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How Valve's desperation to escape Windows 8 turned it into a Linux powerhouse
(www.xda-developers.com)
this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2026
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Windows 8 was definitely a stumble, but it at least could be made good with a couple apps to fix default behaviours (ie. boot to Desktop Mode, restore Win7-style Start Menu).
Windows 11 is just rotten to the core.
If memory serves me correctly, Windows 8.1 introduced the right-click-on-start menu, arguably the best Windows start menu there ever was.
My memory of that time is getting foggy, but true - 8.1 definitely brought in a number of fixes to Microsoft’s initial, abominable Metro UI design.
The start menu was the beginning of the atrocious thing we have today, but right click on it, and you got a quick access menu to everything from a terminal shell to settings to actual shutdown options. It still exists in some form today.