Bryan...Bryan....Bryan....there's nothing wrong with Win7 ....

Do what the clever people do....stay with 7 ....

Indeed... W8 is a "No Joy" proposition.

I don't blame you for trying it out at all. If I had the extra HD I would as well.

The tile desktop is interesting to me and I think it has tremendous potential. Omino5 Rainmeter skin shows that much more could be done with it. Recolring and adjusting transparency of the tiles should be a given.

One thing I think would be amazing would be to turn the tiles into cubes that rotate with different apps or photos on each side. 

Without having seen it in action yet, why wouldn't they have a little bar with the power options and start menu button, similar to Omino5 on the desktop with the tiles?

It would/will (is it at all possible????) be interesting if the tiles can be skinned.

I have it on my laptop, dual booted with 7.  8 never sees the light of day. I was actually thinking of removing 8 and adding something a bit more useful. Like maybe Windows 95. Maybe 98.  

Well...I wouldn't go THAT far...hehe.  

But 7 is the best Windows to date, IMHO.      

Ah. there's your trouble, you are over qualified to run Win8.

Guess I'm clever, LOL. I will not move to 8!

While that might free up some desktop space, why in the world do I have to stand on my head and whistle Dixie just to have my computer even be so kind as to deign to allow me to have a desktop?

I think it's a failure... but if you like it, Po.... it's all yours. I'm too old a dog to relearn and remember how to do in five steps what should be done in one.

But I have a PC.  I don't want a mobile or a tablet, and I don't want my powerful PC to be hamstrung because it needs to run on a tablet/mobile device that can't compete.

That being said, I think most tablets/mobile devices have higher specs than my PC.

Yeah, I can. Just did. Tried it and couldn't stand it. Therefore, for me it failed.

Will Start8 work with it? Will SD create an app to force it to boot to the desktop? And why shouldn't I have the say what boots on a computer I bought? Why do I need an app to do what a consumer driven OS should be capable of modifying on its own by my choices?

I don't need to manage all those devices together: I can foresee the security breaches that'll wipe every account and email you have while taking over your identity when you unite all those devices across an OS. Remember: Your computer is only as secure as its weakest link.

I don't want a "smart" phone. I want an "el cheapo" that I can use for (of all things) a telephone call. And I want it to act and sound like a telephone. I don't need it to order me theater tickets and calculate how far I have to walk if I decide to eat a piece of pumpkin pie.

If I can't get an OS that's half way normal, I'll live without. I sure as hell don't want an OS that gives me no choice as to what boots, and looks like a Rubik's Cube with Schizophrenia. Since when does MS know what's best for me?

I'll use Windows 7 until MS with its planned obsolescence tries to push some other half baked idea to bloat its coffers. You'll have to buy apps and guess who runs the store?

If MS kills W7... I'll move to Linux. If I have to learn a new OS, at least it won't look like that pos.

Spencer.....always the voice of reason......

..........this time, you have no reason.

That for me is a complete waste of time as I do not want or need to merge/sync with anything to or from my desktop, nor do I want to be made to jump through hoops and beg "pretty please" to access a traditional working desktop with the regular functions. 

Now MS could have made the "we're not allowed to call it Metro anymore" UI optional for users such as myself - like NOT having us boot into it by default, and making it off-screen unless required - but did MS think of me and the millions of users worldwide who'll never ever want or need to sync with a confounded a smart phone, pad or laptop halfway across town?  No it didn't... and for mine, it is damned arrogant of MS to foist this Metro crap upon those who neither need or want it in their daily lives.

Worse still, MS' arrogance extends to impeding those who just want a regular PC desktop without the confounding, unnecessarily complicating UI that is Metro.. or WhateverTF they call it these days.  Stardock and others came up with ways to assist users achieve this with 3rd party apps, but MS, with its bully boy tactics, has more or less told users "fuck you, you'll use Windows 8 as we prescribe" and implemented blocking measures to prevent even a measly start button.  Now if that's not arrogance in the 1st degree then I'll eat Jafo's socks [he knows what I mean].

If MS had allowed me to use Win 8 as I do Win 7, with a regular start button and start menu, and booting directly to the desktop, they wouldn't have needed to tempt me with a $39.95 price tag.... I would likely have paid the full asking price for it simply to take advantage of the speed increases it delivers with my new FX8170 CPU.  Now it's a wait and see game, and if I cannot use Win 8 as I do now [ the Release Preview], then they can shove it where the sun don't shine... SIDEWAYS.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2012885/20-must-know-windows-8-tips-and-tricks.html

You'll notice right on the first page of that article that one can quite easily "zoom out" in order to see all available 'apps' on the screen at once and 'grouping of apps' is actually quite easy and logical (I thought).  The list of hotkeys should also prove useful.

There are some other websites with even more indepth and advanced tips 'n tricks but I thought this one quickly touched on two of your noted issues with Win8.

Hope that helps.....