I couldn't have said it better. I think Win 8.1 is quite nice actually, I know it's cool to hate on it, but frankly speaking it's pretty good (IMHO of course).
I really don't get all the fuzz on the start menu, honestly, I'm never in it even on Windows 7, I press "win key"-> search -> run, and guess what I do exactly the same in Windows 8, except now the start menu is a bit more useful, I mean sure I don't use all the metro app (some I do for example news), but the rest acts a very nice shortcut "wall", and it helps keep my desktop is pristine. Even if Microsoft decides to ditch the whole Metro concept I hope they keep the "Start" the same as it is. I know I'm perhaps in the minority here but, the previous start menu was completely useless to me, honestly.
I really don't get all the fuzz on the start menu, honestly, I'm never in it even on Windows 7, I press "win key"-> search -> run, and guess what I do exactly the same in Windows 8, except now the start menu is a bit more useful, I mean sure I don't use all the metro app (some I do for example news), but the rest acts a very nice shortcut "wall", and it helps keep my desktop is pristine. Even if Microsoft decides to ditch the whole Metro concept I hope they keep the "Start" the same as it is. I know I'm perhaps in the minority here but, the previous start menu was completely useless to me, honestly.