Windows 8.2 Rumors Heat Up: Could be Available This Fall & Give Us a Start Menu

If the latest rumors hold true, Windows 8.2 is going to be released this fall, and it’s going to be awesome. The biggest reason it’s going to be awesome is thanks to the return of the Start menu, albeit one that features a different design than what Windows 7 had. Normally, a rumor like this would be a little hard to believe, but Microsoft itself showed this Start menu off at its recent BUILD conference, so it’s not totally outside the realm of believability that it could come to us before Windows 9.

Like the recent Windows 8.1 Update, 8.2 should bring a fair bit of tweaks to the table. According to the leaker, Wzor, Microsoft is still debating on whether to call it Windows 8.1 Update 2, or Windows 8.2. Of those, I prefer the latter, but deep down I wish Microsoft would have named these updates Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2.

This cluster of rumor also states that Windows 9 will have a reinvented Start Screen, and that the Start menu will be default on PCs without a touchscreen. Further, Microsoft could release Windows 9 as a free OS, but at this point in time that seems very unlikely. Instead, a prototype it’s apparently working on, called Windows Cloud, seems far more reasonable. Based on its name alone, it’d be an OS much like ChromeOS – heavily Cloud-based – and could be free-of-charge. Well, free-of-charge if you don’t consider what’s sure to be heavily integrated monetization schemes; eg: ads intelligently laced throughout the OS.

I admit that I don’t care too much to think about Windows Cloud or Windows 9 at the moment – now that I know the Start menu might be returning this fall, that’s what I’m waiting for. While I’ve become used to the Start Screen, I still prefer a classic Start menu more. So, bring it on.