Install a third party start menu if need be, there are like five different ways to set up Windows 8.1 in whatever fashion.
Don't do Windows xp. One, you can't really buy it anymore, two, it's not going to get anymore updates in three months, three, it probably wouldn't run on such modern hardware and you'd lose out of some of your PC's capabilities due to driver problems.
Actually, go to the tutorial link in my signature and scroll down to Personalizations. That'll give you some understanding of keyboard shortcuts and things you can do. Also, if you're running on just Windows 8, get the free upgrade to 8.1. That'll alleviate some issues and make things make a bit more sense.
Update to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8 - Microsoft Windows
This is the link, go through everything, make sure you have things saved, and update Windows to 8.1.
Also, the Start Screen is just a GIANT start menu except you have more room to customize what you want on it. Things are very easy to put onto it. When you're on the Desktop, you can just right click on anything and hit Pin to Start. It makes a new tile or "icon" that you can move around. In 8.1, you can have the Desktop show first at start up, and the All Apps screen show versus the Start Screen. You can also do to the extent of doing an advanced thing and just uninstalling ALL of the apps you don't want like Xbox Music or Bing Weather so you don't need to see them.
Personally, I find that better than this...
..a mess.
Always ask questions if you need help or can't figure something out, we'll be here!