lol, why?

I'm not a fan of the taskbar in 7.

I'm not a fan of the taskbar in 7.

Actually one of my favourite updates to Windows since Vista You likely already know, you can just tell it to use a small taskbar instead too ?

just uncheck the "use small icons" in your taskbar properties, and boom - back to the XP / Vista style. i think microsoft really perfected their layout with windows 7, i use windows 8.1 on my home PC and really like that too. what i dont understand is why people are in one camp or the other, can't they all co-exist?

That start menu looks horrible. I hope Microsoft gives users the option to disable it and use the start screen.

That's the only chance of me going anywhere near Win9....

Actually one of my favourite updates to Windows since Vista You likely already know, you can just tell it to use a small taskbar instead too ?

Yeah, thanks though.

They need to hire Stardock Software.

At least now it has the start menu back.. I plan on rainmetering the $hit out of windows 9 and customizing the look of it anyway. This will be the OS I upgrade to. Glad I never spent any money on 8

So you won't get 8.1.. but this you like? Why? If your customizing how is this any different? I honestly don't understand how you can try 8.1 and decide it's useless and see these screenshots and say "That's It!!" There are only minor changes here and this probably isn't the finished look anyway. I certainly hope the whining about the start menu finally stops. I am so tired of ignoramuses telling me 8.1 is terrible useless garbage and having to bit my tongue. I certainly don't think this new start menu is better than the start screen. Seems like a downgrade to me. I have all my games and apps on my start screen and a nice clean desktop underneath that's only 1 key or click away.

Here it is. Looks legit. THere's a "Use the start menu instead of the start screen." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--wgAsHWNRE

just uncheck the "use small icons" in your taskbar properties, and boom - back to the XP / Vista style. i think microsoft really perfected their layout with windows 7, i use windows 8.1 on my home PC and really like that too. what i dont understand is why people are in one camp or the other, can't they all co-exist?

Well, I guess that current Windows 8.1 design is ideal for 2-in-1 convertibles like the recent Acer Switch 10 and similar and for me it must stay something like that for this precise kind of products. 8+ versions of Windows were made with touchscreen in mind, forgetting about the huge install base of traditional PC devices and causing a lot of (appropriate) complaints for this reason.

That start menu looks horrible. I hope Microsoft gives users the option to disable it and use the start screen.

Judging from a new video of the start menu, yes, there is a check box to use Menu or Screen Unchecking the menu box results in 8.x normal start screen behaviour http://i.imgur.com/MbEVLrk.jpg

That option should have been there with Windows 8 and give us a choice to ditch those stupid tiles/store

Well at least if they keep that option in for RTM, we know if the new start menu is crap, we can still disable it and use StartisBack or another 3rd party

Start Menu - meh, I don't really care how it looks. It might be transparent if you're a keyboard-heavy user New notifications = YAAAAAY! (Still no preview available for MSDN subscribers)

Finally its look better than windows 8 ......

tbh, if you have any issues using window 8.x or the upcoming 9, then you shouldnt be allowed near technology in the first place. Its no different to windows 7 to navigate and in fact its faster, the start screen isnt forced on you as you can disable it, i dont know what the hell people are using the start menu for these days with the ability to pin programs to the taskbar, launch programs via shortcut keys and then of course the improved search function where 9/10 windows knows what your looking before you've even got to typing the forth letter in the program or files name. All of these complaints about looks and the start menu is really feckn pathetic. Ever heard of custom themes, no.... no one? Its never stopped us before. Get over it, 8 is better than 7 - Fact. Ditch the startmenu and get with the times by learning the features of a better OS that allows to do more faster. Save you opinions of looks for facebook selfies.

I find this amusing only because most modern design including iOS7/8 and Android's Material borrow a ton of ideas from Modern/Metro design by Microsoft. Pretty much the entire industry is moving towards the flat look.

I find this amusing because you think that if something is imitated that it's somehow better. The flat metro style looks like absolute crap. The sales numbers for Windows 8 prove that nobody wants their desktop computer to look like a cell phone UI. Most of my friends with iPhones prefer IOS 6 and have only recently switched to 7 because many apps no longer are available or even work unless you update.

They basically set the trend for anti-skeuomorphism and I'm glad they did. I personally find Aero to be hideous, looks like something from the 70's. I prefer the flat design principles. Material is by far the best looking so far but then Matias Duarte is pretty damn smart.

Well you my friend are a very small minority. 90% of the desktop gaming systems and graphics workstations I've built during the past 3 years have windows 7 installed by direct request by the customer. And I couldn't even count the number of people who have come to me with brand new laptops requesting that I wipe them and install windows 7 instead. The young crowd seems to be the only people I come across who like the flat tile-based UI, primarily because they live on their cell phones 24/7. The professional/Business crowd overwhelmingly prefers the better looking, more traditional windows 7 UI.

