Okay, Cakewalk wins...I re-enabled the Start Screen.

It really is a whole lot faster, it goes away the second you click on the file menu, and it doesn't re-appear when you close the project. Would still like a "list view" for projects, but the annoying elements are gone, and the pinned projects alone are worth it.
I would like to see more use of notifications. I know the Bakers are skittish about pushing too much stuff at users, and that's great, but I for one would like to know when new blog posts go up and that sort of thing.