The First Glimpse of the Windows 8 Start Menu

A new start for Windows 8.

The Microsoft Build event is kicking off in Anaheim, CA this week, so we're expecting lots of Windows 8 related news bits.

Before the conference starts, here is one new tidbit: the Windows 8 start menu. Microsoft has not officially talked about any of its changes in the start menu from Windows 7 to 8, but you can see below that there's been some tweaks that draw from Windows Phone 7.

The new start menu first popped up in Microsoft's demonstration of Windows 8's native ISO and VHD mounting. Hopefully we'll know much more this week.

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Top Comments

33 Ð

clonazepam , September 13, 2011 1:17 PM

I'll be first in line. The first thing I'll do is click on start, look it over, and then simply look for the "classic" option.
32 Ð

cottonball , September 13, 2011 1:14 PM

Looks like I will stick be using Windows 7 for a long time.
26 Ð

anonymous@guest , September 13, 2011 1:20 PM

It looks really out of place there.

Other Comments

32 Ð

cottonball , September 13, 2011 1:14 PM

Looks like I will stick be using Windows 7 for a long time.
33 Ð

clonazepam , September 13, 2011 1:17 PM

I'll be first in line. The first thing I'll do is click on start, look it over, and then simply look for the "classic" option.
23 Ð

Thunderfox , September 13, 2011 1:19 PM

And so they continue to dumb things down for phones and tablets. To hell with people who actually use their computers.
26 Ð

anonymous@guest , September 13, 2011 1:20 PM

It looks really out of place there.
9 Ð

Wamphryi , September 13, 2011 1:24 PM

It seems to me that the start menu shown in the picture is likely a specific start menu for My Computer (or whatever it will be called) as opposed to the actual Desktop start menu.
22 Ð

RabidFace , September 13, 2011 1:32 PM

i don't like it.
21 Ð

ichihaifu , September 13, 2011 1:34 PM

I hope theres an option for W7 theme.
18 Ð

ohim , September 13, 2011 1:36 PM

that`s dumb.
17 Ð

wahjahka , September 13, 2011 1:51 PM

meh, liked the one 7 better.
4 Ð

Benihana , September 13, 2011 1:51 PM

At least they seem to be still calling it a "Start Menu", unlike the taskbar -> superbar name change with Vista -> 7. Funny enough, the option itself wasn't changed within windows, so it still said "Lock the taskbar" instead of "lock the superbar".
12 Ð

The Greater Good , September 13, 2011 1:53 PM

Oh hell no.
-9 Ð

stm1185 , September 13, 2011 1:57 PM

Quote:
And so they continue to dumb things down for phones and tablets. To hell with people who actually use their computers.

Yeah Start Menu is for noobs, they should scrap it and go back to a command line interface!
-2 Ð

the_krasno , September 13, 2011 2:12 PM

It looks like a minimalistic Win7, I kinda dig that style.
0 Ð

eddieroolz , September 13, 2011 2:19 PM

Oh? It reminds of the start menu in the Classic shell. Why the step back, I wonder.
17 Ð

LuckyDucky7 , September 13, 2011 2:29 PM

So the so-called Start menu doesn't have any programs on it, thus negating the need to open it completely?

I don't get it, Microsoft...
8 Ð

pckitty4427 , September 13, 2011 2:43 PM

I really don't get what's going through the minds of Windows 8 developers.

I really hope there's the option for the Windows 7 start menu as well.
7 Ð

chaos133 , September 13, 2011 2:44 PM

One of my favorite features of Windows 7 was clicking on the start menu and typing in a few letters of the programs name in the search bar, it looks like with windows 8 you will have to click on Search instead of just typing it, it's not really a big deal I guess but it won't be as easy as before.
2 Ð

pckitty4427 , September 13, 2011 2:44 PM

WamphryiIt seems to me that the start menu shown in the picture is likely a specific start menu for My Computer (or whatever it will be called) as opposed to the actual Desktop start menu.

That sounds quite possible coming to think of it... I hope that's the case anyway.
-4 Ð

jimslaid2 , September 13, 2011 2:45 PM

Am I the only one who gets this? I think it's great.
1 Ð

madjimms , September 13, 2011 3:04 PM

Windows 3.1?

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