Microsoft Confirms Start Button Returns in Windows 8.1

[ojas]

We made a bet that the PC landscape and industry would undergo a significant transformation driven by an increase in mobility. That bet underscores the changes we made with Windows 8 – it’s a generational leap forward.

We built Windows 8 for a world where touch is a first class interaction model, the same as mouse and keyboard;

Windows 8 was built on the reality that the lines between our work and personal lives have blurred.

We’re only a bit more than seven months into this new, bold approach to computing.

Windows 8.1 will advance the bold vision set forward with Windows 8

Windows 8 has been a bold, necessary move towards mobility for the PC industry

The response to Windows 8 has been substantial

In Windows 8.1, the Search charm will provide global search results powered by Bing in a rich, simple-to-read, aggregated view of many content sources (the web, apps, files, SkyDrive, actions you can take) to provide the best “answer” for your query. We think this will really change the way you interact with the Web and with windows making it quicker and easier to get things done. It is the modern version of the command line!

the Photos app now has some new editing features that lets you quickly edit or adjust photos

our Music app has been completely redesigned to help pick and play music

improvements for using multiple apps at once

your device magically becomes personalized

IE11 builds on the advancements in IE10 and is the only browser that is built for touch

and you can have as many open tabs as you like.

PCs today are evolving for a world of mobile computing where people interact with their devices through touch, and we designed Windows 8 for this. But we also recognize there are many non-touch devices in use today – especially in the commercial setting. As such we’ve focused on a number of improvements to ensure easier navigation for people using a mouse and keyboard.

What the f*** are they smoking at Redmond?

 

[mpdugas]

The Desktop IS a Metro app; the Start screen IS the start menu.
The adverse reaction to W8 is, by-and-large, anti-intellectual in content.
Haters are gonna hate.

 

[MidnightDistort]

They finally bring back the start button, and everyone finds something else to complain about.

It's just a button which leads back to the start screen. It's not a button that users want, it's just the Windows 7 UI with the Windows 8 performance tweaks that users want.

To everyone here:
Microsoft is bringing back the start button but NOT the start menu. Instead when you click on the start button it will bring up the metro interface. It's a sneaky move by microsoft to try and gather some support, it's quite disgusting.
To all the windows 8 supporters:
Windows 8 might be a decent OS but the company behind it is going in the wrong direction. If they can't even bring back the start button without a huge caveat, what faith should professionals have in microsoft to use their system for work? I can't believe that microsoft continues to spit in the face of the largest purchaser of their OS, business.

+1 here. But 8.1 is just an extension of Windows 8. They're not going to change the UI overall to make Windows 7 users happy so all they could really do is add a start button, but with the amount of Win 8 haters already the usage numbers will still be fairly slow climbing and while 8.1 will fix most of the bugs 8 has and it'll be an improved version of Windows 8, i doubt it's going to give full positive reviews like Windows 7. 8.1 certainly doesn't change my mind on how i feel about Windows 8.

Because we had Windows 7 almost perfect; we wanted to mess it all up and start from scratch all over again and prove we can talk ourselves out of any hole.

That's what I see when I see Windows 8 advertisements anymore... From the administration side of things, it's too much of a headache. I'm not even talking about the start button, metro, etc. Honestly I'm surprised they're back-stepping on Metro at this point. Now if they add back in the other features they ripped out...

But I do agree with the others out there... Like I'm going to make my $3500 rig a picture frame or added more music stuff I don't use or new IE crap I'll NEVER use (why use a W3C non-compliant browser, I'll never understand... Ironically, I posted a new video to youtube and a friend running IE on W8 couldn't see it... Go figure. )

But why in the heck they have to turn windows into the app-store factory doesn't make any sense to... Oh wait... M$ greed... Android and Apple and even steam has an app-store, we want one too!!! We want to do data-mining now also on your PCs and sell that too! Never mind, figured it out for myself...

I use my PC for gaming, video editing and i do all that using a keyboard and a mouse. Don't get me wrong i like my Android phone for the convenience of having it while i'm on break at work or i need a gps for a location somewhere but when i am at home i'm not going to kid myself that touch UI is better than a desktop. You look at the usage numbers and you see that there is a majority of users on XP and Windows 7. If we really were moving to tablet UI's Android and Windows 8 would have a much higher spot on the usage survey. Windows 8, the cloud and tablets are hyped up but is there a profound change? No, in fact a good number of Windows users are not even aware of Linux or they have heard the name but haven't done any research or took one look at it and found it 'difficult to comprehend' which is with the case with Windows 8. The only good thing that i saw with Windows 8 is there are tablet/laptop hybrids which i think will eventually merge for those who have trouble deciding on a tablet or a laptop.

