Microsoft, it seems, has listened to feedback it received from Windows 8 users, and looks set to implement a lot of suggestions in the upcoming Windows 8.1 update.
Word is that arguably the most demanded feature is set for a comeback – the Start Menu.
The always-reliable Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet citing unnamed sources close to the matter claims that Microsoft could reintroduce the classic Start Menu on its latest platform as early as this summer.
This would be quite some turnaround, after several Redmond executives reaffirmed that the Start Menu was a thing of the past, and the Start Screen was here to stay.
It just may stay, but the desktop mode of Windows 8.1 could now include the Start Menu.
The critically and commercially acclaimed Windows 7 was the last Microsoft operating system to feature the Start Menu, though several third-party solutions also offer this functionality on Windows 8.
Obviously, this is only just a rumor for now, and should only be taken as such, but recent reports have suggested that Microsoft is keen to address some of the essential consumer complaints with the release of Windows 8.1 like the option to skip the Metro UI and boot directly to the desktop.
For all intents and purposes, the upcoming update would make Windows 8 and improved and adaptable advancement of Windows 7 — one that offers multiple options to users to make use of the OS as they see fit.
What is your take on this matter? Sound off in the comment section below.
pfft…. Get away with this start menu. I like the metro ui and had never missed the start menu.
Adding the start menu to windows 8 would definitely be an improvement to the new operating system! I hope they pull this through!
It will be a resizable metro start menu/screen – best of both worlds
Hopefully not on touch laptops and tablets.
Hopefully they make it an option to have the start menu enabled.
Some people like the Metro UI and some people don’t, some people miss the start menu and some people don’t, so give us the option!!
Many companies are only now going to Windows 7 and slowly getting rid of XP and Vista. If Win 7 is not available, or not under the corporate contract, they have to go to Win 8, but you don’t want to upset the users too much. I deal in maintenance software and I know how companies take decades to finally upgrade and users are dreading the transition and learning required. This would make it much less painful and allow the secretaries / admin assistants / data entry to keep doing what they are doing with minimal change. Touch is nice, but try to explain that to a 40+ year old who has been doing it “this way since before you were a baby” mentality. Make it a switch in the OS config and the CEO will keep his ipad and Win 8 tablet and his assistant that does most of the work can do it in Win 8 desktop with the Start button.
Metro is a Tablet/Touch Screen interface. Do you use tablets in a Corporate environment. NO. I am IT. Give us back the Desktop and Start Screen. You can keep both interfaces, but give us the choice which on to boot into.