When I was told about this little piece of news, the first words out of my mouth were “Oh my god”. And true enough, as my pal said, this is “oh my god” worthy in the tech world. In a surprise announcement, Microsoft said it would bring back the Start Menu to the Windows desktop. It’s not a part of the coming Windows 8.1 Update, but will come in a future upgrade.
In a demo,Microsoft’s Terry Myerson showed that the new Start Menu looks similar to as it did in Windows 7, but it includes a minimized version of the Start screen right beside it.
The Start Menu’s return follows Microsoft’s announcement that apps across all its consumer platforms can now be “universal,” meaning they will run across phones, tablets and PCs with little to no re-coding.
For developers, universal Windows apps have clear benefits. It means a developer needs only create a Windows app once, then make minimal adjustments to them to optimize the experience for devices with different screens and capabilities, since the platforms share APIs, security and other resources.
For users, the benefit is a consistent experience across every device they have running Windows software. Another plus: You won’t have to buy the app again and again if you want it on both your phone and tablet.
You know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of the good ol’days, when I was in middle school and so technically-challenged that anything I had to access, I used to access it from the start menu. Oh pshh how silly are kids :’)