Hi there, above program may help you get the classic startmenu back.
It doesn't appear in the same way as XP etc ~ but similar alike.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/index.html
As the startbutton now working in two directions as there is two different desktops (Metro and Standard Windows 7) there might be difficulties to open the Standard Startmenu unless this is changed from the registry or from another application that able to switch between these two settings (non tablets).
There are several apps created for solve this behavior, can recommend one gadget I've found usefull in this stage (will probably become easier as closer we come RTM)
http://windows8startmenu.codeplex.com/
This gadget also includes an informative pane for learning new shortcut's in Windows 8.
"Could this be Microsofts redesigned start menu to take advantage of touch screen devices? "
Yes it is, actually that's the interface which is called 'Metro' infact.
It's basically working in two way's pending on if it's managed on a tablet or on a regular PC with mouse and keyboard. On many of these keynotes we watched from Microsoft they showing mostly the interface settings for tablets which has the new 'Charm bar' startmenu that appear as a list from bottom to top on the right side. When Windows 8 is installed on a device that doesn't have touchscreen, Charm bar then shows up on the left bottom corner instead quite much alike the old Startmenu in former versions.
If you install new software, these will appear as a green app inside Metro screen and show up there next time the interface is opened. It's even possible to show additional Administrative tools to show up there as well. In this stage it's only those utility's which standard in Windows from before in that folder but by adding other preferable tools from other systemfolders in Windows like regedit.exe or gpedit.msc, they'll also afterwords appear as a green app in the Metro interface as soon they added into the administrative folder. More will come am sure.
Windows developer preview which is the latest build of Windows 8 can be downloaded on the following link, please go ahead try it out...Using it myself right now :)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516
