All the reviews I've read say if you don't have a touchscreen (which probably amounts to 90% of computers) and are forced to navigate Win 8 with a mouse it's a real PITA. However I'm glad you are happy with it.
Yeah, if you're not willing to learn a couple shortcuts (like what corners do what and whether to right click instead of left click) then you'll be lost. Take 5 minutes to right and left click in the corners and you'll pretty much be done. People's resistance to change and optimizations is really quite amusing. Win8 is superior in a significant number of visible and under-the-hood ways (in particular, memory management.)
For example, getting to Disk Management is a bit of a pain in Win 7. In Win 8? Right click in the bottom left hand corner and all your important system shortcuts are right there. The fact that so many Win8 users haven't figured that out speaks to Windows dropping the ball in educating them on that... but it also speaks to how lazy many of these reviewers are when they complain about navigation.
Another tip: When you're on the start screen, you can just start typing to find something. You don't need to open a search box. Just start typing and Win 8 will start narrowing your searches. For example, looking for the Calculator? Type C and chance are it'll be right there in the first couple selections.
Too many people have been bamboozled into thinking Win 8 is touchscreen only. Actual use begs to differ. It's extremely keyboard and mouse friendly.