Ok, so the larger icons make them easier to see out of the corner of your eye, but they are further away, making them harder. But I can see how it can go either way depending on your vision, and if you wear glasses, etc. But after looking at this screen, I'm a bit lost. The icon on the left column, third down -- I'm not sure what that one does (looks like maybe Skype? And the 4 additional boxes embedded in it, are linked to those contacts pictured?) -- same with the icon next to it wit hthe guy's picture . And the one toward the top with the two squirrels looking at each other?

I'm really hoping that this all makes sense once you start using it, as I'm going to have to make a decision on what to upgrade my parents' computer to (Win 7 or Win 8) -- I don't want to confuse them.

The one in the left column is your Contacts. The individual photos are just photos - they all go the the same place when you click anywhere on the button. The guy's photo says "Photos" on it. It just goes to your photos list when you click it, not to that particular photo. And the squirrels open the Bing app. Bing makes a big deal about their daily photo, I guess the app icon updates each day to match.

Edit: I agree it looks crazy, but at least it behaves consistently!

Ah, my bad -- the picture was scaled down, and I didn't click to make it full size. I see label text now. Although part of the word "photos" is washed out against the background. If anyone from Microsoft is reading this, it might be helpful to use a font with a contrasting outline color around it to prevent this washout effect.