Windows 8 removed the Start button — users hated it, and Windows 10 fixed it

Windows 8 was Microsoft's most radical operating-system redesign in two decades. Launched on 26 October 2012, it removed the Start button and Start menu that had been the centrepiece of Windows since 1995. In their place was the Metro interface — a full-screen grid of coloured tiles designed for touchscreens. The traditional desktop still existed, but it was reduced to an app among others, accessible only from the new Start screen. Windows users opened their computers to an interface they had never seen before.

The reaction was swift and negative. Critics described Windows 8 as 'two operating systems stitched together' — Metro for touch and desktop for mouse, with confusing transitions between them. The learning curve was steep: users who had navigated Windows for a decade suddenly could not find the shutdown button, the control panel, or their files. Enterprise customers delayed upgrades. PC sales in the US fell 21% year-over-year in the quarter after the launch.

Microsoft responded with Windows 8.1 in October 2013, restoring the Start button (though not the Start menu). It was too little, too late. Windows 8's market share never exceeded about 6%, while Windows 7 remained above 50%. By the time Windows 10 launched in 2015 with a full Start menu restoration, Windows 8 was already a footnote — remembered as the version that tried to fix what was not broken.