Nevertheless, interest has been sufficient for Stardock to invest in an update that reinstates even more old-school flavor -- including the ability to drag and drop Start menu items, and to disable the new Start screen toggle that appears whenever you move your cursor to that hotly disputed lower-left corner.

ENGADGET: Start button utility strips even more '8' from Windows 8, has sold 'tens of thousands' of copies

Google's version requires one more tap to toggle the secondary panel for the common settings, including screen brightness, WiFi, auto screen rotation toggle and airplane mode.

ENGADGET: ASUS PadFone 2 review: two times is a charm for this phone-in-tablet combo

The only interface customization you'll find here are the thumbnail overview of up to seven home screens (pinch anywhere on any home screen to toggle), as well as the "Pad Only" tab in the app drawer, the handy ASUS Quick Setting panel in the notification tray, and "ASUS customized setting" in system settings.

ENGADGET: ASUS PadFone 2 review: two times is a charm for this phone-in-tablet combo