You could do that in 8, too. Just the button wasn't there, because the functionality of the button (finding programs, etc) had been replaced by the start screen. (I'm exceedingly fond of the search functionality of the start screen, but it is a bit of a learning curve, it seems.)
The button was restored for 8.1, in all its context menu glory, and there's an option (buried, and I never recall where, because I, as they say, set it and forget it) to set so you boot into the desktop instead of into the start screen.
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The button was restored for 8.1, in all its context menu glory, and there's an option (buried, and I never recall where, because I, as they say, set it and forget it) to set so you boot into the desktop instead of into the start screen.