Nothing ever replaces the Windows Desktop. The Desktop is always there, though it might be covered by some other item… just like a real desktop!  If you clutter up your real desktop with enough papers, you might not even be able to see your desktop.  But it’s still there, under all the clutter.  Each open item on the desktop has a Taskbar button, that you can click to make the item visible or invisible on your desktop.

When you have numerous open windows on your desktop, you can make them all invisible by clicking on the “Show Desktop” button in the Quick Launch toolbar, shown in the left figure below. Or, if you don’t see that button, you can right-click the clock in the lower right corner of your screen, then click on “Show the Desktop.”  Either way, you’ll see the Windows desktop.  Then you can click on any taskbar button to make the program window it represents visible again.