A major update for Windows 8 (8.1) will be available by year end. However, if you try Windows 8.1 Preview you can see some very useful improvements.
The below Taskbar and Navigation properties will allow you to customize the behavior of Windows 8 to your personal choices. In the below image the checked boxes are fairly self explanatory.
When I depress the Windows logo key I get a list of the Apps (this is a test system).
When I depress the Window logo key +X I get a very handy list of useful functions. When the shell is open, then depressing the appropriate underlined key will invoke that function.
