED that they own Skype now. My user experience with that went from nary a problem to problems just about every time I try to use it. Buying Win7 is looking better and better every day.

I haven't had any big issues in team conferences using the Skype app, you can however still install and use the normal desktop client that you need in Win 7 anyway. The new app has some potential but is still lacking in many areas. Sometimes I receive calls right away and sometimes I get the notification an hour after someone tried to call me. That definitely begs for improvements.

Windows 8.1 was inflicted upon me at work. The stupidest thing is having to drag the top of the window all the way down on my HD monitor to close it, instead of clicking X like it's been the case since Windows 3.11

Sure it might be great for the next something-pad, but it sucks lollipops for a PC with a mouse and keyboard.

Yes, or you can open the bar on the left side of your screen by moving your mouse to the upper left corner and close all open apps except the one that is currently on screen. I think the system is designed just like it is on your phone, where you often let apps just run in the background and clean up once in a while. I also have the habit of wanting to close them right away though. Desktop applications still have the x however and I do not make all that much use of the new "metro/modern" apps anyway.

For the record, my gaming PC still runs Win 7 but working with Windows 8 on my notebook is absolutely no problem, in fact I think it has quite a few advantages, multi-monitor support is better, you can access the Start screen on both monitors, I can access applications much faster using the start screen than using the old start menu. I mostly work on the desktop anyway and the new apps I use mostly for the weather widget and the mail app, the rest is relatively secondary and there is nothing forcing the new type of apps on you. If you want you can run all desktop applications.