Now that Sinofsky is out, Microsoft could reconsider its options for Windows 8

Nov 16, 2012 09:26 GMT  ·  By

Windows 8 dumps the traditional Start Menu and instead adopts a “confusing” Start Screen that relies on live tiles to let users launch apps from a single screen.

Steven Sinofsky, the former Windows boss, is one of the main Microsoft executives who wanted to replace the Start Menu with a Start Screen, claiming that adopting a feature that would better mix the desktop industry with the touch-optimized market would support the company’s long-term plans.

CIO Today writes that Sinofsky even convinced CEO Steve Ballmer to adopt his idea, so all Windows 8 workstations now come with a Start Screen.

Steven Sinofsky is no longer head of the Windows division and more and more voices familiar with matter are hinting that a Start Menu option could, after all, land on Windows 8 platforms.

There are already several third-party apps that could restore the Start Menu on Windows 8 and Stardock’s Start8 is one of the most popular.

Kris Kwilas, Stardock's technology vice president, says that his software has already sold tens of thousands of copies, while even more consumers take the trial version for a spin.

“Early adopters of Windows 8 feel there's something missing -- a comfort factor for how they want to use their PCs," Kwilas says, hinting that Microsoft may actually develop a Start Menu for Windows 8, just to make sure its new operating system isn’t considered a confusing solution anymore.

But Steve Ballmer said in an interview with the Associated Press in October that Microsoft has absolutely no intention to bring back the Start Menu. You already have “a whole screen as a Start button,” Ballmer said.

Steven Sinofsky, on the other hand, explained during the Windows 8 launch conference that it’s just a matter of time until people get used to the new Start Screen. The same happened with the Start button too, he explained.

“You know, as familiar and productive as Windows 7 is for customers today, the world that led to Windows 7 began back in the early 1990s when familiar concepts like the Start menu were first conceived. Familiar today, but completely new when it was first released. That technology world was so very different than the world we experience each and every day.”