Since the early days of Windows, I used my desktop icons to open my most frequently used programs.
Windows XP moved that to the Start menu and QuickLaunch toolbar.
Windows Vista added to that hitting the Windows key and typing the first few letters of whatever I needed.
Windows 7 added to that the permanent QuickLaunch window positions.
summary: I like how we've gotten more and faster options, with nothing ever taken away (except for the limited taskbar window icon right-click context menu).