Is This What The Windows Start Menu Will Look Like?
Image: MDL ForumsWe’ve seen in quite a number of reports that Microsoft is eager to put Windows 8 behind it and move forward with Windows 9. The release of Windows 8.1 and Update 1 shows that the company is trying to make amends, especially for the desktop user who may or may not have a touch screen. Because of this, the public beta of Windows 9 is expected to make an appearance in 4Q 2014 followed by a full release in Q2/Q3 2015.
Over the weekend, Windows Build 6.4.9788 hit the internet, showing that Microsoft will indeed return the Start Menu back to where it belongs. As previously reported, the Menu will contain both your standard Windows 7-style links and Modern UI apps in one list on the left, and a list of live tiles on the right. The main taskbar aligned at the bottom appears to be unchanged.
Neowin points out that this particular screen reads Windows 8.1 Pro, not Windows 9. Neowin's sources allege that the screenshot is legitimate, and that Microsoft is still using the Windows 8.1 branding for now (this isn’t unusual). If it weren’t for the leaked build, we would have assumed that the screen came from Windows 8.1 Update 2, which is expected next month.
Keep in mind that because the leaked platform is an early build of the next-generation Windows operating system, features will naturally change before the platform officially goes public. Mashable reports that the new Start Menu showed in the leaked 9788 OS looks similar to what was demonstrated during BUILD 2014 back in May. However, the tiles are different, leading to the assumption that this release is indeed an early version of Windows 9.
Another screenshot pulled from Build 9788 shows a Modern UI PC Settings window lingering on the desktop screen. This backs up previous reports that users can open Modern UI apps either on the Start Screen or within the desktop.
As previously reported, Windows 9 will cater to the desktop user as well as those with touch panels. If Windows determines that the user has a non-touch screen and a keyboard and mouse attached, then it will automatically boot up the desktop. If the platform detects a touch screen and no attached peripherals, then it will boot into the Start Screen.
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Wait. That's to much to ask....
I definitely agree. People sit on their laptops and tablets and down vote anything anybody says about the 8.1. But those people forget that there are people like me who make our bread with computers. I am a 3D/Compositor generalist and even the Z420s from HP that we got we have forcibly moved to Windows 7 because we all could not work on that. I want my workstation to feel like a computer. Multitasking or multiple displays are horrible on Win8. I don't need a toy. Keep your Metro for tablets where it was intended for. Don't push it on my workstation. And let the down voting begin.
But monthly fee for os is completely stupid.(windows 9)
What happens if you can't pay, you won't be able to go into your computer until you pay.
Sounds like ramsonware to me
Wait. That's to much to ask....
Isn't the only difference between this and the start screen as it is now that the start menu is not full screen? I have all the apps I use regularly pinned on the left-hand side of my start screen, with the metro tiles pinned to the right.
So if the only change is less usable UI space, I hope there will be an option to keep the start screen instead of a start menu.
Workstation + Mouse + Keyboard + 2/3 monitors = Desktop.
Touch = Metro Start Screen.
Don't mix them. Don't go Apple. If I wanted this I was going to buy a Trashcan Pro and then kill myself, because I could not look myself into the mirror.
But monthly fee for os is completely stupid.(windows 9)
What happens if you can't pay, you won't be able to go into your computer until you pay.
Sounds like ramsonware to me
It's a bunch of BS that Windows 8 won't have an official start button and that they are basically attempting to hold people hostage over it with 9. I'm a big windows guy, but this is a part of Microsoft that I don't particularly care for.
Thruth be told I am still to find all those problems and difficulties almost everyone talks about!
Yes, the start menu is gone, and yes the start screen is sometimes a bit annoying, but you can still put almost everything on your desktop, and there is little need to go there all the time!
It takes some time getting used to it, but this is by far the best OS from Microsoft I have tried! Fast and reliable, and games run better too!
Isn't the only difference between this and the start screen as it is now that the start menu is not full screen? I have all the apps I use regularly pinned on the left-hand side of my start screen, with the metro tiles pinned to the right.
So if the only change is less usable UI space, I hope there will be an option to keep the start screen instead of a start menu.
Of course they keep the start screen, however much I wish death upon it.
Alas, the main difference between this and the start screen, is that this doesn't destroy your entire workflow, and take you out of whatever you were doing.
Why does Windows need to get bigger, heavier, slower with each iteration?
Just another MS app pushing menu.
Why does Windows need to get bigger, heavier, slower with each iteration?
Wait. That's to much to ask....
They already have it, you just wasn't looking hard enough.
Why does Windows need to get bigger, heavier, slower with each iteration?
actulaly so far been using win8/8.1 for a year now and it far lighter than any previous version of windows. Keep in mind it was designed to run fast on tablets. it uses minimum ram , has a relatively small HDD foot print for a modern OS. the only draw back is the fact every one hates the tiles. me personally I've gotten used to them they are not really as ugly as every one makes them out to be , also you can customize them to the size of a thumbnail so they don't look like tiles any more.
i really don't see why every one hates 6win8 so much. and honestly if they kill features in win 9 that wer in win 8 I'll be pissed (like how win 8 is bassically linked to your xbox account if you have one for example.)
That's because those of us who have tried the OS and bothered to take five minutes to customize it and figure out how to make good use of it realize that it is an improvement over windows 7. I mean, I would take windows 8.1 any day of the week over 7 just because of the massively improved bluetooth.
The people complaining about windows 8 or metro are the ones who obviously either haven't tried the OS or are too lazy to customize it just slightly. If you get rid of Metro apps and just use it to hold your programs, it works wonderfully - the ones that you use frequently, you know exactly where they are... the ones that you don't, press the windows key, type three or four letters, and hit enter.
I don't know about you, but not having to take my hands off the keyboard sure sounds like an improvement to me. Yes you could do that with win 7, but it was much slower and less accurate.
I definitely agree. People sit on their laptops and tablets and down vote anything anybody says about the 8.1. But those people forget that there are people like me who make our bread with computers. I am a 3D/Compositor generalist and even the Z420s from HP that we got we have forcibly moved to Windows 7 because we all could not work on that. I want my workstation to feel like a computer. Multitasking or multiple displays are horrible on Win8. I don't need a toy. Keep your Metro for tablets where it was intended for. Don't push it on my workstation. And let the down voting begin.