14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has indeed brought back the Start button, but contrary to what people expected, an option to disable it and stick to the standard Windows 8 desktop UI is missing from the operating system.
Of course, the Windows 8.1 Start button isn’t launching a Start Menu, but instead it gets users to the new Start screen that has been tweaked with several customization options.
In addition, right-clicking the Start button launches a new menu that lets you perform a number of actions, including the typical shut down and reboot tasks.
At the same time, users are also allowed to boot directly to desktop and skip the Start screen, but also to enable the App View mode whenever they launch it, just to make sure they don’t get to see the live tile interface.