It appears as though Microsoft may have some big changes planned for the next version of Windows. Not only could the Start Menu return, but users may also have the option of running Modern apps in windows on the desktop.
Microsoft already introduced a few features in Windows 8.1 aimed at placating users who weren’t all that thrilled about the touch-first, tiled Start Screen. The Start Button once again has a permanent home on the Taskbar, and you can optionally bypass the Start Screen and boot directly to the desktop.
Now, that the Start Menu will indeed be making a return and being a feature that ships with the next Windows iteration. With the Button permanently affixed and boot to desktop as an option, there’s no reason not to give users access to a “classic” mode.
Bringing the Menu back could also be necessary to win over IT administrators, many of whom felt the dramatic changes to the interface in Windows 8 would cause their users confusion and hurt productivity.
Even users of a classic Windows desktop may still want to run brand new apps that were built for the Modern interface. Even you’ll be able to launch them on the desktop, too, windowed alongside your legacy apps.
How Windows will know that you want to do that remains to be seen. One possibility is that you’ll be able to right-click any tile on the Start Screen and pin it to your desktop or taskbar. Launch the Facebook app from your taskbar, and it loads in a window. Launch it from the Start Screen and you’re presented with the immersive view.
This will arrive with the next version of Windows, which Microsoft has codenamed Threshold. The retail product, however, will almost certainly be labeled like Windows 8.1 was, whatever the version number turns out to be.
Judging by the short gap between Windows 8 and 8.1 and the number of new features that were introduced, it’s possible that all this could happen by Windows 8.2 — which may not be that far off.
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