Actually, finding control panel, or anything else, is simpler than in the past.
There are manuals and basic guides for those who prefer the quick and easy intro to Windows 8. Most of them will tell you that, if you already know the name of the app (or application you’re looking to invoke), all you have to do is: in the “Start” screen start typing the application, and the system will start displaying the apps it finds that match the query. At that point, there is no entry field displayed.
Like anything else, it’s just a question of “unfamiliarity”, and familiarity is regained as soon as you start using the system.
The apps scree is what you see when Windows 8 starts up, and not all apps are displayed. To get at all of the apps, or the applications you’re using to seeing with Windows 7 or Windows XP, all you need to do is to “right click” anywhere on the “Start” screen, and at the bottom of the screen and to the right, there is a circle with “all apps” displayed; clicking on that presents a larger menu of all applications, already categorized and ordered.
So, the old start option from Windows 8/XP is basically the same as in Windows 8 “Start” screen, except that, the screen can now be used with touch-capable devices and regular non-touch (dead screens) devices.
Like I said before, it’s only a matter of becoming familiar with the OS, and one doesn’t need to learn the whole thing in one sit-down lesson. Even iOS and Android and all of the OSes have things that people won’t discover at first try. Most of the learning for any OS, is application dependent, which means that, the OS is basically as simple as it can get and is supposed ot get out of the way after an application is invoked, other than for handling files and connectivity and other such “mundane” OS functions.
BTW, you’ll even find the “Desktop” app by starting to type it in the “Start” screen. Chances are that, you’ll get most apps before you finish typing in the name.
The “search” option in Windows 8 is like the “search” in the previous versions of Windows, except it’s more powerful and quicker. For example, if you’re looking for “Excel”, start typing it in the start screen, and it will immediately produce a list of those files that start with “ex...” including “Microsoft Excel” and a bunch of others. At that point, you can click on the “Files” option ar the right side of the screen, and it will fetch all files that start with “exc”. That to me is a lot better and faster than the old way. Windwso 8 is much faster, and better than what came before.
I got used to how Windows 7 and XP operated, but, after working with Windows 8, I can never go back. It’s just a matter of “exploring” and/or picking up a manual or a quick guide.