The face of Windows 8-the tablet-like, tile-based Start Screen that comes up every time you start a new PC-is nicely designed and works well on touch screens. But a lot of people hate it. They do almost all of their computing in the traditional Windows desktop environment, which has been demoted to secondarystatus in Windows 8. And they are annoyed that Microsoft has replaced the familiar Windows Start Menu with the Start Screen in Windows 8.

That means when you want to launch a new app that isn't pinned to your taskbar, you have to jump back and forth between the desktop and the Start Screen, two radically different user experiences. It drives some folks crazy. They dearly miss the Start Button, which launched the Start Menu, at the left end of the taskbar.

Microsoft is planning a revision of Windows 8, code-named 'Windows Blue, ' later this year that may smooth out the interaction between the two interfaces. But there's been no promise that the company is dumping the Start Screen, refocusing on the desktop, or restoring the Start Menu.

If you're a desktop and Start Menu lover using Windows 8, you don't have to worry about Microsoft's plans. That's because ever since Windows 8 emerged in October, numerous third-party utilities have sprung up that restore the Start Menu, allow you to boot the PC directly into the desktop mode, and otherwise reassert the desktop's primacy over the Start Screen. They essentially allow you to use Windows as you always have.