Microsoft May Ditch Start Button in Windows 8

(Image Source: Microsoft )   BY LAURA JANVIER   ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY   The windows start button could be disappearing for good with the new design of Windows 8. Computerworld reports -- in the button’s place, a redesigned, "Metro-style" interface to work well with touchscreens as well as mice and keyboards.   “Replacing the Start button, according to the reports, will be a ‘hot corner’ at the lower left. When that invisible hotspot is touched or clicked, the interface switches from desktop to Metro, or vice versa. That location is where the Start button currently resides in the Windows 8 Developer Preview.”   One tech blogger says there is no harm in change.   “It’s going to be fun to try out this one I suppose, but yeah and if you hate it you can always go back, people still now use Windows XP.”   But, The Register says removing the start button is a big gamble for Microsoft.   “Any change to the way people interact with a popular piece of software poses risks for the manufacturer. You risk alienating customers comfortable with the familiar way of working. Microsoft's last great interface change was Office 2007, which introduced the much-hated Ribbon interface.”   And a tech blogger for ZDNet predicts because there is not a significant improvement in Windows 8 it will be dead on arrival.   “The ability to refresh the operating system? Faster booting? A Windows Store? Live boot from a USB drive? Come on! All these features have been around in other operating systems for years ... put them all together and at most they’re worth a Windows 7 Service Patch -- not a whole new operating system.”   And the designers seem a bit stressed about the changes too. The lead developer for Windows 8 told Gizmodo being a part of the redesign has been scary, but exhilarating.   “It's no problem getting up every morning and going to work because you can think, ‘Oh, I can change the Start menu today.’ Then I drive home with an ulcer because I can change the Start menu today.”   Microsoft has not yet announced a Windows 8 release date yet.