It's great that there are alternatives or solutions from 3rd party's but lets be honest here, the majority of those that will be looking for the start menu button barely know how to use the internet never mind search and find a viable alternative.
maybe i don't give your average user enough credit but given some of the peeps i see daily i'm surpised they can find the power button never mind some of the changes coming their way with this os.
change is good, but to much change is not good, there is no reason they can't include the start menu in this os and then when they go to launch the next os remove it then, at least that way there is some cross over so those not so tech savvy as those that frequent these forums have familiar territory to start with.
considering there is only a small fraction of users the world over that even remotly utilise there computers and all the features effectively it just seems like a stupid mistake that will bite them in the ass.