Suffer not: 10 Windows Start menus for Windows 8.1 - InfoWorldIt seems Microsoft really has put its Windows Start menu out to pasture, alongside Bob, Clippy, and Rover. Sure, the forthcoming 8.1 update to Windows 8 has a shiny new Start button, but clicking it doesn't cause a familiar menu to pop up, providing users quick access to their preferred apps and files. Why'd Microsoft retire the menu in the first place? It was a design choice made by Steven Sinofsky, former head of Microsoft's Windows division.