Bob Hobden wrote:

"Andy Burns" wrote

Should have spent a couple of quid on Start8 which makes Win8 usable

From what I read that does not remove the constant opening of bars and stuff
if you get the curser to close to the edge of the screen,

It does allow you to disable the charms bar and the hot corners, you
still get a bar for Wired, WiFi and VPN connections.

it only gets you back your Start menu which can and has been done on
both with a free program.

It can, but ClassicShell is more geeky, which it sounds like your
friend(s) are not ...