Windows 8 Is Kinda Great (sometimes maybe, I'm not sure)

For Christmas I got a lovely new Dell laptop, complete with the brand new Windows 8.  When I first got it, I hated it, but now I am starting to get used to it.   Such is life I suppose.

-bad +good
-No start button, replaced with start screen
This is perhaps the worst part of Windows 8.   The usual start button that we all have come to know and love and been replaced with a start screen, something akin to the home screens for android phones and the new Surface.  Might work well for a touch screen, but I'd rather be able to pop up a relatively unobtrusive menu than go to a whole other page to open something.
-Lots of ad like promotions.
When you first get Windows 8, they quite handily provide you with quick apps for Amazon, EBay, Bing, and Kindle. These apps can be hidden, but seriously, do they really need to be that blatant in their advertising?
-Very flat and 2D.
Some of you might remember the days of Windows Vista.   Previous feelings about Vista aside (I have to admit I kind of liked it) it had a sort of 3D effect to it.  The scroll bar sort of popped out, there were shadows behind windows, and check boxes also had a bit of this effect to it.  All of that is gone in Windows 8.  Most everything is a flat color box.  No shadows, nothing.  It makes it feel a little bland I have to admit.
+Sleek
What was a negative above, also kind of turns into a positive. The consistent flatness gives it a very unique and sleek look.  It matches somewhat the new Google themes.  I like consistency.
+Colorful
Colorful can barely begin to describe it.  Mostly in the insanely brightly colored menu screen, with an array of colors for each app.  The colors actually put you in a good mood, so while you are complaining about Windows 8, you can look at all the wondrous (great adj. people should use it more often) colors and feel somewhat better.
+Dynamic
One of the funnest parts about Windows 8, is how dynamic it is. To close an app (not something like a browser or word) you simply drag the top part of the window to the bottom of the screen.  To know the time quickly, adjust settings or to quickly find an app, you simply need to hover in the corner of the screen and it will show you quickly.

Most of these changes were to make Windows 8 on a computer as similar as possible to the Windows 8 on a touch screen tablet such as an Android phone or the new Surface.  All Microsoft needs to do to make me happy is to bring back the start button, or at least create a setting where one could choose between a start screen and a start button.  A start screen would obviously work better on a touch screen, but not so well on a computer.

Just a little side story: While me and my father were shopping for a new laptop, we came across the one I have now, and seeing the Windows 8 start screen, attempted to swipe the screen with our fingers, assuming that it was a touch screen.
"Why isn't the touch screen working?"
We realized it was not a touch screen, and the worst part is I knew it was not a touch screen from previous research, but clearly that part of my brain decided not to work at that moment.
In our defense, there were a lot of touch screen computers and convertible tablets about.