14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has brought back the Start button in Windows 8.1 Preview, but instead of launching the old and popular Start Menu, it actually gets users to the new Start screen.
The Start button is always visible when working on the desktop, just to make sure that users can quickly access the Start screen, while in Metro mode consumers are required to move the mouse cursor in the lower left corner to launch it.
Unsurprisingly, many Windows 8 adopters are fairly disappointed with Microsoft’s own way to address customer feedback, claiming that the new Start button is “an insult to everyone’s intelligence.”
Users turned to Microsoft Answers to express their frustration regarding the Windows 8.1 Start button, calling for Microsoft to bring back the Start Menu in the final version of the operating system.
Here are a few comments posted on the company’s community forums:
“You have got to be kidding!! This is not the start button/menu that people were and will still being not buying Win8 for?! Microsoft just doesn't get it? They are so out of touch with their customers. Where is the start button and menu that works exactly like Win7s and all other windows versions but Win8?”
“The start screen is worthless. It’s just more clutter, if there was a normal start button with a start menu. It would be so much easier, faster and cleaner to use.”
“The start screen is too much of a mess. The start menu is simple, clean and it just works.”
“I want the option to disable the Metro UI and go to what Windows is the best at in terms of user experience, which is the normal start button and menu. Maybe Microsoft will implement an option to disable Metro and just have the simple, clean, easy to use and never needed changing start button and menu in Win8.”
“You seem to forget that many people have been using your OS since the DOS days (some still prefer DOS). Many others have been weaned on Windows 95 & even more on Windows 98. How many XP users are still out there?”
Microsoft claims that Windows 8.1 Preview was designed to address customer feedback, so the Start button was specifically created to make the operating system more user-friendly.
The company is still expected to make some changes in the final version of Windows 8.1, but as far as the software maker is concerned, the Start screen is a priority and there’s no chance to see the Start Menu coming back in Windows.