14 DAY TRIAL // Rumor has it that the Softies might launch a Start button in the next Windows release, but a longtime Microsoft analyst believes that such a feature may not make such a big difference for Windows 8 users.
The lack of a Start button in Windows 8 and the Metro UI are both regarded as very confusing options, so Microsoft is currently pondering the introduction of some new settings in Windows 8.1 to address these complaints.
In addition to a Start button, the upcoming Windows 8 upgrade is believed to include a new option to skip the Start Screen and boot directly to desktop.
And still, Rob Sanfilippo of Directions on Microsoft told The Seattle Times that these two features might not stop the confusion already created by the company’s new operating system.
“I don’t know that those are the two things that are going to stop the confusion or the upset reaction that we’re [seeing] from Windows 8. I think what the discussion is asking for is: ‘Bring back the Start menu. And keep me on the desktop – I don’t want to see the Modern UI at all.’ And that’s not what these new versions are (likely) to bring,” he said.
And such an opinion pretty much makes sense.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that Microsoft might indeed bring back the Start button in Windows 8.1, but instead of launching a Start Menu, it might actually be just a shortcut for the Start Screen.
In other words, the Windows 8.1 Start button will quickly get you to the Start Screen, a much better replacement for the traditional Start Menu, as Microsoft said so many times in the past.
Of course, such an addition is highly unlikely to bring back disappointed Windows 8 users, while third-party Start Menu apps are expected to continue enjoying a terrific success.