Alt+Mousedrag in Visual Studio

"There is clear separation between active apps (in the bar) and the list of apps you'd like to run (in the Start menu)."

Well, not really. Running apps and "pinned" app icons can be mixed together on the taskbar, like on the Mac's dock. The running apps have a extra glass highlight around them.

But since the Start menu is still there, you don't have to use it this way. You could just un-pin all your apps and only use the taskbar for running apps. Best of both worlds.