When I first started Windows 8 I couldn't believe that I was unable to shut it down.
I've also heard of people who also couldn't find 'the button' that they wrote a batch script saved on the desktop for it - even better than simply turn off the power (what I believe lots of people did...)..
Ok, my first thought was to use the shortcut ALT + F4 (still works) but there had to be a way for a normal user.
Yes there is! Move your mouse to the right down or up edge of the screen to open an extra menu.
Choose 'settings' and then there's an option for On/Off. With another click you can finally chose 'Shutdown'.
Still - it could have been hidden better..
Luckily they changed that for the update Windows 8.1 with the NEW start button...