Multi desktop [youtube]VF4Eva_4UNE[/youtube] Start Menu's live tiles [youtube]I4eDVlRvws0[/youtube] Notification Center [youtube]7hG_0pLq49s[/youtube]

I find this amusing because you think that if something is imitated that it's somehow better. The flat metro style looks like absolute crap. The sales numbers for Windows 8 prove that nobody wants their desktop computer to look like a cell phone UI. Most of my friends with iPhones prefer IOS 6 and have only recently switched to 7 because many apps no longer are available or even work unless you update. Well you my friend are a very small minority. 90% of the desktop gaming systems and graphics workstations I've built during the past 3 years have windows 7 installed by direct request by the customer. And I couldn't even count the number of people who have come to me with brand new laptops requesting that I wipe them and install windows 7 instead. The young crowd seems to be the only people I come across who like the flat tile-based UI, primarily because they live on their cell phones 24/7. The professional/Business crowd overwhelmingly prefers the better looking, more traditional windows 7 UI.

The reason for the look of windows 8 and 9 is simply for performance. If UI looks are more important than anything else then perhaps its best you get a mac. It took me the lengthy time of 5mins yesterday for a fresh install of 8.1.. and without the need for thirdparty programs to get rid of the start screen, uninstall unwanted programs that come stock with windows 8.x, no messing about with reg tweak or under the hood type stuff and just using the plain in sight options that MS provide to have an OS up and running that is no different to 7 to navigate with the major difference being the themes... and thats a simple to fix issue if annoys you that much. Again.... CUSTOM THEMES PEOPLE! ffs get over it.

Get over it, 8 is better than 7 - Fact. Ditch the startmenu and get with the times by learning the features of a better OS that allows to do more faster. Save you opinions of looks for facebook selfies.

Um... the facebook selfie generation overwhelmingly likes windows 8. And FYI, windows 7 is the faster OS in just about everything. proof? PassMark for example: Windows 7: PassMark(R) PerformanceTest 8.0 (http://www.passmark.com) Results generated on: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 Benchmark Results Test Name: This Computer Graphics 2D - Simple Vectors: 34.1 Graphics 2D - Complex Vectors: 191.9 Graphics 2D - Fonts and Text: 276.7 Graphics 2D - Windows Interface: 134.1 Graphics 2D - Image Filters: 965.4 Graphics 2D - Image Rendering: 778.2 Graphics 2D - Direct 2http://forums.anandtech.com/images/smilies/familiar/disgusted.png 26.9 2D Graphics Mark: 892.0 PassMark Rating: 2126.6 Operating System: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 build 7601 (64-bit) CPU Type: Intel Core i7-4700HQ @ 2.40GHz Number of CPUs: 1 Cores per CPU: 4 Hyperthreading: Not Capable Motherboard: G750JX Memory: 32GB Hynix Semiconductor (Hyundai Electronics) DDR3 SDRAM Videocard: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M Hard Drive: Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB SCSI Disk Device (1TB) Hard Drive: Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB SCSI Disk Device (1TB) Hard Drive: WD My Book 1230 USB Device (3TB) Hard Drive: SDXC Card (63GB) Windows 8.1: PassMark(R) PerformanceTest 8.0 (http://www.passmark.com) Results generated on: Thursday, April 10, 2014 Benchmark Results Test Name: G750JX-CV050H Graphics 2D - Simple Vectors: 33.9 Graphics 2D - Complex Vectors: 124.6 Graphics 2D - Fonts and Text: 258.7 Graphics 2D - Windows Interface: 144.5 Graphics 2D - Image Filters: 929.8 Graphics 2D - Image Rendering: 859.2 Graphics 2D - Direct 2http://forums.anandtech.com/images/smilies/familiar/disgusted.png 25.8 2D Graphics Mark: 835.0 PassMark Rating: 1990.6 Operating System: Windows 8.1 build 9600 (64-bit) CPU Type: Intel Core i7-4700HQ @ 2.40GHz Number of CPUs: 1 Cores per CPU: 4 Hyperthreading: Not Capable Motherboard: G750JX Memory: 32GB Hynix Semiconductor (Hyundai Electronics) DDR3 SDRAM Videocard: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M Hard Drive: LITEONIT LCM-256M3S (256GB) Hard Drive: ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB (1TB) Hard Drive: WD My Book 1230 USB Device (3TB) Hard Drive: SDHC Card (15GB) ----------------------------- That's just one example. Go check out 3dmark scores for some more proof. ... or go take another few selfies with your tile based phone OS which is pretty much the same as windows 8. An OS designed for the brain dead touchscreen generation.

One benchmark is irrelevant it means nothing compared to real-world use, not only that, but im talking about navigation and general usability.