I have disabled the stupid thing using the registry hack
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell
But it still appears from time to time due to cursor movements, and then takes a few seconds to kill, disrupting my work. I don't ever want to see it again, though I wouldn't mind accessing it occasionally with a Winkey function. It has helped me shutdown
once or twice when my desktop shortcuts fail for some reason. If anyone has found a way to kill it, I would really like to hear.
I am not hopeful and consequently am praying (or would if I was religious) that Microsoft will allow us to turn it off in 8.1. This, the touch keyboard toolbar icon (which seems to also be impossible to kill) and widely spaced icons in the MS Word QAT are the
only things I don't like about Windows 8/Office 365.
I posted this earlier to MS Answers. Thanks to PranavMishra for suggesting Technet.