Screenshots of the Windows 8.1 start menu have been leaked

A build of the next major Windows update is believed to have leaked online. Microsoft has already said that it is going to bring back the start menu in the next major update. A screenshot that appeared online today gives us a look at how the Start menu might look once it finally makes its way back to Windows. Evidently it’s a departure from the classic Start menu as this appears to have Metro influence as well. This looks quite similar to other screenshots of the Start menu that we have seen up till now. The build 9788 of Windows’ next big update is floating around the internet though it hasn’t been fully leaked. Seeing as how screenshots are gradually appearing online it may only be a matter of time before the entire build itself is leaked online.

Mostly lost in the noise surrounding the World Cup final, a screenshot floated around the Microsoft-watching community. The image picked up attention because it contains what some claim is an image of the soon-to-return Start Menu in Windows 8.1. Microsoft promised that the user interface element would come back in a keynote this April. In the ensuing few months there hasn’t been much to go on in terms of new hints of what it might look like. A source speaking to Neowin‘s Brad Sams, according to that publication, “says that [the] image appears to be legitimate.” The Verge’s Tom Warren is more skeptical, saying thatthe image is “likely to be a giant photoshop.” I don’t like to post ‘leaked’ product images much, given their propensity to be fanboy-sourced fever dreams, but the design similarities to Microsoft’s own mockup are worth noting. The real Start Menu, whatever it will look like, is expected to land in 2015. Whether the image is real or not, it’s been interesting to gauge reaction by Microsoft fans to its contents. Comment on Sams’ Neowin article ranged broadly – from positive, to dismissive. The overall lilt, if I had to ascribe one to something as chaotic as 140 blog comments, was generally positive. That’s a point for Microsoft. Though, fixing a self-imposed wound is only so impressive.