Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Microsoft may finally bring back full Start menu with Windows 8.2

Published Dec 9th, 2013 2:30PM EST
Microsoft Windows 8.2 Features

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

As we noted last week, Windows 8 is a very polarizing operating system. While many Windows users find it much faster and more stable than earlier versions of Windows, other users simply hate the Metro UI and wish it would go away forever. Paul Thurrott reports some good news for desktop users who feel spurned by Windows 8 and aren’t satisfied with the changes made with Windows 8.1: Microsoft is working hard to appease them.

The most important change, as Thurrott hears it, is that Microsoft will finally be bringing back the full Start menu to the Windows 8.2 desktop mode. Unlike the current Start button that Microsoft added to Windows 8.1, the new Start menu will be much more like the one Windows users have known and loved since Windows 95. Thurrott also says that the new version of Windows will allow for Metro apps to run as floating windows on the desktop screen, something that users can only do right now if they’ve installed third-party applications such as ModernMix.

Thurrott says that while these changes alone may not be enough to make hardcore desktop fans happy, it’s still “a good sign” that Microsoft is “continuing to do the right thing and responding to complaints.”

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.