They just don't get it, do they?
We want an OS that works well with a mouse and keyboard so we can get actual work done. The BUTTON itself doesn't matter. It's not a problem to use a hot-corner. The problem is that clicking the start "button" rips you from your workflow and wastes screen space in the sake of looking "modern". It offers no tangible benefits to anyone who uses their computer for work.
The metro UI needs to be redesigned for PCs. Take a look at Start8 from stardock (hell, hire them to do it for you). They've already come out with solutions to problems that should have never made it to release.
Also, figure out how to make things work WITHOUT swipe gestures. It has no place on a computer with a mouse. It's slow and its uncomfortably foreign in a desktop environment. This is something a user will learn to cope with, but never something that will feel right for the platform.
It looks like Microsoft missed the mark... again.
I guess we'll have to wait for 8.2 or 9 for a decent desktop environment.

All i really care about is having a desktop on my desktop or laptop computer. In about 10 years i might get one of those tablet/laptop hybrids but for now i don't really need one until i need to replace my laptop and even then i'll probably get a used laptop running current hardware/software.

I really like Windows 7 and MS has done an amazing job of improving the Windows experience for me. With 8 it's just another OS to me and while of course i can customise it to make it look and function like Windows 7 it's just not in the budget and 7 works plenty good for me. In fact i am not expecting much out of MS to return 'Windows 7" and MS has a way of forcing new, insufficient tweaks with the new OS's, despite me thinking this metro/start screen nonsense will go away it'll probably still rear it's ugly head in Windows 9, maybe less intrusive, but i'll be there stalking. I myself is going to be using Linux if Windows 7 doesn't pan out past it's expired date and avoid using any new MS OS unless it's profoundly better than Windows 8.

I believe those that say we should just get over it and get used to the change have never had to support hundreds of users on a daily basis. I believe those that would say the Windows Store is useful to businesses, the core of the Windows Licensing scheme, have never actually worked IT in a business with more than a handful of users. Touch interface for Excel spreadsheets? Touch interface for CAD/CAM or GIS? Touch interface for word processing? When did the OS stop being just the layer that that brought your hardware together and allowed you to decide where you go from there?

Exactly, Windows 8 users don't understand that a good number of users have a hard time using a computer at all and the "you shouldn't use a PC if you're not technically adept" is silly. Not everyone is capable of everything otherwise every one would be a police officer, a scientist or a doctor. Granted some users just don't want to learn how it works, they just replay the "i don't know it works" and no one is asking you to be a 'MacGyver' at computers but when you can't be MacGyver there's tutorials and other resources at your disposal.

Other than bringing touch to desktops and having difference in an OS for the sake of having difference along with having money revenue for modern apps there really isn't anything innovative about Windows 8. Essentially it's just turning your desktop into a tablet. While the desktop still exists in Windows 8, the changes are profound and it changes the desktop experience users had with Windows 8.

And going back to users not being able to adapt to Windows 8, that they can simply download software to restore what little Windows 7 MS left alone in Windows 8 you still have to tell users that and not just tell them that they are too handicapped to use a computer. My problem with Windows 8 besides the UI is the vision that MS has for Windows, what will they do with the newest Windows? Will they eliminate the desktop? I'm glad they haven't done that already but besides that what was so wrong with the desktop that 'needed to be changed'. Again i think Windows 8 is just something for those who just want change for the sake of change.

For me computers are a tool, not a toy where you can change the gears around on it or make it look more fancy, all i want is an OS that is stable and one where i don't need to change everything the way i had it with the previous version of Windows. I can't tell you how many times i asked for simplicity in OS upgrades. And pretty much i don't need a fancy UI or a different look every time one of my OS's go out of style. I just want to be able to do the things i need to on a computer without having to relearn everything. I was fine with learning how my Android phone works because it's a 'new device'. My desktop is not a new device, it's something when i need to replace it due to lack of hardware requirements or a dead PC. But when i need to replace my desktop i expect to get familiarity, not a game of 'Where's Waldo'. And yes while i can learn a different UI, it's more of the wanting to learn it and whether the new UI is any good. And there are plenty of users out there who just need to get stuff done.

