I much prefer the tree view Start Menu.
I rather not go back to a smaller Start menu. Give the option to have both (if it appeases those that don't get the view below).
Well the good news is that you both should be able to customize the UI in threshhold to your individual tastes.
Which was the only real thing wrong at the release of 8.0 you got the UI they gave you and if you wanted to customize it you had limited options without installing a third party program.
As a result even though there weren't many if any at all issues with Win 8,
a large plurality of (if not most) people who are not techies meaning no one who would go out of their way to post in a forum like this one, think that Win 8 is a failure.
Before you argue with the above statement. Remember it is concerning people who are not as enthusiastic about tech as others hence the italicized underline.
My evidence for the previous statement is the relatively slow adoption of Win 8 compared to Win 7 and the likelihood that most enterprise customers will skip Win 8 and perhaps adopt Win 9 (that is if they don't procrastinate on updating until they have to like they did with the end of xp extended support).
It's part of the reason that the new menu is not showing up in 8.x update y.
Why put a new feature in a windows version that has a tarnished reputation among a lot of people when you can use is as a must have feature for a new Windows version.
It's very likely that windows Threshold will default to a desktop or metro interface in a rather logical manner depending on the hardware it detects.
http://www.zdnet.com/windows-thresh...-plan-to-win-over-windows-7-users-7000031070/
With Windows 8.1 Update, Microsoft officials designed Windows around a set of profiles based on the hardware specifications of the devices in use. Certain devices running Windows 8.1 Update include Power and Search buttons on the Metro-style Start screen; others don't. Some of those running Windows 8.1 Update have their machines start up by default in the Desktop/Win32 legacy environment, while others on touch/mobile-first devices start up in the Metro-Style Start Menu by default.
According to my sources, Microsoft will continue in this vein with Windows Threshold. The Threshold OS will look and work differently based on hardware type.
Users running Threshold on a desktop/laptop will get a SKU, or version, that puts the Windows Desktop (for running Win32/legacy apps) front and center. Two-in-one devices, like the Lenovo Yoga or Surface Pro, will support switching between the Metro-Style mode and the Windowed mode, based on whether or not keyboards are connected or disconnected.
(Update: It's worth pointing out the Mini Start menu is expected to be customizable. Users will be able to include Metro-Style apps or remove all Metro Style apps/tiles from the menu so that only Desktop apps are included in the Mini Start menu — either as tiles or in list form.)
The Windows Weekly show on twit.tv a streamcast network run by Leo Laporte (which is why I watch shows on that network being a fan of tech tv) covers some of the above points in video form
http://twit.cachefly.net/video/ww/ww0369/ww0369_h264m_864x480_500.mp4
in the segment from about the 11 minute mark to the 22 minute mark.
The important take away from this is that if MS executes Windows 9 aka Threshold properly then people who post in threads like these can stop taking potshots at each other or the "masses" for not "being able to adapt" to the UI or for adopting the new UI just to be "able to look down on those who prefer not to".
Instead the UI can be customized to the way the user wants to interact with their PC(s) or mobile device(s).
Here's hoping.
....