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 customization veterans Stardock. It provides similar functionality to ViStart but with a more up-to-date look.