I actually really liked the win8 start menu change and the live tiles, even wrote some tiny homegrown apps with them. My logic was always "if I am opening the start menu, I will want to interact with that menu and only it until it's closed", so having it fullscreen made sense.
I wish I could understand the managers that insist on these patterns.
Are they completely out of touch and don't know that people hate them? Are they aware that people hate them but don't care? Or perhaps they've drank their own Kool-Aid so much that they truly believe nobody would actually want to say "No" and think they just need more opportunities to say Yes?
It's amazing how things can seem great when looking back at them. I remember when Bush was President of the US and we made fun of him for being "stupid". Now looking back he seemed like a great chap. The good old days...
Things were bad back then too. They're just even worse now (at least on those fronts).