Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

JMH · Jun 28, 2012

Microsoft claims it took the controversial decision to remove the Start button from the traditional Windows desktop because people had stopped using it.

The lack of a Start button on the Windows 8 desktop has been one of the most divisive elements of the new user interface. It had been widely assumed that Microsoft removed the Start button to force people to familiarise themselves with the new Metro Start screen, which is the centrepiece of the Windows 8 overhaul. However, speaking to PC Pro at TechEd in Amsterdam, a senior Microsoft executive told us that the old Start menu had already fallen out of favour with users of Windows 7.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/375550/why-microsoft-killed-the-windows-start-button

JMH · Jun 28, 2012

Microsoft: You Are the Reason Why We Killed the Start Menu

You're the reason why Microsoft yanked our beloved Start button out of Windows. For shame.

One of the big negative issues surrounding the upcoming release of Windows 8 is the lack of a Start button, one of the standard Windows-based features we've used since the release of Windows 95. It was assumed that Microsoft ditched the familiar tool in order to force users into accepting the new Metro interface. Heck, Microsoft event went so far as to remove code from the OS that would have enabled a third-party Start button.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/St...ows-8-Metro-Microsoft,16153.html#xtor=RSS-181

AceInfinity · Jun 29, 2012

Stopped using it? There's falsity already in that part... I've always been using it, I would know because if I stopped using it I wouldn't have been looking for it in Windows 8, lol. I don't feel like having to search for everything, or have it pinned to my taskbar or have it directly on my desktop as a shortcut, so the start menu is perfect. The only difference here now is that they have a tileview, which in my opinion makes it more difficult to use than a start menu for finding the programs you want to use, or other utilities and tools.

Still struggling using that tileview even today, after 3 different Windows 8 previews that i've used.

I'll get a smartboard and then i've got a good reason to use Windows 8 :)

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Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

JMH

Emeritus, Contributor

JMH

Emeritus, Contributor

AceInfinity

Emeritus, Contributor