On another note, the company i work for recently upgraded from XP to Windows 7 and some workers are struggling or finding it annoying. Really it's the same thing. Windows 8 is not the same thing. Sure you got a desktop and with 8.1 there's a start button, but again it's not going to fix the problem that users have with Windows 8 and that's familiarity. After a friend telling me he never uses the start menu i asked him how do you shut your computer down, THE START MENU. What's the first thing you use when installing a new copy of Windows, THE START MENU. So unless you have some crazy way of using your computer without ever, ever using the start menu you need it! And the start screen besides having a similar function to the start menu it's different and that's what has users stuck on! So i don't think the new UI is going to fly by it's not going to have a profound difference (other than the hype) and if that was the case then Linux would have already taken over Windows. The only difference is Windows 8 is in front of our face and it's taking quite a bit of backlash already.

Try replacing a users Windows desktop for a Linux or iOS, you think they are simply going to deal with the changes? Well maybe a bit more so because there's a desktop familiarity but overall changing the UI with millions of users used to doing things a certain way won't want to deal with the changes.

 

[Mailie Marshalls]

READ READ READ READ READ READ READ - Before you Win8 fanboys post
"""Microsoft is bringing back the start button but NOT the start menu"""
Get it !!! meaningless trash - a " Start Menu " is needed for people who do real work on a PC
To all the "Win 8 Fanboy kiddies out there - GO PLAY WITH YOUR PHONES & TABLETS, the rest of us have work to do and a taxed base economy to support.

 

[rexter]

"The new update will allow users to turn their PC or tablet into a picture frame..."
For PC - I thought they already have this kind of thing call Screen Saver? So this update works more for tablet then?
I like the Windows 8 a lot and is definitely a better Windows OS than before (in my opinion), but for power users, most of them/us like to have that Start button function we accustomed to. I like METRO style function too if I'm on Metro. But give me Desktop style function if I'm on desktop. Give me complexity if I’m looking for one. I want to get lost on your binary codes if I want to. And if I’m tired of that, I jump in to your Metro screen and sail on like I’m in a tour guide. Do that and Windows 8 is what it should have been.
These guy’s should have notice that by now, that every updates they make, we tried to customize it back to previous version for its simplicity and function??? Example is Windows Media Player. How many of you prefer older version than new?

 

[sundragon]

Hold on, it has a Start button BUUUUT no Start menu???
Thanks MS for not listening to us and giving us a whole lot of features that should be only on touch screen interfaces that most people don't have yet...
Windows 7 > Windows 8(The new Vista)
Maybe they will get it right by Windows 9

 

[h4ndsome]

Are you people autistic?
Seriously.
Still whining about the Start button?
I don't know anyone except computer illiterates that use the Start button for anything besides the search feature & pinning program shortcuts that aren't used frequently enough to be on the taskbar (both of these features work the same in the metro menu).
Keep upvoting each other for being computer illiterate and HURR DURR NEED MAH START BUTTEN TO GET TO CHARACTER MAP IN 20 CLICKS HEU HEU
Do you retards not understand that the metro menu functions the same as the Start button, but has additional features?
Yeah dudes..... that awful Windows store.... Let's downvote it then install Steam.... Makes total sense.
Keep telling yourselves that Microsoft 'dropped the ball' by adding mobile functionality to their OS... because we all know that things like tablets and laptops are totally a dying market.
smh

 

[Guilty Gear]

Thanks to metro i learned a lot of shortcut keys and metro is faster than explorer, For those who want to whine all day please go ahead & if you want a start menu go back to windows 7. the lack of the users capabilities to adopt to a futuristic platform. while metro can run multiple apps on a single screen with snap feature and with the update it will work with all monitors at the same time then its multiplying the usage of screen space than any other windows series to its full potential and by that it doesn't mean snap works for metro apps only after all i USE WINDOWS 8, so i know and for those of whom who assume about the GUI well it has two so, if you don't want any just don't buy , i on the other hand will.Windows 8 is a platform that's so far making the user USE all of the features that was there and that wasn't at the time of previous windows versions but never used since they never knew how to, there's tons of features all under one control. use a guide book and if you're so dumb then try getting some tutorial videos to learn how to use it. NO SHAME IN BEING A PERSON WHO CANT LEARN "BEYOND SOME POINT" IS IT, and let me conclude my final words by asking why do you complain or whine. look at all the comments everywhere about windows 8 good or bad , facts and lies based or not either one proves that windows 8 is being the new thing the new toy everyone wants to play with it but they just don't know how because every kid who has the new toy isn't that smart enough to make it work.

