What's shocking to me is that Microsoft thinks it can afford to wait until 2015. If they really made a mistake in removing the Start Menu (and they did) then why wait?

Every day user of XP, Seven and Linux here.
Every day user of Android phones and at times my Android tablet

That sucks. A friend of mine bought a W8 computer and we just hate it, she asked me for help to get it running and... I won't consider moving to those versions. Totally agree with dataguy.

I honestly doubt they will change much in 8.2. They might shuffle things about some, but they'll be looking at making it hard for those who don't accept the 'new vision'.

At this point it's a why bother if you;re going wait that long to fix something customers screamed long and loud about you'll just tick off everyone else that finally got used to living without the old start button because now something else will have changed yet again in 8.2 which is just disruptive at that late date.

I say forget it, there's aftermarket start buttons, just leave it alone and let people use the 3rd party options.

FWIW, this is one of the biggest marketing blunders I've ever seen MS do since Win ME.

I'm using Win 8.1 just fine and don't get all the kvetching as it's real old news and massive sour grapes at this point. However, I've weaned myself off almost all the other MS tools at this point and use all freeware and open source and am quite content without that Redmond monkey on my back sticking it's hand in my wallet on a regular basis.

Personally, after using it quite a bit lately, I'm considering a switch to Ubuntu and MS can go take a leap into the history books.

I have to agree with incrediBILL, you can't really unring that particular bell. It may be (really) annoying, but if they're going to wait that long to change it they may as well leave it alone because people will have gotten used to it by then. I've always used MS OS so it's all I know, but the recent changes have made me curious about trying a new OS to see how I like it.

MS is currently using Win8 Desktop to try and get people to use their (Win8) Touch user interface (the MUI). I suppose that after a few years, they'll reckon that they can't convince any more people to use Win8 tablets with Win8 Desktop, so they'll just get Windows to have a usable Desktop experience again.

A new and improved Start Menu, better looking again (not the ugly rectangular shapes), userinterface elements with a size suitable for mouse use, etc.

I find that just installing Classic Shell in a Win8 Virtual Machine is not enough to get me to like the experience. It's that Win8 is such a big compromise between Mouse and Touch, that ticks me off. I find it plain ugly.

While there are many great things under the hood of Win8, they are not "visible" to the end user (security, threading, expansions, etc.)

The third party makers have another year and a half, then MS will take it back... but agree with all above: too little, too late, and too stupid by half to have done it in the first place.

I now have a real nix box on the desk and find it quite useful, but there are STILL things which cannot be done as well, as easily, or as standard (print, music and graphics industries), so Win something or other will be on the desktop for a few years yet.

Unless they screw with it some MORE! Bwhahahaha!

Tangor, I shudder to think about how they could screw with it some more, hahaha. It's one of the main reasons I've resisted getting a Win8 tablet.

I think there should have been a choice right back to the launch of win8 allowing users to retain the "classical" user interface. I don't mean a shell to make the system look like win 2k, but an evolution of the start menu.

Users are used to things working in a certain way. I think of it as "toys and tools" there is no real reason to try and make a pc look and feel like the same ui from a smart phone or tablet.

Both serve very different purposes. Each has its own unique benefits and the UI should exploit these.

Mack.

I think the last numbers showed windows 7 was still gaining ground...even after it stopped shipping.... kinda hard to ignore that.

I've been using windows server 2012 for quite some time at home and on my web servers. For my home dev box I did a couple UI tweaks to make it more my windows 8.

I have to say, I've gotten used to hitting the windows key on the keyboard and typing to start a program. I also use the "shift" key to launch multiple instances from the bottom toolbar. BUT.... I never learned where the "hot spots" are on the screen and what to do with them. The only way I know to shut the darn computer down is with ctrl+alt+delete and then click in the RHS bottom. It was a mistake to hide this stuff in the UI and I only started to function after I read a couple of help tutorials...

FWIW, this is one of the biggest marketing blunders I've ever seen MS do since Win ME.

I completely agree. It's probably helped turn down the market for PCs.

We have to remember that corporate users have to train staff and retain compatibility. Although i'm not in the league of a "corporate user" I do have to consider compatibility across users. On at least two laptops I'm sticking with Win7 for the time being. I'd like to go to Win 8, with the added security, etc, but I don't want that interface on a PC.

For PCs, it should have a desktop we all know, and an option for the touch interface if you've got one of those giant touch screen PCs. For tablets and smartphones, the interface is great.

I can see some logic in trying to make the UI similar across devices, but I think MS have got it totaly wrong in this case. Different devices and screen sizes need differnt methods of interaction.

Mobile phones and tablets with a touch UI work great. But the main driving force behind this is the size and the fact its designed to be a portable device.

With a desktop you have a very different experience. The UI should represent this and take advantage of this.

Laptops are in the middle of the road and I think the user experience should be determined by how the user is likely to use the device.

If I'm out and about touch control is perfect on my phone or tablet, but when in the office doing work I need a more effective way of opperating the system. Keyboard and mouse works great coupled with a decent menu system. Windows 8 doesn't cut it for me.

The gap between a pc and a consumer device is closing and for hardcore power users the devices are becoming less useful.

Mack.

Windows 8 was purposefully designed for handhelds and should only be used on handhelds.

Why computer manaufacturers and vendors insist on selling new desktop computers with Windows 8 is beyond me because as a desktop it is close to useless. Even if they provided the user with an option for:
A. use touchscreen and limited menus/controls
B. use normal desktop (like 7)

Anyone that uses a computer for more than email and simple apps will find that teh functions of their normal software is not supported, ie: you can use Windows 8 for amusement and even then that is limited.

A lot of friends have upgraded their notebook and can only get Windows 8. Now they want to revert to their old notebook and cannot sell the new notebook even at 30% of what was paid.

Microsoft should sack the execs responsible or force them to actually use use a computer for business instead of a phone... show them to the real world. I mean, what do they know of, just messaging?

Even the Mac users, the ones trying running Windows in a VM, are saying "that it is worse than Vista!".

Windows 8 should be renamed "Windows Mobile"!

Since touch monitors for desktops haven't reached the price points for any mass appeal I wonder if 8.2 would stymie that development.

Why might the re-introduction of a Start Menu hinder the sale of touch-screens?

I haven't seen on any forum or blog the reason 'why' anyone would want the Start button back and what it has that the present Windows 8 doesn't have ?

I haven't seen a reason to use the Start Menu since XP. Anyone who has a keyboard that has a Windows button on it could work past that.

Want the Control Panel? Hit the Windows key and type "c" maybe "co" and you have the Control panel highlighted. Hit Return and you're on you way. The same goes for anything else on your machine.