Images from an early build of Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows
8.1 successor, Windows 9, suggest the Redmond, Washington, tech giant
may resurrect its classic start menu.
Screenshots of an alleged early version of Windows 9, code-named
“Threshold,” leaked online over the weekend. A new start menu design is
included in the leaked images, which means Microsoft may bring back an
incarnation of its classic Windows 7 start menu.
Microsoft first unveiled a new version of its start menu at its Build
conference in April, and it received praise from attendees at the time.
The start menu change comes nearly two years after Microsoft unveiled
the Microsoft Design Language-styled start menu, commonly referred to
as the Metro UI in Windows 8, which was widely criticized for its confusing touchscreen-optimized design.
The redesigned start menu is a hybrid between the Windows 7 and
Windows 8 designs; the latter offers some features from the Windows 7
start menu next to Metro UI tiles.
The watermark present in the screenshots says that the new start menu
is part of Windows Build 9788, which may be an early build of Windows
9. While the screenshot watermark is labeled as Windows 8.1, ExtremeTech noted that it’s not uncommon to see alpha builds of a new Windows operating system using current version numbers.
It’s possible that this version of the start menu will make its way
into the final version of Windows 9, but sM4llziE, a member of the My
Digital Life Forums, cautions that there are multiple versions of
builds, which may contain different features:
“There are multiple Threshold branches FYI, meaning stuff seen in this build might not be in other builds.”
Should this version of the start menu be in Windows 9, it could help
Windows users become more accustomed to the tiled menu design in
Windows 8, which many users have kicked to the curb in favor of
third-party alternatives such as Start8 and Classic Shell.
Microsoft is expected to launch Windows 9 in Spring 2015.
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