SRS - I think you may have the same 'old familiar desktop' syndrome that I have suffered with for a lot of years.

So I put what I want on the old familiar desktop. And then it gets too busy. Because of ignoring Windows 8 I ignored the whole charm thing and the big brash icons. I had also always disliked single click program launch from earlier versions in that I inevitably opened things by mistake and forgot to hover over so that I could access right click etc

But I think this current thing seems to give me all the things I want.
* A single click launch for programs
* A constantly available desktop that the Windows key gives me access to - and more critically - allows me to do an action (eg launch something else like Sounds in the previous post) and then returns me back to exactly where I was
* It may mean I use Desktop pins less. ie the program that lets me keep a window on top (like Notepad) while I work on a document or program under it. I have always been surprised that it is not standard in Windows as I use it everyday several times
* The ability to group things together under headings. Rather than grouping them by position on my desktop
* Flexibility of adding and removal without any real work

I'll show you what I mean. Here's a little video of me doing some stuff in real time. I have notepad pinned because I can grab the link to the program I'm using that I like ScreenRec. Free and 2gb of online storage to share videos and things like I am doing now.

Then I launch it with windows key and keep going (ignore the fact it was open already to record this!). Then launch a track I'm doing in Reaper but open sounds to check what it is currently using and then come back here and finish typing.

Works for me! A little video that shows me typing the last couple of paragraphs. My previous set up would have been clunkier I think. Workflow now I have started to use Windows 10 a bit better...

And as I only really want to back up active things I only want to save things in very few places on the local machine - desktop and documents. Photos and music go elsewhere

I disliked ME and Vista. And 8 was a route along the way! I should have taken more notice looking back.