Windows 8.1 Start button may not offer actual Start menu

Windows 8 users hoping for a return of the traditional Start button and Start menu in Windows 8.1 may be disappointed.

Rumors have floated recently that Microsoft may revive the familiar Start button in the Windows 8.1 update scheduled for release later this year. A new report today from The Verge claims that "sources familiar with Microsoft's plans" have confirmed the return of the Start button.

But... Yes, there always seems to be a but....

Read more at source:
Windows 8.1 Start button may not offer actual Start menu | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[legacy7955]

I bet the overwhelming majority who bought Windows 8 or a Windows 8 machine don't care about this.

I also bet the overwhelming majority who don't own Windows 8 don't really know much about this, and if they did, they also wouldn't care.

This is a largely manufactured issue. Only a small percentage of user actually have strong feelings either way.

People just need to let it go and get over it.

Only a small percentage? In the known universe, there are at least 8.5 million people who have sought a third party option for the return of the start button. Those who refuse to believe this, need to get over it.

The longer a few top brass tacks at M$ keep trying to preserve their own arrogant sense of infallibility by denying the cold hard facts, the worse the long term prospects of Windows 8 and Microsoft become.


It's time the folks at the top learn humility and accept they were WRONG and make the correct changes that will benefit the company and the customer.


SNAP OUT OF IT!

Bill Gates, you need to tell it like it is. The choice of default boot to desktop and the REAL start button must return....ASAP!

 

[Corelogik]

Those most likely to keep "Customer Experience Improvement Program" enabled so as to deliver "telemetry" to Microsoft concerning PC usage, are the low information users most likely to NOT use the start menu in the first place.

Those most likely to use the start menu and its features, are those most likely to disable reporting usage habits to Microsoft and will likely have disabled reporting by the "Customer Experience Improvement Program".

If Microsoft thinks for one second that they are getting accurate information from this self reporting tool concerning anything even remotely important, they are sadly mistaken and passing around more potent kool-aid than even Apple has in it's cafeteria.

 

[SIW2]

I am pretty sure they don't think that.

MS are just selecting figures to try and present something in a way which suits their purpose.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I am pretty sure they don't think that.

MS are just selecting figures to try and present something in a way which suits their purpose.

Agreed.

Decide what your position is and then try and find some figures that you can present to "prove" that you are right.

 

[pparks1]

I bet the overwhelming majority who bought Windows 8 or a Windows 8 machine don't care about this.

I also bet the overwhelming majority who don't own Windows 8 don't really know much about this, and if they did, they also wouldn't care.

Well, I have bought a number of Windows 8 machines for work. Personally, I cared about having the start menu. And every person I setup an 8 machine for, also wanted the start button put back onto their desktop as well.

I've bought and configured 13 Windows 8 machines at my office. We had to revert one of them to Windows 7 because the wireless network card and the wireless dock are not compatible with Windows 8. On the 12 other Windows 8 boxes, 9 of them are using a Start menu tool. 2 people have elected to go without one, and 1 is our Surface Pro...which we haven't added the Start menu too.

 

[Corelogik]

I am pretty sure they don't think that.

MS are just selecting figures to try and present something in a way which suits their purpose.

Probably, but i seem to recall reading somewhere that they used metrics from that program to decide that "no one used the start menu anymore". So apparently they must think something of the data they get from it.

 

[sajara]

I don't use the start button on Windows 8 and i found the new start screen way faster to use as long you know your shortcut keys, than any iteration of the start button since Win 95. I never used Win 3.x my roots come from the Amiga using WIMP (which i still use to this very day), maybe it's because of that, but i find the start screen more productive.

 

[pparks1]

I like the start screen itself simply because of it's search ability. However, I hate the fact that it takes over the entire screen. I run everything on the desktop, I don't want to be taken away from it. Start Screen is a bit more tolerable on a multiple display setup. That way I can have my apps running on 1 monitor and I can run the start screen on the other monitor.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

LOL! I remember once when Mystere got after you and others about this. I haven't seen him posting lately, so I'll have to be obliged to answer.