 

[chesteracorgi]

Arrogant Bastard Marketing 101: The customer is always wrong and you know better than they do. Ignore the objections of millions so you can CYA. When those millions react with see ya, lets just see how well they CYA.

 

[tobalaz]

Things needed for Windows 8.1
1.Start button with start Menu
(I like my desktop to look, act and feel like a desktop, not a tablet)
2."mouse and keyboard mode" that disables gestures
(Ever spend a half an hour working on a spreadsheet to organize someone's bills for them, then have it close unsaved because you moved your finger across the touch pad too fast, the clock popped up and everything you just were working on just closed unsaved? dumbest move ever MS, I almost threw the laptop out the window while cursing up a storm)
3.Option on setup to chose tablet or desktop mode
(its really not a bad OS once you get past the qwirks and the fact its entirely different from everything you knew)
Would ANY of those things been too hard to include from day one?
How much more would everyone have LOVED Windows 8 if they had?

 

[lpedraja2002]

Microsoft while trying to replicate another company that shall not be named and trying to be "modern" and "hip" is actually taking Windows a step back.

 

[hok]

The meetings at Microsoft must be very similar to those at EA (simcity team)...
"Those stupid users, don't they understand they have to use it the way we tell them to. I swear, sometimes those idiots drive me crazy..."

 

[MidnightDistort]

Are you people autistic?
Seriously.
Still whining about the Start button?
I don't know anyone except computer illiterates that use the Start button for anything besides the search feature & pinning program shortcuts that aren't used frequently enough to be on the taskbar (both of these features work the same in the metro menu).
Keep upvoting each other for being computer illiterate and HURR DURR NEED MAH START BUTTEN TO GET TO CHARACTER MAP IN 20 CLICKS HEU HEU
Do you retards not understand that the metro menu functions the same as the Start button, but has additional features?
Yeah dudes..... that awful Windows store.... Let's downvote it then install Steam.... Makes total sense.
Keep telling yourselves that Microsoft 'dropped the ball' by adding mobile functionality to their OS... because we all know that things like tablets and laptops are totally a dying market.
smh

There are users that use the start MENU to keep their taskbar/desktop clear of clutter. I find myself using the start menu more often then i have in the past. How do non start menu users even shut down their PC, use the power button? What's the first thing you use when you do a clean installation? The fact is MS removed the start menu like Ford removing the steering wheel. Except MS replaced the start menu with a bi polar multi screen instead.

The lack of sympathy around the start menu is appalling and it's really a shame that users actually think Windows 8 touch screen UI is actually workable on a home desktop computer or that everything is 'full screen' instead of resizable windows.
Our future looks bleak, replaced functionality for a one or 2 task start screen UI. It's sad really. Don't be mad when the desktop disappears from Windows and you can't edit videos, type a term paper or do other real work that the desktop is best designed for. Browsing the internet, checking email, ect are still better on the desktop UI. It's like going from dual core back to quad core, yet somehow users think that this is future of computing.

 

[rexter]

Are you people autistic?
Seriously.
Still whining about the Start button?
I don't know anyone except computer illiterates that use the Start button for anything besides the search feature & pinning program shortcuts that aren't used frequently enough to be on the taskbar (both of these features work the same in the metro menu).
Keep upvoting each other for being computer illiterate and HURR DURR NEED MAH START BUTTEN TO GET TO CHARACTER MAP IN 20 CLICKS HEU HEU
Do you retards not understand that the metro menu functions the same as the Start button, but has additional features?
Yeah dudes..... that awful Windows store.... Let's downvote it then install Steam.... Makes total sense.
Keep telling yourselves that Microsoft 'dropped the ball' by adding mobile functionality to their OS... because we all know that things like tablets and laptops are totally a dying market.
smh

That's a little harsh to call someone "illiterates and retards" you don't even know. My guess is you haven't tried the right click on Metro yet. If we are lacking of understanding then try to explain to us on why we couldn't use the same features when right clicking at Metro the same way when we are at Desktop Mode Mr. Genius?

