For those who miss the classic start menu in the legacy desktop on Windows 8, this free app works great:
Welcome to Classic Shell
Welcome to Classic Shell
- Windows Media Center will no longer be included by default in any version of Windows 8, but will be available as an add-on.
- Windows Media Player will no longer provide DVD playback functionality, although DVDs will still be playable in Windows Media Center if it is purchased separately.
Wait....there's a Windows 8!!! When the hell did this happen?! Have I been in my cave for far too long? lol
Windows 8?!? I've only just got Windows 7!
Yes. I've been using the Release Preview for a while now. It boots up a heck of a lot faster than Windows 7. I stay in the legacy desktop most of the time, and with the Classic Shell app I linked it functions more or less like Win 7 for me, with the option to use "Metro" style apps if I want to.
So Windows 8 doesn't completely trash the desktop? Because there's no way I want a tablet style interface on my laptop.
Why'd they jettison the start menu?
I doubt they're going to make a lot of money on Windows Media Player for Windows 8. I think they're just trying to avoid paying license fees on each installation when many of them won't be using the DVD playback codecs to begin with.
FYI to anyone who cares, I use VLC media player. It's free, light weight, and can play pretty much everything. I think it's a legitimate alternative. VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework!
I don't know.
Sometimes it's nice when your software doesn't sync all over the place to thousands of different locations, or mine you for information which it uses to "enhance your experience".
yeeeah...