Record all your passwords:
I'm delighted with the fully transportable KeePass. Mind you, I haven't forgotten the master password yet.
Nice link, Mr Mouse.
Here you can choose options that allow you to automatically boot your machine into desktop, instead of the Start Screen.
And coupled with a custom shell, I really found some common ground with W7. I didn't try it, but there is a download to stop the selected items hogging the entire screen. I never did contain Skype, however. Under W8 it seemed to have a (determined) mind of its own - even when I got an old copy running the new one fought its way back. The rest would have been fun . . . for someone who hadn't got a day job to do.
I'm not sure I'm going to have the courage to stick with 8.1 when I do load a kosher copy on my 'new' laptop.