But... they didn't take away folders. You still have Windows Explorer. You can still have 20 tabs, docs, files, and pdfs open at once. What does the Start screen have to do with this?
How is it any of these things?
Here's my Start screen:
How is this unreadable, unusable, or slow? It's basically like having a second desktop that you can access without having to minimize everything.
I need to minimize everything because each files are for different client, and to generally navigate with alt+tab through all the files+clicking inside folders.
I need the task bar to ensure that I am in the right folder or on the most recent data file.
I need to have access to the desktop since all the drafts/folders, random confidential files/links are there for quick access.
And with so many docs, drafts, presentations, and files, I need to use the search bar+open file location to quickly get there.
I don't want clean icons.
I want detailed information on my folder, doc, file with their names in front of me.
It looks like you are talking about using Win 8 for personal use, and that is fine since it looks great to have a couple of icons on the desktop.
But for business, well...it is inefficient.
