Lenovo’s Windows 8 PCs to bundle SweetLabs’ Start menu replacement, app store

Lenovo's Windows 8 devices to bundle SweetLabs' Start menu revival, app store

Software developers and PC vendors have frequently catered to reluctant Windows 8 buyers with Start menu replicas, and that trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Lenovo has just reached a deal that will bundle SweetLabs’ Pokki suite with its Windows 8 PCs, including a Start menu replacement, an app store and a game arcade. The two companies haven’t said which particular systems will first ship with Pokki, although the deal starts with consumer-focused devices and will spread to include multiple PCs across the IdeaCentre, IdeaPad and ThinkPad lines. The SweetLabs agreement should cheer those who want the old Windows experience or an alternative software store. The bundle may prove bittersweet for Microsoft, however — it usually wants Windows PC buyers to embrace the future.

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Source: Pokki

Windows 8.1 Start button makes cameo in Server 2012 R2 Preview

Windows 81 Start button makes cameo in Server 2012 R2 Preview

It’s back! Yes, what you’re looking at above is the Start button (plus matching options) that’s been rumored to return with Windows 8.1 (formerly “Blue”). Yesterday .NET developer Robert McLaws tweeted a series of screenshots of Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview (build 9431) which show the new Start button and a revised “Taskbar and Navigation properties” dialog — among other things. Microsoft faced massive criticism last year after shipping Windows 8 without the Start button — prompting third parties to create replacements (like Start8 and Classic Shell) — so this is a welcome change. Stay tuned for Build 2013 (the company’s developer conference) which starts Wednesday in San Francisco — we’re likely to find out more about Windows 8.1 and the Start button in short order.

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Via: WinBeta

Source: Robert McLaws (Twitter)

Samsung’s S Launcher puts the Start menu back in Windows 8

Samsung's S Launcher puts the Start menu back in Windows 8

You know those fresh new Series 7 all-in-ones Samsung outed in the wee hours of this morning? Well, it turns out that while those desktops will be running Windows 8, Mashable discovered that they’ve got a little something extra added to Microsoft’s stock OS: a Start Menu. Called the S Launcher, it’s a widget that replaces that tried and true Start button the folks in Redmond saw fit to eliminate in Win8. As you might expect, it grants access to settings, files and programs in one convenient window, and making additions to the widget is a drag-and-drop affair. So, all you folks having fits about the Start button’s disappearance, fear not, Samsung’s got the software to soothe your troubled mind.

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Samsung’s S Launcher puts the Start menu back in Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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