New Video Leaks Show Windows 9 in Action

Okay – it seems highly unlikely that these two new videos posted by German tech site WinFuture are fakes. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s bevy of screenshots, we’ve got some new evidence of Windows 9 in motion – and it looks great. The two new videos show how users will be able to monkey around with the new Start Menu, and that maybe reports that the Modern Start Menu would be entirely absent from desktop versions of Windows were somewhat exaggerated.

First, take a look at this video:

As you can see, users can unpin every app from the Start Menu, resulting in the classic style Start Menu we’ve come to love up through Windows 7, and which was unceremoniously removed from Windows 8. Users still have access to all of those applications by simply scrolling through the programs menu, or by making shortcuts on the desktop, naturally.

Then take a look at this video:

At about the two-minute mark, something interesting happens. The user right-clicks on the taskbar and hits “Properties.” From there, the user selects the Start Menu tab, and unchecks the box that says “Use the Start menu instead of the Start screen.” After that, hitting the Start Button takes you back to the good ol’ Modern style Start Menu from Windows 8.

I’m not a big fan of the Start Menu, but Microsoft is extremely savvy in providing lots of customization options to give users whatever set up they want. Moreover, doing things this way will give Surface Pro owners – which straddles the line between tablet and “desktop” computer – will provide more options for how they want to interact with their machines.

These videos don’t show anything revolutionary. But they do show that Microsoft has listened to its critics and has responded with smart solutions to provide maximum usability and customization. After all, Windows should be about giving the user, well, user interface options. It’s nice to see that we’ll have them when Windows 9 is finally unveiled later this month.

[Source: WinFuture, CNET, Neowin]