Hello and welcome!
On the Desktop, if you need these items handy on Start, you can right click on a folder, hard drive, library, Computer, Control Panel subsections, and programs; then hit Pin to Start. It'll make a new tile on the Start Screen, where then you can click and drag the tiles around.
Within the fullscreen apps that can be searched, you can literally just type to search without needing to open the Search Charm.
You will use the Charms often. The Settings Charm is THE MOST used next to Start. This has (if you're in apps) settings that can be changed in the apps, as well as a few other things. This is also where the power options are for shutdown, sleep, or restart.
To close said apps, you move the mouse pointer to the top of the screen, click when you see a little hand, and drag down. Pretty fun!
Your laptop's touchpad should be equipped to take advantage of the touch gestures in Windows 8. Flick a finger from the right side of the touchpad inwards opens the Charms bar, left will switch apps, top or bottom will open the app command bar in the apps or Start Screen.
You can make tile groups and name them as well. To do this, you click on a tile on Start, and move it around until you see a vertical translucent white bar. A group can be made. Then to label it, on your touchpad, do a pinch gesture to zoom out; or click on the lower left corner on the - symbol. Then, right click on that group, and label it!
Please have some hygiene and keeping Start organized.
Picture password is the MOST fantastically cool thing in Windows 8. It lets you just draw some lines or circles or dots onto an image to log in. This is done in PC Settings.
Speaking of such, PC Settings is like your most frequently used list of Control Panel items. It's like a lite Control Panel. This is where you can change some common settings, like using a picture password or changing Start Screen colors or lock screen picture or lock screen app notifications. To access this, you go to the Settings Charm, and on the bottom of the flyout you will see it.
Checking out the Customizations forum here will find you some cool things of what you can do to customize further. For example, I currently have my Desktop wallpaper slideshow as my Start Screen background....
Most important tip of all, use these forums and the resources here to learn the Windows 8 and take advantage of it to the fullest extent!