The first impression of the Start Screen is that it is pretty cool with live and informative tiles (and also comes with nice animations) but it can get pretty messy if you have lots of apps. Fortunately, typing the name of the app you desire at the Start Screen will automatically bring you to the Search screen to locate it.
The Start Screen is also Speech enabled. If you have configured Speech Recognition, you can issue commands such as "Scroll Right 1" (which indicates 1 mouse scroll to the right) or "Scroll Right to the End" to scroll all the way to the end.
Some people are concerned that the Desktop is gone but it is still there. You can click on the Desktop tile at the Start Screen or press WinKey + D to open it.
The main difference in Windows 8's Desktop is that the Start Orb is gone and it will take some time for you to get use to it. There are actually options hidden at the Top Left Corner (Apps currently running), Bottom Left Corner (Start Screen) and Right Edge of the screen (Charms Bar) - all accessible when you mouse over it.
Hovering the mouse pointer over the Bottom Left of the screen (near the edge) will give you a Start Screen thumbnail and clicking on it will bring you back to the Start Screen. You will really need to have precision when doing this as the area to hover is not as big as the previous Start Orb.
In case you didn't notice, the little tiles in the thumbnail is actually arranged to how your Start Screen is - including the layout and tile size. Pretty neat huh? You can also press the WinKey at anytime to activate the Start Screen.
If you want to quickly launch an app from the Desktop, you can press WinKey + Q to immediately jump to the Search screen.
Here, you can locate your apps as before like typing on the Start Screen. You can also locate Files and Settings from here. You can quickly reduce a step by pressing WinKey + F to jump straight to File searching while in the Desktop.
Shutting down the system is now like a tomb-raider puzzle *Grin*. First you need to open the Charms Bar by either hovering the mouse to the Right Edge of the screen or press WinKey + C. (I prefer to use the shortcut keys instead of the mouse because at times, there is a lag for the Charms Bar to appear when using the mouse).
At the Charms Bar, select Settings and we will be given a larger Settings sidebar with several options. Click Power and select Shut down. [Updated] You can also press WinKey + I to launch this without going through the Charms Bar.
Take note that you can configure the power button on your PC to shutdown your system, but by default, pressing the power button puts a PC to sleep.
Also for power users who gets frustrated with all the stuff being hidden, there is a shortcut that you may find it handy - WinKey + X that will bring up a menu for most of the administrative and configuration options. You can also access it by right-clicking on the Bottom Left edge of the Screen (again precision required).
As you can see, navigating through the new Windows 8 user interface is pretty easy but that's because I am a techie and I have been using it for quite some time (since Consumer Preview). The experience may not be so easy for normal users (like my mom and dad). Imagine having to remember all those shortcut keys and mouse gestures.
When I observe some of my friends who use Windows 8, they literally go to the Start Screen, type the App name they want to launch it; and they keep doing it back and forth to launch Apps. That is not something desirable for old folks like my mom. Ever seen how slow an old person types? It will definitely be a productivity loss for them.
The Start Screen is also annoying on Windows Server. I found myself totally loss when I wanted to Add a New User to my server. There are no options at all on the Desktop until I start pressing shortcut keys. Furthermore, waiting for the Start Screen to animate over a RDP session is also a waste of time. I hope they will remove the Start Screen in the RTM version of Windows Server (which I don't think they will).
Of course, we can just pin stuff to the Task Bar or create gazillion shortcuts on the Desktop. But the new user interface is not something that a layman can get used to overnight. I did an experiment and asked my mom to shutdown my Windows 8 (so that we can go for lunch after that). She spent a near 20 minutes trying to figure out how to do it and in the end she gave up.
Fortunately, there are tools like ViStart that will bring back the familiar Start Orb but with lesser customization capabilities i.e. the color.
Take note that ViStart comes with lots of "unwanted add-ons". Please remember to un-check them during installation to prevent unwanted software being installed on your machine. Also take note that it will prompt you an error message when you shutdown but it is harmless.
Alternatively, you can use Stardock's Start8 to ease out the transition.
Start8 will allow your Windows 8 to boot directly to the Desktop and replaces the Start Screen with a miniaturized version of the Search Screen. I personally find this a better option for transitioning to Windows 8. I started with this and later removed it when I am fluent with Windows 8's shortcut keys.
Windows 8 comes with lots of new exciting features and performance improvements but the removal of the Start Orb will definitely be a turn off for many non-technical users. Once it frustrates them, they will probably hate the OS. However, all hope is not lost (at least not yet) and there is no need to start getting emo and start switching to Macs.
It just take a while to get used to it and with the two free tools mentioned above, it will definitely make transitioning to the new OS easier and reduce the amount of support calls (the most famous being "How to shutdown my PC?").
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