how to make windows 8 look and act like windows 7

I'm still trying to figure Windows 8.1 out and I am totally glad I bought a Mac at the same time. I still don't understand the touch and App's functionality of this product, I have an IPad for this.

My new Lenovo Y510p is a slug and deleting all the extra "Apps" was not helpful.

Window's 8.1 is slower with extra memory and ram, it will not run most of the programs I have been running; it is irritating.

I bought my PC for school and now it sits in the corner, I reformatting the hard drive and cleaning all the excess unneeded extras off the Windows 7... wouldn't work, the way they now have the drivers setup in these new computers, you can't even run Linux from a thumb drive without starting up in Windows 8.1 and asking Windows 8.1 if you can boot from a thumb drive... used to be a click of F2 to configure then F10 while your system starts to select a drive... not anymore. Computers used to be like legos and now they are becoming more and more like cell phones with those little apps you can never really get rid off. I'm leaning more and more towards Linux and Mac products every since 8.1 and the fact that Microsoft Office is now an annual subscription.

I have deleted everything that has proven useless from my PC, how do I get rid of the new start menu and just go to the cheesy app menu directly? (without adding another cheesy app)

Is there a way to make the shutdown feature accessible?  

I have a feeling that this computer is going to be sitting in the corner rendered useless.

AGREED!

Sure - if you have the time to learn all the new shortcuts... I want to be productive right away, not spend days frustrated while I relearn how to drive. This is a terrible interface and it is very sad that one has to go to a third party to find a work around. 

I just got roped in on the windows 8 disaster as well.  If I would have wanted a mac I would have bought a mac not a Microsoft that is imitating mac.  There should be an option to buy and install windows 7 or some other earlier version that is actually functional for business purposes.  Thanks for creating such a dysfunctional product.

On behalf of my wife, who wanted to toss her new Toshiba because she - like I - are older PC users, and hate the Metro UI (we don't do touchscreen phones, either), THANK YOU!!!