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Happy 20th birthday, Windows 95!
When Windows 95 launched on Thursday August 24th 1995 (the clue's in the name), Mortal Kombat was the surprise box office hit, TLC was top of the charts, and Microsoft was pushing its new operating system with a $250 million publicity campaign. Start buttons everywhere, buying the rights to The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" and a cyber sitcom starring Jennifer Anniston and Matthew Perry.Yes, a cyber sitcom.
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Microsoft teases a classic Start Menu for Windows 8.1 with built-in Live Tiles
As a part of its Build 2014 announcements, Microsoft showed off an interesting twist on its classic Start Menu. Coming to Windows 8.1 in a future update, it has the look of the Start Menu Windows users have experienced for years, but adds the Live Tiles Microsoft has been pushing as a part of Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Terry Myerson made the announcement as part of an example of how universal Windows apps will be able to run in a window (and on Xbox), although users craving something familiar will probably just be happy to see their old Start Menu again. We didn't hear any more details on exactly when to expect the update, but you can follow along with our liveblog for all of the information as it happens. Update: Myerson has posted a few more thoughts after Day 1 of Build over on the Windows Blog, calling the demo a way Microsoft "could enable more productivity for customers working in desktop mode, while building smart bridges to the new modern user experience."
WinAero StartIsGone: for those who don't need no stinkin' Start button in Windows 8.1
Does the lack of options in that resurrected Start button have you all worked up? You're not alone. In fact, WinAero has developed a solution that gets rid of the lackluster feature in Windows 8.1 with its StartIsGone add-on. The software frees up space along the task bar since the button doesn't carry the same Start menu functionality that it used to. Free downloads are available for both 32- and 64-bit versions of the OS via the source link that follows should you be looking to keep one less item off of your desktop.
Windows 8.1 Start button makes cameo in Server 2012 R2 Preview
It's back! Yes, what you're looking at above is the Start button (plus matching options) that's been expected to return with Windows 8.1 (formerly "Blue"). Yesterday .NET developer Robert McLaws tweeted a series of screenshots of Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview (build 9431) which show the new Start button and a revised "Taskbar and Navigation properties" dialog -- among other things. Microsoft faced massive criticism last year after shipping Windows 8 without the Start button -- prompting third parties to create replacements (like Start8 and Classic Shell) -- so this is a welcome change. Stay tuned for Build 2013 (the company's developer conference) which starts Wednesday in San Francisco -- we're likely to find out more about Windows 8.1 and the Start button in short order.
Start button utility strips even more '8' from Windows 8, has sold 'tens of thousands' of copies
When we first reported on Start8, a mod that brings the tried-and-tested Start button back to Windows 8, it was impossible to know how fiercely the fires of controversy would burn over Microsoft's new interface. Some of us adjusted to the full-screen Start "experience" pretty quickly, but it's also clear that a sizable population of users prefer things just as they were. How sizable? Well, according to one of Start8's makers, quoted by USA Today, the $5 app has now sold "tens of thousands" of copies after the "floodgates opened" on October 26th, with further tens of thousands of users picking up the free version. Whether that's a lot or a little depends entirely on your frame of reference -- after all, four million copies of the OS upgrade were sold in the first four days. Nevertheless, interest has been sufficient for Stardock to invest in an update that reinstates even more old-school flavor -- including the ability to drag and drop Start menu items, and to disable the new Start screen toggle that appears whenever you move your cursor to that hotly disputed lower-left corner.
Samsung's S Launcher puts the Start menu back in Windows 8
You know those fresh new Series 7 all-in-ones Samsung outed in the wee hours of this morning? Well, it turns out that while those desktops will be running Windows 8, Mashable discovered that they've got a little something extra added to Microsoft's stock OS: a Start Menu. Called the S Launcher, it's a widget that replaces that tried and true Start button the folks in Redmond saw fit to eliminate in Win8. As you might expect, it grants access to settings, files and programs in one convenient window, and making additions to the widget is a drag-and-drop affair. So, all you folks having fits about the Start button's disappearance, fear not, Samsung's got the software to soothe your troubled mind.
Start8 download resurrects the start button on Windows 8, niche satiated
Some people just can't say goodbye.
