Windows Start Menu May Not Come Back Until 2015

The Windows Start Menu, a feature lost in Windows 8, is coming back. At their BUILD conference earlier this year, Microsoft made a swift reference to the desired item coming back. Though they didn't give a specific timeframe, the mind share was on it coming back soon. That won't be the case, sadly.

The next major Windows release is slated for 2015, and that's when we're hearing the Start Menu will pop up again. Though Microsoft teased it as a feature in a future Windows 8.1 release, it's believed to be pushed back into 2015, possibly in Windows 9.

That next major release of Windows is currently going by "Threshold", which is pointed at a 2015 release. That's when the mysterious sources, who are credited with a good track record for these kinds of things, say we'll get the update. In addition to the Start Menu, Microsoft is said to be working on metro widgets, or "apps-in-windows", for the desktop in "Threshold".

With a minor update said to be on the way this fall, it could simply be incremental, making way for a larger release in the Spring of 2015. "Threshold" may cross the threshold right around the time BUILD rolls into town again, giving Microsoft an opportunity to better discuss the new features.

Source: Extreme Tech