14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has indeed brought back the Start button in Windows 8.1, hoping to see users forget about the removal of what proved to be one of the key elements of its top operating system.
While the return of the Start button is indeed good news for both users and Microsoft, it turns out that consumers aren’t entirely satisfied with it, especially because it doesn’t launch a Start Menu. Instead, it gets them to the same touch-friendly Start screen.
Users can’t get over it, just because they need a full-featured Start Menu, but it seems like the Start button obsession also lives on thanks to Microsoft itself.
Redmond reminds everyone that it brought back the Start button in Windows 8.1 with every single occasion, just to make sure that users know that its revamped operating system is supposed to be a lot more familiar working environment.
Here’s what Terry Myerson, the one in charge with the operating systems division, said during the company’s recent meeting with financial analysts:
“The Windows 8.1 release that's becoming available now has had a strong focus on the enterprise, both bringing back sort of the familiarity of Windows for productivity work, bringing back the start button, revitalizing the desktop for that core Office user, but also focusing on innovations for the enterprise, the great improvements in biometrics for customer IT departments that are looking at adding that layer of security. We also have some great work to support the IT challenge by bring your own device trends, supporting remote business data wipe on all Windows 8.1 devices.”
While this statement is clearly supposed to show us that Microsoft listened to customer feedback, it also puts the emphasis on the return of the Start button, a feature that was surprisingly popular without anyone actually knowing it until it was removed from Windows.
Outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer has also praised the new Start button with several occasions, while Julie Larson-Green, who was previously in charge of the Windows division and is now responsible for the devices unit, talked big about the return on this feature every time she took the stage during a large event.
So Microsoft is really proud of the job they did when it comes to the Start button in Windows 8.1, but it turns some employees aren’t quite satisfied with the way the company actually solved the problem.
Only this morning the company rolled out a video to promote the Surface 2, the brand new tablet that runs Windows 8.1 and comes with upgraded hardware.
The company was quick to remove the video, saying that it was all just a mistake of an employee who forgot to remove the app before shooting the clip. There’s no doubt someone lost his job at Microsoft this morning.
But what this unfortunate incident is actually showing is that some Microsoft employees do not really agree with the company’s new direction.
Since the Softies themselves don’t like the 8.1 Start button and turn to third-party Start Menu app, why shouldn’t we?