Maybe instead of a Start window they could make it look like a command window ;-)

IMO Windows 7 offers the best of both worlds. If you want to use hierarchical menus, you can. And if you want to type the program in the Start button's search box, you can do that, too, and Windows will find it.

>Except that Microsoft didn't take away. They added. They improved. I'll say it again... typing the name of your program is much easier and faster than searching through a hierarchical menu.
>
>>Windows 8.1 adds a fake start button that slaps the user with the metro screen just to add insult to injury. The final nail for Windows 8.
>>
>>There are free start button/menus such as Classic Shell. They make up for a lot of what Microsoft took away.