Yes and you've chosen to get it in the same week that Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 is on its way which, surprise surprise, will largely go back to the old ways of doing things!
In the meantime, the most popular download (by far) with Windows 8 users is Classic Shell, which can help you get back to what you're used to:
http://www.classicshell.net/
I use classic shell posted by Buenchico, it has a minor glitch every now and then but this is far outweighed by the fact that I can now be productive on my PC again.
I installed Start 8 which is a free program that allows Windows 8 to run in the same way as Vista, XP and Windows 7 - what was Microsoft thinking of?
I suppose that got the wind-up following Apple's success with their Ipad and other touch screen providers, and tried to compete but got it totally wrong and managed to alienate (and confuse) their captive audience. I know the next time I go for a Laptop I'm going for a Mac.
I desperately need a new desktop PC (mine is ancient!) but the fact that I have to change from XP fills me with absolute horrors - I'm still learning how to use this!!! So I'm sitting tight and gritting my teeth for the moment.
I used W8 since it's release in beta and upgraded to 8.1 when it became available. I use a desktop with mouse and keyboard and much prefer it to W7 and XP.
Bedknobs, I got a new laptop last month with the dreaded 8. My neighbour, who is a genius with all techie things, set it all up for me and got rid of those stupid tiles for starters. He set it all up to run as XP/vista. I'm still having one or two teething problems with it but, in the main, it's now ok. Do you know a techie person who can do the same for you? I've yet to come across ANYBODY, including all at PC world, who have anything good to say about 8.