When I press the WinKey or click the Start Orb the Start Menu opens. Unless I can do what's this video and totally concentrate on two things at once: Lizard Eye Trick - YouTube, I'll be totally concentrating on the menu and I just can't see the rest of the desktop, so IMO what does it matter? I realize we have peripheral vision, but that really doesn't help if my mind is concentrating on the menu. If something moves suddenly on the desktop, my eyes and concentration focus on that and off the menu.

In 7 WinKey > Start Menu. Make choice or type/search > Open app.
In 8 WinKey > Start Screen + check live tile info quickly. Make choice or type/search > Open app.

 

[pparks1]

I just don't want my whole screen consumed. Some times I am running a script or process and while waiting for it to finish, I will fire up another app and screw around with something. With the start menu, i Have a chance of seeing my 1st thing finish and can abandon the 2nd thing. With the Start screen, everything that I was doing is completely gone and I have this whole screen being consumed by a menu. No thanks.

Check out Windows weekly for this past week: Windows Weekly 308 | TWiT.TV. The discussion is all around the start button, various 3rd party start menu add-ons and the ability to boot straight to the desktop. Clearly with MS making some changes, I am far from being the only one who wanted to see things work a little more like they used to.

Can I launch an app from the Start Screen? Sure
Do I prefer to launch an app from the Start Screen? Nope
Have I pinned almost everything I use to the taskbar? Yep
Is the start screen a last resort? Yes.

 

[snoop101]

I just don't want my whole screen consumed. Some times I am running a script or process and while waiting for it to finish, I will fire up another app and screw around with something. With the start menu, i Have a chance of seeing my 1st thing finish and can abandon the 2nd thing. With the Start screen, everything that I was doing is completely gone and I have this whole screen being consumed by a menu. No thanks.

Check out Windows weekly for this past week: Windows Weekly 308 | TWiT.TV. The discussion is all around the start button, various 3rd party start menu add-ons and the ability to boot straight to the desktop. Clearly with MS making some changes, I am far from being the only one who wanted to see things work a little more like they used to.

Can I launch an app from the Start Screen? Sure
Do I prefer to launch an app from the Start Screen? Nope
Have I pinned almost everything I use to the taskbar? Yep
Is the start screen a last resort? Yes.

I appreciate that link, it was very interesting.

 

[EMINENT]

I just don't want my whole screen consumed. Some times I am running a script or process and while waiting for it to finish, I will fire up another app and screw around with something. With the start menu, i Have a chance of seeing my 1st thing finish and can abandon the 2nd thing. With the Start screen, everything that I was doing is completely gone and I have this whole screen being consumed by a menu. No thanks.

Check out Windows weekly for this past week: Windows Weekly 308 | TWiT.TV. The discussion is all around the start button, various 3rd party start menu add-ons and the ability to boot straight to the desktop. Clearly with MS making some changes, I am far from being the only one who wanted to see things work a little more like they used to.

Can I launch an app from the Start Screen? Sure
Do I prefer to launch an app from the Start Screen? Nope
Have I pinned almost everything I use to the taskbar? Yep
Is the start screen a last resort? Yes.

That's what I love about Surface Pro. Swipe from the left and i'm back to anything I was doing. Easy-peasy.

No more taskbar icons for me if I can help it. I try to avoid desktop if possible on the Pro. It's just not possible yet with so few apps.

Yes. I want more Modern apps. Those that need the old desktop can bring that up if they need it. No thanks. Kinda like command prompt.

 

[Haaklong]

Actually a button that brings the user directly to the start-screen is more ''touch friendly'' than no button at all, also a Windows-orb (hopefully with Windows 8's logo) will be a great indication that ''the start menu has evolved'' and that it's a continuation of what we all love and know.

 

[Ex_Brit]

hahahaha... Talk about being unclear on the concept. Sooner or later they'll have to realize that most people do not want metro. Period.

hi there
most people don't want income tax either -- but that doesn't mean it will be abolished.

Cheers
jimbo

rotfl

 

[pparks1]

I just don't want my whole screen consumed. Some times I am running a script or process and while waiting for it to finish, I will fire up another app and screw around with something. With the start menu, i Have a chance of seeing my 1st thing finish and can abandon the 2nd thing. With the Start screen, everything that I was doing is completely gone and I have this whole screen being consumed by a menu. No thanks.

