Day: February 10, 2012

But, it will just be a physical one! Pail Thurrott reveals that all Windows 8 devices will have a physical Start Button (or, “Start Orb.”) If you have a legacy PC, it probably has a “start” key already, and if not, there is always the “Control-ESC” key sequence. So, relax!

There was a “hoohah” earlier in the week when people freaked over there not being a “Start Button” in the Windows 8 preview! Well, Paul sets our minds at ease!

Windows 8 Secrets: Windows 8 Is NOT Dropping The Start Button

“There’s been a lot of silliness and angst about Windows 8 supposedly dropping the Start button, the first time this central user interface has been absent from Windows since its debut in 1995. There’s just one problem: The Start button isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it’s being made more prominent than ever in Windows 8.

To understand what I mean by this, consider the recent news that the Start button–more correctly called the Start Orb, but whatever–has been removed from Consumer Preview-era builds of Windows 8. I corroborated this rumor in my own post, logically titled Start Orb Removed In Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

While it’s technically true that the Start button/Orb, which used to adorn the left end of the taskbar on the Windows desktop, is missing in action, most people are missing out on two salient points. First, the Windows desktop is not the primary user interface in Windows 8 anymore. That’s the Start screen.

Second, the Start button isn’t gone, and it’s not going away at all. In fact, it will be present on every single Windows 8 device sold going forward.

And here’s why I know this. As my Windows 8 Secrets co-author Rafael Rivera revealed last month, a Windows Key button is required for any PC or device to get the Certified for Windows 8 logo from Microsoft. This hardware button replaces the Windows button, and it will be present on all PCs and devices that come with Windows 8 preinstalled. And unlike the old taskbar-based software button, this hardware button, the Windows Key button, will be always on and always available, no matter which Windows 8 user experience–Start Screen or desktop–you’re using.

That’s why the Start button was removed from the desktop. It’s superfluous now.

As for you people who will upgrade to Windows 8 on your legacy PCs, you already have a Windows key on your keyboard too. And for the tiny, tiny minority of you that don’t, well, please feel free to use the CTRL + ESC keyboard combo. That works fine too. Even in Windows 8.

I’m not sure why this was such a big deal. But it’s just common sense, really.

Update: I’ve had to explain to a couple of people via email that mouse users aren’t in the lurch either. From the desktop, you can still mouse over the lower left corner of the screen to access a Start screen pop-up which, when clicked, works just like the Start button did in the Developer Preview. Everyone’s included. No compromises.”

9 inches is bigger than 7 inches. Yes! That is the idea behind the possibility of a new 9 inch model!

Fire in the Hole! Amazon May Ship 9-Inch Kindle by Midyear.

“There’s no question that Amazon’s going to sell a lot of Kindle Fires this year. And it might sell even more if it rolls out new and larger versions of the device. And according to some, that’s the plan.

Pacific Crest analyst Chad Bartley this week raised his Fire sales estimate for this very reason. ‘We are raising our 2012 sales forecasts to 14.9 million from 12.7 million,’ he wrote. ‘But we believe there is an upward bias, particularly from the new 7- and 9-inch models, which we expect to launch in mid-2012.’

It’s been speculated upon before, but it’s interesting to hear that Amazon may have a 9-inch version of the Fire headed to market later this year, particularly now that we know Apple’s iPad 3 will debut next month. Makes you wonder how the retailer’s loss-leader strategy will translate to the larger-screen tablet market that Apple dominates.

Maybe they’ll call it the Kindle Conflagration.”