Win7 64 ???

[Greenhorn]

On the other hand, you can no longer assign keys to Start menu items, i.e. a simple [WinKey]F to launch Firefox is no longer possible. And that's a real nuisance.

If you have attached e.g. Firefox to the Taskbar, press [WinKey]+[n], where n is the 1-based position of the Taskbar-Icon.  ;)

EDIT:
And of course you can assign shortcuts to attached programs in the Taskbar.
Right-click the item, then right-click at the program menu item and the select "Properties" in the context menu.
Then you have the dialog where you can define your shortcut ...

[masm93940]

just posting (is this a post?) as a requirement to not be a spam bot.