Microsoft is playing a game of hide and seek with the Windows Start Orb in Windows 8. I hope that it doesn’t end up like this in the new version. I already have had a lot of questions with Vista and 7 as to where the Start Menu went. Then, without text on the Task Bar running programs, where did they go?!

From what we understand, the super bar from Windows 7 remains modestly in place. The understanding is that the bar now becomes a place to pin applications (which you can already do) but that it will become more necessary than previously. Essentially, you will want to pin your most used, non-metro apps to the superbar for quick access without jumping to the metro UI.