Microsoft could be bringing back the Start Menu in August

The Start Menu could be making its way back to Windows desktops in another Windows 8.1 update later this year, according to rumors. A second update for the operating system is apparently on the way, landing sometime in the third quarter of this year, and may see Microsoft bringing back the Start Menu before its expected return in the next version of Windows.

Microsoft revealed earlier this month that the Start Menu will return to Windows 8. While Microsoft is keeping the timing for its return vague, sources familiar with the company’s plans tell The Verge that the Start Menu will likely be available in a second update to Windows 8.1 currently scheduled for August. Microsoft’s Terry Myerson, head of Windows and Xbox software, demonstrated an early prototype earlier this month of what the Start Menu will look like once it’s available. It looks like a hybrid of the old Windows 7 Start Menu mixed in with some Windows 8 Live Tiles along one side.