You are the first person I met who does.
I suspect the main opposition is really a screen space issue, not the change in how it was done.
All I can say is that 23 inch monitors are fairly cheap these days. :)
Change the screwy ribbon to old Menu:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/19323/bring-office-2003-menus-back-to-2010-with-ubitmenu/
Very slick.
If you install Classic shell, Windows 8 is familiar and works just fine. You even have the option of diving into Metro if you feel adventurous.