I find  the W8 interface inconvenient. Like many, I long for the start menu.

 
(Wow! “longing” for _anything_ Windows !  What have I come to?  )
 
OK… it’s probably temporary, until I adjust, but at least the start menu was a one-stop-shop for launching software and getting some actual work done.
 
Someone figured out that lots of people were going to miss the old start menu, and came up with a $5 solution.
 
I bought it, and it seems to work just fine in Parallels.
 
Here it is:
 
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/