Stopped using it? There's falsity already in that part... I've always been using it, I would know because if I stopped using it I wouldn't have been looking for it in Windows 8, lol. I don't feel like having to search for everything, or have it pinned to my taskbar or have it directly on my desktop as a shortcut, so the start menu is perfect. The only difference here now is that they have a tileview, which in my opinion makes it more difficult to use than a start menu for finding the programs you want to use, or other utilities and tools.
Still struggling using that tileview even today, after 3 different Windows 8 previews that i've used.
I'll get a smartboard and then i've got a good reason to use Windows 8 :)