Check out Windows weekly for this past week: Windows Weekly 308 | TWiT.TV. The discussion is all around the start button, various 3rd party start menu add-ons and the ability to boot straight to the desktop. Clearly with MS making some changes, I am far from being the only one who wanted to see things work a little more like they used to.

Can I launch an app from the Start Screen? Sure
Do I prefer to launch an app from the Start Screen? Nope
Have I pinned almost everything I use to the taskbar? Yep
Is the start screen a last resort? Yes.

That's what I love about Surface Pro. Swipe from the left and i'm back to anything I was doing. Easy-peasy.

No more taskbar icons for me if I can help it. I try to avoid desktop if possible on the Pro. It's just not possible yet with so few apps.

Yes. I want more Modern apps. Those that need the old desktop can bring that up if they need it. No thanks. Kinda like command prompt.

I use no metro apps, everything is on the classic desktop. I need resizable apps. Modern apps are like shareware as far as I am concerned. Mostly awful and very limited.

Nothing funny about the command prompt. I use that every single day.

 

[JLyman]

I love seeing good dialog(ue) about Windows. I try to pass on as much feedback as I can to relevant parties.

And I'll add my two cents as a user:

I own a macbook pro that i use for my photography and mining bitcoin (yes, I do that and yes it's a thing). My smaller laptop I use for work and school is a Windows 8 unit. I also use Windows 8 on my HP Z400 at work. Why? Because I want to stay current with our technology. I like Windows 8 for the most part and rarely use the metro start screen. When I do, it's to search for something either as a setting or an app. If it's an app I use a lot, I pin it to the task bar and am done with it. It's not perfect by any means and I haven't gotten to have any hands on time with 8.1 so I really don't know anything about it minus what I see in passing so I'm pretty much crossing my fingers at this point.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

I don't use the start button on Windows 8 and i found the new start screen way faster to use as long you know your shortcut keys, than any iteration of the start button since Win 95. I never used Win 3.x my roots come from the Amiga using WIMP (which i still use to this very day), maybe it's because of that, but i find the start screen more productive.

Welcome to EightForums, sajara. It's good to have you aboard.

Same here with 8 and shortcut keys. :thumb: I never flinched with 8.

 

[thelastvoice]

Can I launch an app from the Start Screen? Sure
Do I prefer to launch an app from the Start Screen? Nope
Have I pinned almost everything I use to the taskbar? Yep
Is the start screen a last resort? Yes.

Funny. That's how I've felt about the Start Menu since Win95.

Can I launch an app from the Start Menu? Sure
Do I prefer to launch an app from the Start Menu? Nope
Have I pinned almost everything I use to the taskbar and desktop? Yep
Is the Start Menu a last resort? Yes.

The difference now in Win8 is that I've pinned my 5 or 6 most used programs to the taskbar and all of the program shortcuts that I would have put on the desktop are now out of the way but easily accessible on the Start Screen. Now my desktop is used only for working files, random downloads etc.

 

[pparks1]

^ Yes, we all use our computers different. Nobody is right or wrong. Where I think most are miffed is the lack of choice. Give me a default way and a choice and I'm cool. Force it down my throat, well then I am not so happy about it.

 

[thelastvoice]

^ Yes, we all use our computers different. Nobody is right or wrong. Where I think most are miffed is the lack of choice. Give me a default way and a choice and I'm cool. Force it down my throat, well then I am not so happy about it.

How do you not have a choice? I get that visually you might not like the Start Screen/Modern UI, but the basic functionality and features of the Start Menu still exist. There are several ways you can set things up to minimize your use of the Modern UI and you also have the choice of installing one of the many third-party Start Menus available if you really just have to have an old-style, pre-Win8 Start Menu (as well as booting to desktop, etc). Users install third-party utilities all the time to add/change/enhance funtionality and features that they want in Windows. Why should this be any different? Doesn't Classic Shell exist in it's current form because people were mad they didn't have a choice between "Classic" Start Menu and the Win7 Start Menu? How many choices for a Start Menu/Screen does MS have to include to make everyone happy?