Hi,
I did check to see if there was a topic on this already, so forgive me if Im just rehashing here.
On this website, I keep seeing people do not want to use Windows 8. A few might like it, but on the whole people really seem to dislike it. I tried it and I realized that Im one of those people.
But lately I checked the web and found this tool called FxxkMetro. I found it on this Chinese website(http://bbs.pcbeta.com/viewthread-1057890-1-1.html), but if you google it, you will find other people who have mirrored the files, so you dont have to sign up there.
It basically kills metro. I installed Build 9200 in VMWare and put this in the startup. Installed Classic Shell and customized it the way I like it. Even saved the configuration so its a very simple matter of restoring this configuration on any future Windows 8 installs I do.
Now I have a start menu. And I don't have metro. Pressing Windows key brings up the start menu as usual and not the new start screen. I do not get any hotspots or whatever they call those corner points where moving a mouse brings up a menu. Then I went in control panel and made the Desktop apps like Picture Viewer, Media Player, Firefox, etc as the default programs, which barely took a minute. Now Its purely a desktop OS.
Im just putting this here, so that people who dislike the metro and are staying away from Windows 8 because of that will consider giving it a try. I doubt Windows 8 is much better than Windows 7, but if given the option its usually better to use the latest OS.
Edit: Classic Shell comes with an installer, starts up on its own and is very simple to configure. Just download the latest version from http://www.classicshell.sourceforge.net. It will let you customize it so you can decide exactly what you want on the start menu. It comes with an option to boot directly into desktop mode at logon.
With FxxkMetro the simplest way to make it run every time you logon automatically is to use Win+R to open the Run box. Type "shell:startup" to bring up the startup folder. Just copy FxxkMetro.exe to this location so it runs every time you logon. You will see a black command prompt window open up for an instant and then it will disappear. There is nothing else to it. No system try icon or anything like that. To remove it from startup, simply remove the file from the startup folder.
Here is a mirror link for the FxxkMetro : http://rghost.net/38776710