Microsoft explains reason for Windows 8 Start menu

From CNET News.com: Windows 8's new Metro-based Start menu has already aroused concerns and questions among users, but Microsoft sees the feature as a natural evolution.

In the latest Building Windows 8 blog, Chaitanya Sareen, program manager lead on Microsoft's Core Experience Evolved team, acknowledged some of the questions about the new Start menu from worrisome users.

"With regard to the main user experience, particularly Start, we're noticing some themes in your comments," Sareen said.

"Will there be a way to close Metro-style apps without going to Task Manager? (Yes there will be, but we also want to talk about why you probably won't need to use it.) Are we going to do anything to make the mouse more efficient in scrolling through your programs in Start? (Yes, we'll improve that experience and show you much more in the beta.) Some of you have talked about it feeling less efficient to cycle through your recent programs compared to using the Taskbar (and we'll have more to say about that in future posts)."

Although Microsoft has several tweaks in mind before Windows 8 officially launches, Sareen tried to explain why the company has adopted the new touch-centered Start menu. Comparing using touch with using a mouse, he said touch screens have become mainstream pretty much everywhere except for the PC. But the move toward touch on the PC has to start somewhere.

"Just like the introduction of the mouse, innovations like this do not happen without new OS support, new apps, and new hardware," Sareen said. "We believe that, as with the mouse, we will see touch augmenting, but not replacing, most every aspect of the PC experience over time."

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