I hated the tile change that they made with Win8 and I hated that they got rid of Windows Aero, so on my main(old) desktop I am still using Windows 7 SP1. Yes, I know it's out of date, but still.
Here's my desktop(minus the icons):
View attachment 230373
That to the right is a software called Moo0 System Monitor(yes, really). Despite the funny name, it's quite useful to keep an eye on things and notice any problems before they cause damage(e.g. overheating CPU).
There used to be a CPU temp sensor as well, but it's showing a blank value nowadays - dunno why.