Oh I totally agree. It just so happens that the new start interface works well with my existing workflow, which I think is more of a coincidence then anything else. I can't imagine what the user experience is going to be like for somebody who actually expects to navigate through a tree of folders for their applications.
Navigating through a tree has been deprecated for a bit already, given how prominent Search is placed in the Start Menu and how the tree is confined to a little section instead of eventually (after a dozen levels) covering the whole screen. But there probably are still those that like that way.