[Aussie Keith]

Was Windows 8 a Mistake? Microsoft Seems to Think So

Microsoft showed off the future of Windows this week at its 2014 Build developer conference, and it looks pretty retro. In fact, it looks a lot like Windows 7.

During a tease of some possible new features in a future update, Microsoft's executive vice-president of operating systems Terry Myerson revealed a tool that users will recognize from previous versions of Windows: a Start menu...

Everything old is new again it seems and for good reason.

[Dazzler]

[AlanHo]

I suppose the change back to the Win 7 user interface is inevitable for Windows to survive as a PC platform in the long run.

Those of us who have put Stardock or similar programs to get the start menu back have been making that very point since Win 8 was launched.

[rustynutz]

Seems to be a trend with Microsoft, every second new operating system is shite... 

[Surferdude]

To be fair, I can recall all sorts of complaints and bitches about XP in the early days.
I wonder if in 10 years time, we''l be bemoaning the loss of our "beloved" W8?
 

[AlanHo]

The two systems that I found by far the worst were Windows ME and Windows Vista. My old faithful HP scanner and Epson printers had to be replaced because I found it impossible to get drivers for them

[Shambles]

I was hoping tonights "patch tuesday" changes - the 26 updates I received totalled 2.2Gb - would have offered more retro changes than they have. But no.

Still, having new minimise & closedown buttons on each tile window is an improvement, though I tend to work in desktop mode.

[The Gonz]

Old is new again. You're only at Windows 8, a long way to go before you get to Windows 95.

[diablo]

I installed the new patches last night, six of them totalling 920 meg. Took about 25 mins to download, install and reboot.

Not noticed much difference but I don't use my Win 8.1 machine very much, mainly installed it to get it out of the way.