Some installations or settings changes require you to restart your computer. In most cases you don't need to actually reboot it, you only need to restart the explorer.exe process.
If you need, besides major accounts, an extra account with limited access to data, you can add Windows 8 Guest account. The process is almost the same as in Windows 7.
If you are tired of waiting for your Windows 7 computer to shutdown or restart, you can create a new shortcut that will speed up the process considerably.
Windows Explorer does not have menu displayed by default like you were used to in previous versions. To activate and keep it permanently visible follow this tutorial.