The mix of Metro UI and the old desktop has been the primary reason for people to not like windows 8. But they have made a lot if small tweaks to minimize the transition from Metro to old UI. That is the best part of Windows 8.1 to me.
I don't think there are ways to get rid if the Metro UI completely or at least I haven't come across any. Probably because I wasn't looking for one. The sequence of pressing Windows key and typing the name of the program is what I was using in Windows 7 anyway and that just works. One of my annoyances was how the control panel was still old UI and that has gone Metro in 8.1 which is nice. Also now since links from within IE open side by side and you have more control over how to layout windows in metro, I actually see myself using it more and more.
one of the reasons for liking Windows 8 way more is getting a touch screen laptop. Metro is just so much nicer in a touch screen.
I notice here a lot of people seem to use the keyboard more than the mouse. My experience is the opposite. I want to click once or twice, not type stuff in. If I wanted to type, I'd use a command line, not a GUI.
As for the touch screen thing, well, that's just it, isn't it? Its designed for a touch screen, not a K&M. But, sorry and all that, but Im happy with my current hardware and way of working. Am I now supposed to buy a 21inch touch screen, or mess up with fingers? Which is further away from my keyboard? Its not reasonable or practical. Let alone economic.
All MS have to do is split the product. Win8 for computers, Metro for tablets. But no. For some bizarre reason us desk top users are having life made hard for zero good reason.
You may not want to type, and that's fine, but, in the same amount of time, I can do a lot more work typing than you can by clicking around various windows and lists. Want to open a file? Win+e, alt+d, start typing the path, let auto-complete do it's thing, tab, repeat, type file name to filter, enter. I'm done and you're still scanning lists to see which directory to double click next.
Want to get things done fast? Use the keyboard. Take away my ability to get things done fast? I'll move on to something else.
