Microsoft Reinvents Start Button In Windows 8 Update

By tech editor Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Microsoft heard a lot of complaints when it ditched the Start button in its latest version of Windows. Now, it's kind of bringing it back.

Windows 8 is designed for touch, but since most of us still point-and-click our way through the day, the lack of a Start menu meant a learning curve.

"The Start button is back. Not in the way people may have been expecting," says Engadget senior reviews editor Dana Wollman.

Wollman says in the update, 8.1, Microsoft adds an always-on Windows logo to the bottom left.

"Anyone who is expecting the old start menu with those fly out menus to come back is going to be disappointed," Wollman explains.

Clicking it brings up customizable tiles to fill with most-used apps and live updates.

You can boot to the old-school desktop -- though there's still no traditional start menu.

Microsoft is adding personalization options and a richer search when a free upgrade, for existing Windows 8 users, comes out later this year.

For more information visit: www.engadget.com.