Replacing the Start menu
If Windows 8's search
and navigation tools still leave you pining for the regular Start menu,
installing ViStart will
replace it with something very similar.
Download the program and install it,
carefully; it's free, but the Setup program will install the trial of a
commercial Registry cleaner unless you explicitly tell it otherwise.
But once that's out the way, your old Start
button will return in its regular place, and clicking it (or pressing the
Windows key) will bring back the usual Start menu complete with search box and
all the usual menus.
The program has a few flaws - on launch it
gave us an E-mail icon for "Outlook Express", for instance - but
otherwise works well.
There's also Start8 from Windows customisation veterans
Stardock. It provides similar functionality to ViStart but with a more
up-to-date look.