Windows 8: Microsoft spent three years killing the Start menu ?

[the_tyrant]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I was referring to reports over this year like this:

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft...t-button-hacks

or this

http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/31/wi...tart-button-2/

or this

http://arstechnica.com/information-t...-with-surface/

that kept to come in since early summer and until August or Septemeber this year.

The last released W8 public Beta I have read indeed lacked the ability to use these hacks.

If MS put back in these functions, than probably because they realised the wind blowing into their face. It also remains to be seen whether it stays this way, or again gets deleted in some subsequent SP. But the basic logic of theirs remains the same of course. If Metro-OS should become successful and with it the new app-licensing scheme being established, they must achieve that developers develope for Metro, not old Windows.

In the other thread on game compatability I have explained why I think that from gamer's perspective a success of W8 will hurt gaming, especially niche games, simulations, and modding in general. That's why I think it is in our best interest to help keeping sales numbers low and hope that it becomes a disastrous fail for MS. It must really hurt them, else they will not give up the idea to turn the PC from a free game-platform into an appstore-universe where MS always holds you at a line and makes money from that.

Here is the thing with the start menu: In the developer and consumer preview versions, you can hack back the start menu with one click, since the code for the start menu was never really removed. Windows 8 is built upon windows 7, and in the betas, the code was simply left in there.

However, in the official version, microsoft removed all the useless stuff, and thus, the start menu code was removed (along with a lot more stuff that is never used again).

However, microsoft does not "block" start menus. Many OEMs like Samsung created their own start menu, and bundled it with their new windows 8 PCs.

I doubt that microsoft would give up on the app store, more importantly, I doubt that application developers would give up on the app store. Historically, application developers have always embraced the app store model, and the app store itself is already welcomed by many developers, since it provides many practical advantages.

Also, I find that on windows 8 (not RT), it isn't hard to side load metro applications, it is a hell of a lot easier than symbian homebrew was.