Not all PC users are annoyed by the side-bar -- I really like it, despite thinking I'd hate it when I first upgraded. I actually have my Windows 7 PC at work s

Not all PC users are annoyed by the side-bar -- I really like it, despite thinking I'd hate it when I first upgraded. I actually have my Windows 7 PC at work set up in a very similar way -- task bar at the side. In both, Win-[1-9] will switch to the respective application. Most applications I use are pinned, so I don't have to interact with either start panel very often. My Unity task bar auto-hides, and with maximised windows losing their title bars and menus (until I disabled that feature as I like focus-follows-mouse) living in the panel, full-screen applications take up pretty much the whole screen.