Leaked Windows 8.1 build points to the Start button’s return

Posted on 29/05/2013 by Jon Fingas

When we last got a peek at Windows 8.1 "Blue," most of the updates lurked under the surface: rumors of a Start button revival didn't pan out. Flash forward to Paul Thurrott's screenshots of a newer build, however, and it's a different story. The leaked code has the Start button once more occupying a spot on the desktop taskbar, with behavior reportedly like what we've seen with Stardock's Start 8 utility. More throwbacks also appear to be in store. Users can now transfer their desktop wallpaper to the Start screen, and the storied boot-to-desktop option is available -- if turned off by default. Microsoft hasn't acknowledged the existence of these (or any) Windows 8.1 features, but the rapidly approaching Build conference suggests that we'll learn more in the near future.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

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Via: The Verge

Source: SuperSite for Windows

ModernMix is a $5 program that lets you run Metro-style apps in desktop-style windows

Posted on 27/03/2013 by Dana Wollman

Sometimes you just wanna close a window. Or resize it, or drag it so that it overlaps with something else. That's how Windows works, and it's more or less how you'd expect to interact with Windows 8 in particular. The problem is, those old-world rules don't necessarily apply to newer Metro-style apps: yes, you can snap them in place next to traditional x86 programs, but you can't resize those windows, nor can you arrange them so that they overlap with each other.

Fortunately for you multitaskers out there, Stardock's new app ModernMix squeezes all your Metro programs into traditional desktop windows -- ones you can resize, minimize, drag around and even close completely. The app also lets you pin Metro apps to the Taskbar on the desktop, as well as run them at full-screen when the mood strikes. It's priced at $5, but Stardock is offering a 30-day free trial to folks who prefer to try before they buy. Just remember: you'll need Windows 8, not RT. Not that you RT users are spending much time in the desktop anyway.

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Source: Stardock

Start button utility strips even more ‘8’ from Windows 8, has sold ‘tens of thousands’ of copies

Posted on 19/11/2012 by Sharif Sakr

When we first reported on Start8, a mod that brings the tried-and-tested Start button back to Windows 8, it was impossible to know how fiercely the fires of controversy would burn over Microsoft's new interface. Some of us adjusted to the full-screen Start "experience" pretty quickly, but it's also clear that a sizable population of users prefer things just as they were. How sizable? Well, according to one of Start8's makers, quoted by USA Today, the $5 app has now sold "tens of thousands" of copies after the "floodgates opened" on October 26th, with further tens of thousands of users picking up the free version. Whether that's a lot or a little depends entirely on your frame of reference -- after all, four million copies of the OS upgrade were sold in the first four days. Nevertheless, interest has been sufficient for Stardock to invest in an update that reinstates even more old-school flavor -- including the ability to drag and drop Start menu items, and to disable the new Start screen toggle that appears whenever you move your cursor to that hotly disputed lower-left corner.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

Start button utility strips even more '8' from Windows 8, has sold 'tens of thousands' of copies originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 07:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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