 

[chesteracorgi]

The Desktop IS a Metro app; the Start screen IS the start menu.
The adverse reaction to W8 is, by-and-large, anti-intellectual in content.
Haters are gonna hate.

I guess that I hate Metro and so do the majority of those who have installed it on the desktop. Metro apps are used by less than 20% of those who have installed Win 8. Why? Because they are generally crappy and provide less control than the desktop versions.

Win 8 has some definite improvements over Win 7, but the arrogant bastard school of marketing extant at MW has made Win 8 a big FAIL. Right now Win 8 is a bigger FAIL than Vista. The arrogant bastards at MS have the opportunity to listen to their installed base, but they turn a deaf ear.

I believe that it would be simple to prove that a Win 8 with the option of primary interface would be a winner, and would not interfere with MS's plans to extend their OS into the mobile market. But, like any zealot they refuse to listen to reason.

 

[chesteracorgi]

Are you people autistic?
Seriously.
Still whining about the Start button?
I don't know anyone except computer illiterates that use the Start button for anything besides the search feature & pinning program shortcuts that aren't used frequently enough to be on the taskbar (both of these features work the same in the metro menu).
Keep upvoting each other for being computer illiterate and HURR DURR NEED MAH START BUTTEN TO GET TO CHARACTER MAP IN 20 CLICKS HEU HEU
Do you retards not understand that the metro menu functions the same as the Start button, but has additional features?
Yeah dudes..... that awful Windows store.... Let's downvote it then install Steam.... Makes total sense.
Keep telling yourselves that Microsoft 'dropped the ball' by adding mobile functionality to their OS... because we all know that things like tablets and laptops are totally a dying market.
smh

That is an awfully UGLY post, which ignores MS's and independent studies that Metro is a POS used only by 20% of desktop users. Hell, MS even disabled its own online poll when they started to get the answers that they don't like.

Metro apps don't communicate with the desktop. Metro forces the use of Metro apps over old standards like Adobe Acrobat. Whats not to like about having isolated apps that don't communicate and also the learning curve of the new Metro apps.

The school of arrogant bastard marketing has always come a cropper, which is being demonstrated by Win 8 being a BIGGER FAIL than Vista. But that is what you get when the public knows that MS could easily fix the problem with an option of the interface and their refusal to offer such.

If MS continues to alienate its installed base the old users will eventually die off: but only after MS has become a second tier OS. MS can admit its failure and listen to its customer base, and sell Win 8 for its improvements, or, it can lose sales and piss off a huge (if not majority) segment of its installed base.

Perhaps it is MS's strategy to become a much despised and secondary OS.

 

[littleleo]

I'm still not seeing a pending reason to go through the process and time of upgrading my OS. From what I see the benefits do not seem to be a whole lot unless you are using touchscreen 100% of the time. Now if Microsoft really wanted to convert me they would make HAL9000 available through their Narrator and voice activation feature. That would be enough to entice me to do the upgrade at this juncture...

But he's evil... evil I tell you, evil!

 

[littleleo]

Are you people autistic?
Seriously.
Still whining about the Start button?
I don't know anyone except computer illiterates that use the Start button for anything besides the search feature & pinning program shortcuts that aren't used frequently enough to be on the taskbar (both of these features work the same in the metro menu).
Keep upvoting each other for being computer illiterate and HURR DURR NEED MAH START BUTTEN TO GET TO CHARACTER MAP IN 20 CLICKS HEU HEU
Do you retards not understand that the metro menu functions the same as the Start button, but has additional features?
Yeah dudes..... that awful Windows store.... Let's downvote it then install Steam.... Makes total sense.
Keep telling yourselves that Microsoft 'dropped the ball' by adding mobile functionality to their OS... because we all know that things like tablets and laptops are totally a dying market.
smh

So how long have you worked for Microsoft?

Just kidding people don't like a lot of change and this O/S had one purpose to try and get MS presence in the mobile O/S market where they aren't a big factor. The fact they expect the public to blindly accept such a complete change shows a lack of intelligent thinking in the leadership starting at the top. They need to fire Steve Ballmer and get someone smart in there.

 

[vsighi]

Windows 7 64bit is the way to go...Window 8.1 it dose look nice for xBox One.

 

[littleleo]

Did you guys see the demo of the xBox One that crashed at the tech show, when they rebooted it to fire it again it flashed a Windows 7 logo, lol even Microsoft prefers Windows 7 over Windows 8, lol!