During the build conference yesterday, Microsoft announced that they are working on to bring the Start Menu back to Windows 8.1 with an update which will be pushed on later.
This will satisfy the masses for whom the Start Menu has been a deciding factor. Microsoft wants everyone to shift to the new and innovated Windows 8 and hence is giving the traditional desktop users their familiar environment. This can be seen with the return of Start Button and the Boot to Desktop mode.
Another feature that will come with this update is the ability to run Modern (Metro) apps in the windowed mode. This will be very much like how multiple programs can be run side by side on the desktop mode of Windows 8.
Microsoft has not announced a date or time-frame about when the update (supposed to be Windows 8.1 Update 2) will be available, but there’s a little sneek peek at what Microsoft is aiming for. This can be seen in the picture above which is from the build conference. Because it will be an update to Windows 8.1 itself, we can expect it sooner than the announcement of Windows 9 which will supposedly happen next year.