Windows 8.1 is here to fix all that ailed Windows 8 users; first came the reintroduction of the Start button and now it seems the Start menu will also make a comeback.
Citing sources in know of Microsoft's plans, Paul Thurrott of Supersite for Windows reports that the Start menu will return as an option that will pop up when clicking the Start button – you know, like it always used to.
Putting Windows on the 'Threshold'
Thurrott isn't alone with the future Windows tidbits; in detailing more upgrades, ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley detailed how Microsoft is preparing to rollout a slew of post-Windows 8.1 updates for desktops, Windows Phone and Xbox One. These, by the way, fall under the Threshold umbrella.
According Foley's informants, the next wave of Windows releases will ship in three product SKUs. The trio will come with a consumer-focused Windows (see the RT version today), a consumer release based on the x86 codebase for desktops, and a traditional enterprise SKU for businesses and the IT crowd.
The new development is supposedly a move to bring the disparate versions of Windows for different devices closer together from an end user's experience perspective.
We wouldn't put this plan for a truly consolidated OS past Microsoft; one need only look at the Windows kernel inside the Xbox One's operating system to see Redmond's intentions.
