I personally think you should combine the two above. In Windows you have full control over what is on the Start menu common programs list. So, put the programs you want to show up there and only those programs.
Windows Key. Click. Done.
I prefer to use the keyboard when possible rather than the mouse.
Example: If I need Notepad, it's faster and easier for me to type Winkey
+note and hit Enter as my hand's on the way back to the mouse, rather than to move the cursor from wherever it is on my screens, click on the Start menu, locate it visually on the list even if I know right where it'll be, and click on it.
Or if I know Notepad is going to be the first item on the Run list, I can do Winkey+R with my left hand and immediately use my right thumb to tap a button on my mouse that's mapped to Enter.
(Mapped keys on my mouse buttons: Enter, Escape, Alt, Ctrl, Forward, Back)
Besides that, my mouse aiming skills have always been terrible. Closing tabs in Firefox with the mouse can take 2-5 clicks before I hit the little X. Ctrl+W is left-hand only and has an extremely low chance of missing.
I could also never beat any FPS game on anything above Normal: I spent too much time and too many bullets missing what I was trying to shoot. :\
I do pin more programs to my Start menu on my tablet though, simply because a touchscreen as an Windows interface instead of a keyboard and mouse is very clumsy and sluggish.