Microsoft's Build 2014 "Alakazam! Start menu is back!"

[Badnik Mechanic]

Currently going live right now and theres been some big announcements so far.

 

LiveStream: http://channel9.msdn.com/?wt.mc_id=build_hp

 

 

Universal access to Apps on all windows devices (yes even Xbox One).

 

Windows 8.1 update!

 

Announced an AI assistant called Cortana. Sounds like every female Ai voice ever made.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26855113

[azoo]

Windows 9 looks nice.

 

Too bad that's probably all it has going for it. :\

[PSI Wind]

Oh, come on. Windows 8 has barely been around and you're already releasing a new OS? The upgrade promo better be as good as 7 to 8. Honestly, the Start Menu thing should've been an 8 update.

[Dr. Homem]

That's not Windows 9. The Verge reported it incorrectly as being Windows 9, but they actually confirmed it will come in as an update to Windows 8. See http://channel9.msdn.com/:

 

 

3h09min "And we will be making this available to Windows 8.1 users as an update"

[Frogging101]

Oh thank fuck they brought the start menu back. Looks like they've finally realized that phones+tablets and personal computers are two different things and deserve two different user interfaces. I don't know what on Earth made these so-called "user experience developers" think that merging two specialized interfaces that work very well for their target platforms into one "unified" interface that doesn't work very well on either of them was a good idea.

 

However, despite the return of the start menu, I doubt very much that Microsoft has truly seen the error of their ways. I fully expect to see them continue to shove the app store (which is a dumb concept on a personal computer to begin with and absolutely laughable when shared with non-PC devices) down everyone's throats, and continue to restrict customization and transparency of the OS as well as the very devices it runs on (Secure Boot, anyone?).

 

Then again, I'm open to being pleasantly surprised.

Edited April 2, 2014 by Frogging101

[JezMM]

Glad to see the Start Menu back, I like the integration of tablet-esque display into it (as long as those are customisable and not adverts like you get on 360).

 

Of course, not enough to make me pay like £100 to upgrade to 8, but if the time comes where I move to a new comp and Windows 7 isn't available any more, I won't have issue with it.

[Solkia]

Microsoft has already stated that Windows 9 is going to be entirely different from Windows 8.

 

They already know they fucked up on 8.

[iDEATH]

.....and i'm just sitting here using Vista

[Milo]

Microsoft never should had completely removed something as fundamental to (past versions of) Windows as the Start menu and Start button in the first place. Had the Start menu been optional from the beginning, I assume the vitriol waged against the Metro UI/Modern UI would had half as strong at best and consumers wouldn't be as reluctant to upgrade from past Windows OSes.

 

Because when you get past that, Windows 8 isn't too different from Windows 7 (which itself is viewed as "Windows Vista, but done right") in terms of UI and features.

[Gabz Girl]

*notices Windows 9 announcement was a mistake* Thank God for that!

Seriously though, I'm just fine with using Windows 7 for now. It works well and moving to 8 is not on my mind atm. I'm glad to see they brought back the start menu though! What was Microsoft thinking when they removed that??

[goku262002]

Glad they are fixing 8 but I'll still stick with 7, they are gonna have to do what they are doing to WinXP in 7 days in order for me to switch.

And Cortana has been known about for months Hogfather, it was formally announced at CES.

[Uraraka]

I hope it adds a power button to the bottom of the screen again or the menu. going to the corner to turn off your computer is the pits

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

.....and i'm just sitting here using Vista

You poor, unfortunate, Vehicon soul.

[Autosaver]

To clear some things up about Windows 8.

 

1) No, this is not the Windows 8.1 update coming this week. I honestly think the start menu update might either be 8.1 Update 2 or 8.2. The change is big so 8.2 shouldn't be that far off.

 

2) The reason why Microsoft got rid of the start menu is because they thought computers were going to be replaced by tablets and touchscreens. Tablets ARE incredibly popular everyone has to admit but since they're usually running Android and iOS it's not seeing its full potential. Microsoft is a bit late and all their offerings were ridiculously expensive.

 

Update coming April 8th video.

 

 

Can't wait for it. It seems to fix a bunch of issues while making the OS easier to use. With the Start Menu update coming later, it should be even better.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

I have Windows 8.1 on my laptop, and yes I had to purchase Start8 to get the old start menu back.

After this update, I'll uninstall Start8. I love Windows 8.1, it's faster than 7. However even though it's faster than 7, it's not enough for W7 owners to upgrade because 7 is fast enough for them.

But 8.1 has Windows Store, 7 will never have it. I installed the Facebook app and I am getting that Project Spark game, exclusive to 8/8.1.

Also the integration between Windows Phone, XONE and 8.1 is gonna be quite huge. Will this benefit me? Nope because PS4 and iPhone are my devices but for a MS fan, it will be like paradise.

[Solkia]

Tablets will never fully replace PCs. There are too many things a tablet can't handle that a PC can.

[Salamander]

.....and i'm just sitting here using Vista

 

I'm using XP.

 

...Which stops being supported in less than a week.  Uh-oh.  Time to look forward to learning how to use a computer again!

[Junko]

I have Windows 8.1 on my laptop, and yes I had to purchase Start8 to get the old start menu back.

After this update, I'll uninstall Start8. I love Windows 8.1, it's faster than 7. However even though it's faster than 7, it's not enough for W7 owners to upgrade because 7 is fast enough for them.

But 8.1 has Windows Store, 7 will never have it. I installed the Facebook app and I am getting that Project Spark game, exclusive to 8/8.1.

Also the integration between Windows Phone, XONE and 8.1 is gonna be quite huge. Will this benefit me? Nope because PS4 and iPhone are my devices but for a MS fan, it will be like paradise.

Well, it's a Microsoft exclusive, because it's on the Xbox One...

 

I'm still on Vista and I kinda wanna jump to 8.1, but I need to go through 7 to upgrade, so basically have to buy two OS's...

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Well, it's a Microsoft exclusive, because it's on the Xbox One...

 

I'm still on Vista and I kinda wanna jump to 8.1, but I need to go through 7 to upgrade, so basically have to buy two OS's...

 

Well I knew that but when I was talking about exclusive, I was comparing between W7/pre-W8 and W8 OSes. W7 will not get the game while 8/8.1 would, therefore it's an exclusive to 8.

 

Since I'm interested in Project Spark but not the XONE, W8.1 is the way to go.

 

EDIT: Just found out the game's also coming on 360. Butttt I don't own that either. XD

 

And yes you can upgrade from XP/Vista straight to Windows 8.1.