Will Microsoft restore Start Menu to Windows 8?

Byron Acohido, USA TODAY | USATODAY

The firing of Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky, just 15 days after the launch of Windows 8, raises questions about whether there will be a return of the traditional Windows Start Menu.

Microsoft's not saying. But there are a couple of developments suggesting that might not be a bad bet.

First, to catch you up: Sinofsky, a one time aide to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, was summarily let go by CEO Steve Ballmer on Monday night, two weeks after the much hyped Oct. 26 launch of Windows 8. Until then, Sinofsky was head of Microsoft's Windows division. WIndows 8 is his baby.

Arguably the boldest change Sinofsky insisted on was to cut off Windows users cold turkey from the familiar Start Menu interface. He outlined his philosophy and rationale via a blog post written in connection with the Build developers' conference held a few days after the Windows 8 launch.

Sinofsky persuaded Ballmer to replace the Start Menu with a hybrid touch screen, plus keyboard and mouse interface. He had his detractors. But Sinofsky successfully argued that it was crucial for the company to orient Windows PC users toward the look and feel of the all-new Windows 8 Surface touch tablet and the latest Windows Phone 8 smartphone models.

He might have won the internal debate. But convincing millions of home and workplace users of Windows that the switch was for their own good hasn't gone well.

Software company Stardock has sold tens of thousands of copies of Start8, a $5 application that restores a fully functioning Windows 7 Start Menu interface to new Windows 8 PCs. Stardock has distributed tens of thousands more free trial versions, says Kris Kwilas, Stardock's vice president of technology.

"We were having some success with word of mouth before the Windows 8 release, and since the release, the floodgates have been opened, and the demand is surprising even us," Kwilas says. "It tells me that early adopters of Windows 8 feel there's something missing -- a comfort factor for how they want to use their PCs, vs. how Microsoft has decided for them how they should use their computers."

The lukewarm reception for Windows 8 appears to be running deep with Microsoft's corporate customers, as well. Gartner analyst Stephen Kleynhans has issued a widely cited report saying large organizations won't even begin small pilot studies of Windows 8 usage until 2013 at the earliest.

"We expect during 2013 a lot of companies will begin experimenting with Windows 8 tablets, running some small pilots as a learning experience," Kleynhans says.

User training and acceptance in corporate settings is a "major hurdle," adds Karl Volkman, chief technology officer at hosting services provider SRV Network. "Many people resist change because breaking habits is difficult," he says.

Complicating matters further, Sinofsky championed issuing multiple versions of Windows 8, including one for the Surface tablet that runs on an ARM processing chip, instead of Intel chips. Application developers have had to design software for two distinctive processors. None of the existing Intel Windows apps can run on the ARM-based Surface tablets. Microsoft has had to create a special version of Office to run on Surface, observes Trip Chowdhry, managing director of Global Equities Research.

"Office on Surface is a dumbed-down version. Consumers are confused, and confused consumers don't buy things," says Chowdhry. "Nobody can explain what you can do in one version of Windows 8 compared to another."

Al Hilwa, IDC's applications development software analyst, surmises that the bottom line probably dictated the timing of Ballmer firing Sinofsky.

The Windows division reported declining sales in the company's fiscal 2013 first quarter, which ended Sept. 30. Six weeks into Microsoft's fiscal second quarter, and two weeks into a Windows 8 marketing blitz, Ballmer must not like what he sees in Windows sales trends, Hilwa says.

Hilwa says Ballmer has to at least be weighing a reversal of Sinofsky's call to dump the Start Menu whole hog.

"Clearly, if the product isn't doing well, they could come up with a service pack that restores the Start Menu," Hilwa says. "There's a whole bunch of smaller decisions that could make the product easier to use with a mouse. They may have to dial the needle down enough to bring enterprises on board."

Wes Miller, an industry analyst at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft, says Sinofsky's sudden exit probably has more to do with personalities than any specific product flaws.

Miller points out that Sinofsky's replacement, Julie Larson-Green, actually directed the revamping of the user interface for Windows 8.

"She spiritually led much of the start screen work for Windows 8," says Miller. "So much about this decision is personality and the direction of the company moving forward -- and not really any explicit product-related decisions."