Unity editor has stopped working - Unity 3D 4.3.4 f1 with Windows 8.1 Update

I'm not sure of the how or why, but I showed up today to the May 10 Unity Dev event at Full Sail and my Unity 3D IDE had quit working. When attempting to start Unity 3D, a dialog would pop saying "Unity editor has stopped working" as shown below. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Unity to no avail.

Quick solution
Create a desktop shortcut for Unity 3D Customize the startup command line to include the "-force-d3d11" command line argument
Alternatively, you can try the "-force-opengl" command line argument instead

Caveat
I like running desktop apps by typing them in at the command line in the Windows 8 Start Screen. There is no way of hitting the shortcut with the command line from the Start Screen. I must go to desktop mode to launch the app now to launch Unity 3D.

Around the Edges
At this point I have no idea of the cause of my Unity issue.

I do know that I am running Windows 8.1 Update and version Unity 4.3.4f1 (most recent update as of this post) and something aint right.  But I can fix it, so good to go.

Things That Did Not Work Fixing This Problem

  • Compatibility mode for Windows 8
  • Compatibility trouble shooter

Reference

Hoping this helps out someone stuck in a unity no go situation the road...