By Desiree Salas (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Apr 07, 2014 10:49 PM EDT
Tags Microsoft, Microsoft updates, Microsoft news, Microsoft 2014 news, Microsoft 2014 updates, Microsoft Windows 8, Microsoft Windows 8.1, Microsoft Windows 8 updates, Windows 8 like Windows 7, Windows 8.1 like Windows 7, Windows start button, Windows 8 start button, Microsoft Build conference, Build developer's conference, Build conference 2014, Build developer's conference 2014

"Microsoft showed off the future of Windows this week at its 2014 Build developer conference, and it looks pretty retro. In fact, it looks a lot like Windows 7," reported Mashable's Pete Pachal.

This observation prompted the tech news site to speculate that Microsoft must have thought that Windows 8.1 was probably "a mistake."

"A new Start menu, along with windows for Modern apps, takes the Windows 8 retrograde to another level," Pachal continued. "It's tantamount to an admission from Microsoft that the approach it took with Windows 8 was a mistake; that tiled, touch-first interfaces simply don't work very well on traditional PCs like laptops."

Do you agree?

During the said San Francisco conference last week, the Bill Gates-founded company said that Windows 8.1 will be having an "old-school" feel.

"First, Windows will get a bunch of tweaks that make it easier to use with a keyboard and mouse. Second, Microsoft announced that Windows 8-style 'Modern' apps will run in a window in the traditional desktop interface. Third, the Start menu -- the ultimate signifier of "old" Windows -- is eventually coming back," CNN said.

One conference attendee, a developer from a major software company, offered his thoughts about these revelations to Mashable: "Honestly I'm not really surprised. The new UI hadn't really caught on. There was a lot of user backlash. And let's be honest: Metro apps aren't the biggest draw."

CNN noted that the new tweaks were "more a concession" that Microsoft was too hasty in shifting traditional PC users to the radical design of Windows 8. The company needed to "reel them in" by giving users familiar anchors even as it rolls out new versions of its OS.

"It's a more gentle way of nudging the entrenched Windows 7, Vista and XP users towards change. And catering to these users could help jumpstart Microsoft's lagging ecosystem of Modern apps, which is lagging considerably behind iOS and Android," the American news agency observed.

© 2015 Latinos Post. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.