docs: Remove table of contents from README (#2697)

* docs: Remove bad badges for black and smoke

* docs: Replace the table of contents with textual description

* docs: Reference -> Supplementary Documentation

* docs: Remove yaml front-matter from README.md

    It doesn't really make a ton of sense to expose the root
    README as a sample.

* docs: Add a callout for R samples

README.md

@@ -1,34 +1,47 @@
----
-page_type: sample
-languages:
-- azurecli
-- python
-products:
-- azure-machine-learning
-description: Top-level directory for official Azure Machine Learning sample code and examples.
----
-
 # Azure Machine Learning examples
 
-[![Python code style: black](https://img.shields.io/badge/code%20style-black-000000.svg)](https://github.com/psf/black)
 [![license: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-purple.svg)](LICENSE)
 
 Welcome to the Azure Machine Learning examples repository!
 
-## Contents
+## About This Repository
 
-|directory||description|
-|-|-|-|
-|[`.github`](.github)||GitHub files like issue templates and actions workflows.|
-|[`cli`](cli)||Azure Machine Learning CLI v2 examples.||
-|[`sdk`](sdk)||Azure Machine Learning SDK v2 examples.||
-||[`python`](sdk/python/)| Azure Machine Learning Python SDK v2 examples.|
-||[`dotnet`](sdk/dotnet)| Azure Machine Learning .Net SDK v2 examples.|
-|[`setup`](setup)||Folder with setup scripts|
-||[`setup-ci`](setup/setup-ci)|Setup scripts to customize and configure ||an Azure Machine Learning compute instance.|
-||[`setupdsvm`](setup/setup-dsvm/RStudio/)|Setup RStudio on Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM)|
-||[`setup-repo`](setup/setup-repo)|Setup scripts for Azure/azureml-examples.|
-|[`tutorials`](tutorials/)||Azure Machine Learning end to end Python SDK v2 tutorials|
+The azureml-examples repository contains examples and tutorials to help you learn how to use Azure Machine Learning
+(Azure ML) services and features.
+
+
+### Getting Started
+
+If you're getting started with Azure ML, consider working through our [tutorials] for the v2 Python SDK. You may
+also want to read through our [documentation](#supplementary-documentation).
+
+### SDKs
+
+The `sdk/` folder houses the examples for the Azure ML SDKs across several languages.
+
+We have an extensive collection of examples for the [Azure ML Python SDK v2][azure cli ml extension v2 overview] in
+[`sdk/python`][azureml python sdk v2 examples].
+
+We also offer some examples for our SDKs in other languages:
+
+* .NET: [`sdk/dotnet`][azureml dotnet sdk v2 examples]
+* TypeScript: [`sdk/typescript`][azureml typescript sdk v2 examples]
+
+### Azure Machine Extension for Azure CLI
+
+The [`cli/` folder][azureml cli extension examples] hosts our examples to use the
+[Azure Machine Learning Extension][azure cli ml extension v2 overview] for [Azure CLI][azure cli overview].
+
+_Note_: If you're looking for examples that submit Azure ML jobs that run non-Python code, see:
+
+* **R**: [`cli/jobs/single-step/r`](./cli/jobs/single-step/r)
+
+
+## Supplementary Documentation
+
+- [Azure Machine Learning Documentation](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/machine-learning)
+- [AzureML Python SDK v2 Overview]
+- [Azure CLI ml extension v2 Overview]
 
 ## Contributing
 
@@ -38,7 +51,11 @@ We welcome contributions and suggestions! Please see the [contributing guideline
 
 This project has adopted the [Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct](https://opensource.microsoft.com/codeofconduct/). Please see the [code of conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) for details.
 
-## Reference
- 
-- [Documentation](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/machine-learning)
- 
+[tutorials]: ./tutorials
+[azure cli overview]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/what-is-azure-cli
+[azureml cli extension examples]: ./cli
+[azureml python sdk v2 examples]: ./sdk/python
+[azureml dotnet sdk v2 examples]: ./sdk/dotnet
+[azureml typescript sdk v2 examples]: ./sdk/typescript
+[azure cli ml extension v2 overview]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/concept-v2?view=azureml-api-2#azure-machine-learning-cli-v2
+[azureml python sdk v2 overview]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/concept-v2?view=azureml-api-2#azure-machine-learning-python-sdk-v2