Everything is there. It's just in a different place.
Don't like the start screen, set it to boot to desktop.
As for the start MENU missing, that doesn't bother me at all either. I have the Windows Explorer icon pinned to my taskbar for finding files, but all you have to do is hit the Windows button and start typing and it'll find whatever you're looking for. I find it to be considerably faster than the start menu, but, then again, I also forget that not everyone types as fast as I do.
^^^ This.
I agree 100%. I was ready to hate Win 8/8.1, but have been using it for a few weeks now, and it took me a day or to remap basic tasks...
- Start a program: from desktop mode, tap the Win key and start typing the name -> select and run
- Basic OS stuff like Device Manager, Control Panel, etc.: tap Win+X and get a popup with all the usual suspects
- Pin oft-used files: since the Start list with pinned files is gone, I just pin the Program to the Task Bar, and then pin the files I use most to their respective programs
I basically never use Modern UI/mode (btw, it's NOT CALLED METRO! LOL), so I roll my eyes at the "It looks like a phone/tablet UI" complaints. I also avoid the Modern apps (e.g., the browser and PDF reader) like the plague. Though guess what...if you miss that exhaustive list of installed programs in the Win 7 start menu, they're lurking right under the main tiles in Modern mode.
As far as I can tell, the UI experience is about 95% of what I had with 7. Just a few minor changes in clicks/keystrokes.
I agree though with the comment that the UI is too childlike. But hey, just remember that the vast majority of users are still trying to find the "Any" key!
-Matt