jeffdl, on my system I remapped the keys a bit. I wanted the physical layout of a windows keyboard when using windows apps. So I have remapped cmd to alt and alt to win.
It's confusing when you look at the keyboard, but the key that says "command" is actually now the windows "alt" key (and is physically in the same place as on a windows keyboard) and the key that says "alt/option" is actually now the windows "windows" key (and is physically in the same place as on a windows keyboard). But if you have used windows for 10 years and do it without looking at the keyboard, physical location is more important than what the keycaps say.
In this setup, pressing command does not pop up the start menu. Perhaps this would work for you too? If you don't want the windows start menu to appear when the mac "alt/option" key is pressed, don't remap that key, just remap the command key.
Paul