I still have my doubts that they'll add a start menu back. And you're right. They had better not charge for it. I doubt if it will add more than a good service pack would.
I'll try to explain my predictions. It's an obvious trend that people are starting to buy more tablets and less desktops and laptops. You can see that plainly in sales numbers. But what I've run into is that everyone wants tablets, and they're getting good use out of them, but they're finding out that they're not able to completely replace traditional PCs. So my cousin's solution was to buy a new Surface hybrid with an Intel version of Win8 and a keyboard built into the case. So what she ended up with is a convertible tablet that she can install apps and any Windows software on and use it as either a functional tablet or a laptop. It's a pretty awesome concept to have a tablet that can run a fully functional version of Quickbooks or whatever software you want to throw on it.
The only problem is that they are still priced really high. That's why they're not selling well, mixed with the whole problem that people still don't understand them and they're not as readily available. By the next generation, we'll start to see traditional laptops begin to phase out as these fully functional Windows hybrids will start to take over. There will always be some market for traditional laptops because sometimes people will need bigger screens and other things that a hybrid tablet will never practically be able to provide. But the evolution is going to start heading toward these Windows hybrids because prices will drop and people will see that they can pay once to get the best of both worlds. But not until the prices drop, and they will.
Other than the whole UEFI thing, I haven't seen that Windows 8 is any more locked down than Windows 7.
But that doesn't even make sense. It has to be psychological based on what they have heard. With a 3rd party Start menu installed that bypasses Metro, Win8 is almost identical to Win7, except for stability and some positive changes to things like Windows Explorer. To the average user, they probably wouldn't even notice any difference at all. It has to be psychological.
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