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Leaked Windows 8.x Screenshots Show a Start Menu,

microsoft-surface-tablet-windows-8-540x334[1]Many people hate the fact that Windows 8 lacks a start menu and it looks like Microsoft finally listened. A couple newly leaked screenshots appear to have confirmed that Microsoft is adding a start menu and other regressive design features to Windows 8.x.

The digital storage blog Myce got their hands on two screenshots for Windows Threshold, the next major version of Windows which is due out next year.  The screen shots appear to be from a pre-release version of threshold and they show design elements which resemble both Windows 7 and Windows 8. Most notably, there is a recognizable Start menu:

Rumors have been circulating for a few weeks now that Microsoft planned to use Threshold to woo desktop users, many of which are Windows 7 holdouts,  and convince them to switch to the newer OS. There was even a leaked screenshot last week which showed a very similar start menu design.

This is great news, but it is not entirely unexpected. As I pointed out earlier this month, Windows 7 still accounts for over half of the Windows user base, with WinXP coming in second (Win8 is third). Many of us Win7 and WinXP holdouts continue to avoid adopting Windows 8 because we dislike the tablet centric interface. If MS wants to move Windows 8 adoption forward then they’re going to have to give the holdouts what we want, which is a desktop experience.

And now it seems Microsoft has finally figured that out.

So what do you think? Is this enough for you to upgrade from Windows 7?

It’s not enough for me; I plan to wait at least another year before replacing my laptop and I see no reason to update the OS before that happens. Windows 7 works great for me, so without a critical mass of Windows 8 apps there is little reason for me to change what works.

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Comments


Name Required July 22, 2014 um 2:20 am

Not enough.
– There is still on-line activation of Windows
– There is still need to create an on-line account (or jump through hoops to avoid it) for installation
– Newest versions of Windows (including 7) make life difficult for dual booters. Hidden system partition at the beginning of the disk. A new notebook with Windows 8 has typically all four primary disk partitions reserver for various crap. Serial number burnt into UEFI Bios on notebook.
– I would bet that you will not get a Windows installation DVD with a serial number with the new notebook with Windows 8,xy or 9. Instead you get a hiddeen partition you can use to revert the notebook to the factory default state, including tons of crapware (such as Notron Anti-CPU from Symantec).

On my [rock bottom price i7] notebook purchased two years ago I have very quickly upgraded the Windows 8 to Mint Linux and I am *much* happier with it. I wanted to keep windows 8 at least in a virtual machine, but modern windows [purchased as an OEM version with your notebook] fights you tooth and nail when you want to install it into a virtual machine. Fuck you Microsoft! I do not have to fight Linux to make it do what I want. Including installing GUI with whatever [Start] menu I wish 😉

Nate Hoffelder July 22, 2014 um 5:56 am

Yep. There are still quite a few things wrong with it. But I also don’r have any hopes that MS will fix any of it.

fjtorres July 22, 2014 um 6:51 am

There’s quite a few Start Menu add-ins for Win8, both free and paid.
It’s not the issue it’s made up to be.

fjtorres July 22, 2014 um 7:07 am

Here:
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-get-the-start-menu-back-in-windows-8/

Classic Shell and Reviver are two good freebies to look into.


Name Required July 22, 2014 um 8:08 am

The Start menu is the least of my gripes with the Windows 8. I could even live with the metro-style tiles if it was the only problem. There are more critical issues IMHO. But, the Start menu is the most visible one for many people that are not IT professionals (and free software enthusiasts) and the way Microsoft handles customer complaints about the Start menu is a great example of how they treat their [mostly captive] customers.


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