News - Windows Start Menu spotted in alleged leak

[HEXUS]

Is it coming to Windows before version 9?

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[shaithis]

I would be surprised if we didn't see it in an update before next year!

[MrFawlty]

Seems like a backwards step to me, but if it stops all the whining, I'm all for it.

[VijaySathyan]

Microsoft is finally starting to pay heed to the general public. I think its because of Sathya Nadella.

[LeetyMcLeet]

I'm not really fussed about the Start menu, the Start screen has grown on me. If they do bring it back though, I hope they leave the right-click option in to access stuff like the event viewer and disk manager quickly, I really like that.

[Saracen]

Seems like a backwards step to me, but if it stops all the whining, I'm all for it.

Whether it stops "whining" or not will depend on exactly what they do.

The daft thing is, had they given users this option, even having to find a default "off" setting, for 'classic' mode, and turn it on, there wouldn't have been any "whining" in the first place.

When a decision like this pushes large numbers of users to simply refuse to 'upgrade', and others (like me) to go to the trouble of migrating both OS and apps to Linux, and to find replacement/alternative applications, it's hardly fair to characterise it as whining. And MS clearly are coming to recognise that, first, it's a very significant body of users, and secondly, it's not a storm that'll blow over and people will give in and accept it. If they didn't realise that, however belatedly, they wouldn't keep trying to get round it.

My remaining issue is EXACTLY what these changes actually are, when and indeed IF they actually appear. Whatever, I won't trust it until it's released after the last time when "returning the start button" proved to be PR exercise, not what they implied. That was when I finally gave up in frustration at their cynicism and migrated several systems to Linux.

Now, to be honest, I don't really much care what they do with Win8/9. If it's a genuine inclusion of lost options, it MIGHT mean I upgrade the systems I sometimes boot into Win7. But frankly, I don't trust that MS have had an actual Damascene conversion, and I rather suspect it'll at best be a delaying tactic, and at worst, another "start button back" piece of cynical spin.

[shaithis]

I'm not really fussed about the Start menu, the Start screen has grown on me. If they do bring it back though, I hope they leave the right-click option in to access stuff like the event viewer and disk manager quickly, I really like that.

Yup, agreed completely. Some of those shortcuts are extremely helpful and would be a shame to lose.

Microsoft is finally starting to pay heed to the general public. I think its because of Sathya Nadella.

To some degree that's unfortunately correct. Because of the great unwashed public not wanting to spend 5 minutes learning a new interface we could potentially lose what people have asked for repeatedly for years....and something that is becoming more and more important: Cross-systems standards

[TheAnimus]

Yup, agreed completely. Some of those shortcuts are extremely helpful and would be a shame to lose.

Yeah I really hope they don't break Win + X, I've grown used to that one.

My biggest complaint will be can I have an option to make it use more than 10% of my screen. I find it funny as hell when applications do that sort of thing. Oh, what's that, two nice 30" screens of space? Well sir, I'll have you know I'll only use a mobile phone sized area!

[mercyground]

free upgrade for win7 sp1? interesting. Shame there is never going to be a win7 sp2 (given its at least 1gb of updates on top of SP1 now)

MS still wants to push enterprise and consumers to win8. I wouldnt touch 8 with the wrong end of a barge pole. I've tried it and its ****ing awful.

[jim]

To some degree that's unfortunately correct. Because of the great unwashed public not wanting to spend 5 minutes learning a new interface we could potentially lose what people have asked for repeatedly for years....and something that is becoming more and more important: Cross-systems standards

Bit of a generalisation, don't you think?

There are a few out there who have spent more than five minutes learning it, have successfully learned it, and still absolutely hate it.

[shaithis]

Bit of a generalisation, don't you think?

There are a few out there who have spent more than five minutes learning it, have successfully learned it, and still absolutely hate it.

It is a generalising but then that's how Microsoft decided to backtrack....

[valhar2000]

[...]we could potentially lose what people have asked for repeatedly for years....and something that is becoming more and more important: Cross-systems standards

Having cross platform standards is not good when they have the wrong standards across platforms. The Metro apps, for example, were a pain to use with a mouse and keyboard in Windows 8 (much improved in 8.1, but still not great). I haven't used Windows with a touch screen, but I have used Windows Phone and I like it very much, so the concept works, just not with a mouse and keyboard.

The changes they have made to Windows 8.1 to make it more mouse and keyboard friendly have improved it enormously, so much so that right now I am installing Windows 8.1 in new computers. That said, if they could enhance the mouse and keyboard experience further, it would be that much better.

I'd like to try Windows 8.1 on a tablet, but, alas, I don't have that kind of money.

[Corky34]

Well they have to shift focus away from the new DRM system, resorting the start menu that everyone said was a mistake to remove seems a good way to do that.

[zombie02]

I'm far from a expert on windows development.
But in the right down corner it says: windows 8.1
And everything is Identical to windows 8.1

Can this be a simple update but stretched into something bigger by microsoft?

Are they going to only create a new start menu, rip out all tablet stuff, Put in rrealllly annoying drm system and then rebrand windows 8.X to windows 9?

you will find out, in the next episode of "Will microsoft once again pull the wool over our eyes?"

Also, if it wasn't for the games I would also go to linux / ubuntu.
so much more freedom.
You only need to learn how it works.
But the internet exists of a reason.
So, when gaming will finally move to linux/ubuntu, so will I

[Corky34]

Are they going to only create a new start menu, rip out all tablet stuff, Put in rrealllly annoying drm system and then rebrand windows 8.X to windows 9?

Probably, only the tablet stuff won't be ripped out, it will still get installed, it's just going to take a backseat when running with a K+M

So, when gaming will finally move to linux/ubuntu, so will I

You're not the only one, I'm just biding my time until gaming is better supported on Linux.
Games are the only reason to run Windows (IMHO) and Microsoft abandoned that ship many years ago.

[zombie02]

Games are the only reason to run Windows (IMHO) and Microsoft abandoned that ship many years ago.

Halo....... the lost pc son