Re: What about 8.1?
"Perhaps the speed is less important if you don't have to fight that awful Tiled Interface?"
Yes. When Windows 95 came out I don't recall anyone complaining about the start menu. For most users used to Win3.1 or even DOS, it was a revelation that made using the computer better and easier for average users and probably reduced training/re-training time and costs. The concept if the not the aesthetics barely changed right through 98/98se/Me/Vista/XP/7 and everyone was at least relatively happy.
I've only seen one site running Windows 8 with the default TIFKAM "menu" abomination. It was a school and when I asked why they'd not installed a 3rd party menu to get "start" back, she told me all about how wonderful TIFKAM was and how "easy" it was to scroll through 5 screens of tiles to get to all the programs. Poor kids!! TIFKAM is for tablets and phones. Desktops tend not to have touch screens. Even Apple for all their control freakery and standardisation realised that mobile and desktop are different markets.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
