14 DAY TRIAL // A few days ago, a new set of leaked screenshots revealed that boot to desktop is turned on by default in Windows 8.1 Update 1, making everyone believe that Microsoft wants to skip the Start screen completely and get users straight to the desktop, as it happened in older Windows builds.
But a report published by Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley and citing people familiar with the matter claim that this isn’t the case.
Microsoft is very unlikely to hide Metro in Windows 8.1 Update 1, she says, although such a setting would actually make sense on non-touch devices.
Redmond has been struggled for months to get closer to developers and convince them to create Metro apps, so hiding the Start screen doesn’t come in line with the company’s plans to boost popularity of the Modern interface.
In fact, Microsoft has always talked bit about the Start screen, claiming that it has everything it needs to become a powerful replacement for the traditional Start Menu, especially because it groups all available apps in just a single screen that’s also optimized for the touch.
But hiding it at boot would give developers another reason to stay away from Windows 8, Mary Jo Foley notes, and that makes sense given the fact that Metro is still far from becoming the key feature of Microsoft’s new operating system.
On the other hand, it turns out that features to pin Metro apps to the taskbar will be there in Windows 8.1 Update 1, and so are close and minimize buttons for these tools. This could actually be a sign that Microsoft plans to allow users to run Metro apps in their own windows on the desktop, but it’s not yet clear whether this feature can be finalized by March or it’s supposed to debut in Windows 9.