Well If anyone is till fearing Windows 8 because the start menu is gone.
I found a very good replacement for it!
http://www.startisback.com/
I just found this yesterday, and gave it a try. and holy crap its fantastic! Its even better then the classic shell :O
From what I've understood, that's far from its biggest problem.
Anyway, I got to try it out last week, and I don't dislike the metro-design. In fact, I kind of like it, but I'm still of the opinion that it doesn't really work too nicely with mouse and keyboard, but as a touch interface it's probably one of the better ones out there.
I think Microsoft is doing some great things with the idea here. I love Windows Phone (but I do not like Marketplace's lack of apps one bit), and Windows 8 is amazing on a tablet, but there is no way in hell I'm gonna be using this interface for my desktop. Not happening.