Windows 8 with Classic Shell is the way to go. Even with Windows 7 Classic Shell was already the way to go.

But what's so important about the one device for everything idea? It makes sense to have at least one dedicated home device a.k.a file server a.k.a media server etc., one ultra-portable thing like a smartphone, and also a portable thing like a laptop also.

The laptop could conceivably replace the home server but there are a lot of reasons why I always want a dedicated information appliance in my home.

I would think there are very few people who would never travel and want to have a powerful information appliance with them (i.e. not just a smartphone).

Where convergence will occur is when tablets morph into laptops, or laptops morph into things like tablets with detachable keyboards.

What about a universal remote like a Logitech Harmony? I always wondered how well those work with your type of setup.

Just wanted to add here that it is possible to bypass the attempt to force the user to create an MS account during 8.1 upgrade by simply DISCONNECTING THE INTERNET.

Hello?!? Yahoo is a stupid name for a website.

I fully agree with this observation. Was just thinking earlier what a supreme waste of money the new MS kiosk stores in the malls are. Its also a PR disaster among the in-the-know crowd for a company to be perceived as so conniving and so desperate as MS are.

Is there any way to change the skyline to a different city?

You might really want to try Classic Shell/Classic Start Menu then. Its an OSS project and I use it and do the categorizing like you say and find it essential. I always have several meta-categories and then copy in shortcuts for all relevant apps under those categories, e.g.:

00 - Peripherals
                        -Webcam
                          -Printer
01 - Graphics
02 - Audio
03 - Office
04 - Viewers
05 - Net
06 - Utilities
07 - System & Security

I especially like having the Peripherals submenu since otherwise it beccomes difficult to track all the various apps and utilities which come with different devices.

An idea, proposition, or an opinion is what it is, regardless of *anything* else. An argument about something is what it is, and the merits or lack thereof do not change because of other factors such as personal feelings, corporate agendas, etc.
It is therefore in the best interest of truth to simply address all arguments on their merits. Dedication to truth or pursuit of knowledge should be a higher calling and anyone committed to it enacts it by upholding it in their own conduct.

In perspective:

Web freedom faces greatest threat ever, warns Google's Sergey Brin

A family member, friend or restaurant cook infected with an adult tapeworm can secrete tens of thousands of tapeworm eggs daily, which can be easily ingested by others.

The major don't seems to be:

Don't eat at a restaurant which has a cook who is an immigrant from one of the affected countries. Nowadays, that may be almost an impossibility.

Absolutely wrong. As a provider of a platform for information exchange and communication, Apple's products must be required, by law, to be open and free.

There is absolutely an overriding interest for the social good that a large platform provider, be it a cable company, large publishing house, or communications technology provider keep their platforms open and free.

The opposite is essentially fascism. Right now the Obama administration is trying to prevent the content providers like Xfinity from controlling all the content. Xfinity already censors things like Al Jazeera and much other content which it doesn't want to compete with its own, inferior content that it controls.

This case with Apple controlling everything is no different.