And this highlights the problem of "discoverability" that seems to have been kicked to the curb by a lot of designers recently.
If they had simply put a thin "handle" on the edge/corners, that would have been enough for users to clue in that maybe it's something they should try touching. And then you can have the option to autohide it if the user wants to reclaim the few pixels it would take.
But instead we have invisible controls leading to questions all the time. A tutorial really isn't enough because while I tend to read those, most people I know just skip past them as fast as possible.
The thing is, when you first run a fresh install of 8, or first time power up a touchscreen 8 device, it gave you a hint or cue to use the edge of the screen. Granted, I first thought to swipe the sides immediately.
Being adept at my tools, this was not a problem transition.
Could this hint be a big blunt hammer to those who need absolute hand holding and those who aren't willing to play, yet play around with rooting and such? Perhaps. But again, this is what I observed. And it is like consumers aren't allowed to play in full with 8, Best Buy of all places allowed me to install Painter on a Surface Pro to see how it works. And to test the current driver at the time.
And while not an absolute deal breaker (knowing full well this is the same digitizer in the penabled Wacom) I was gladly forthcoming to pare down from a 15 inch laptop (with twice the RAM and personally upgraded SSD that was twice the storage of my Surface Pro) and a Kindle Fire (and was heavily considering the HD model) to something unified, consolidated, and a bit more manipulative while fully knowing the costs in performance tradeoffs in some areas. (quick comparative numbers showed my previous laptop's dGPU was some numbers shy ahead of the iGPU of the Surface Pro.
Had I listened to absolute degree of what analysts and reviewers have voiced, I wouldn't have decided for myself the tools at hand in their function. I took them to consideration but ultimately, you can always try the devices out.
With 8, it takes a more flexible mind to play and work, but in my personal opinion, it is for the better. It may not be full on tinkering like traditional computer hobbyists are used to, but it isn't like the options are excluded. I heard Android and Linux can be booted to on many PCs.
Along with traditional drag mices and drag pointing devices being used to travel more distance to the screen edges and within the star screen. But I already mentioned (even during the last legs of XP and through 7 on my PC connected to a HDTV) I have learned, gotten used to, and realized that for a problem of living room PC control, the trackball was already existing - and for quite some time now. I adopted the solution, and went with it.
What seems the problem here, is that people think the modern stuff is forced. On my cheaply upgraded 'desktops' (clearly, one is a work/game station by a couch; the other by a TV display) I am almost always on the desktop mode. Barring short excursions to Windows Mail and using the Start screen for shortcuts I pinned there, I don't see forced anywhere. It feels forced if you can't find a way to work with it and stuck in one method of control.