Windows 8 Update Brings Back The Desktop

There's a new Windows 8 update coming your way this year which is said to bring a real return back to a more "classic" desktop environment. With Windows 8, the launch of the "Modern UI" was made ready for touch screens, appearing to many to ditch the original work environment. Microsoft has clearly seen the light and felt the complaints of workers around the world – Threshold will alleviate.

Some builds of Threshold will go so far as to ditch the Modern User Interface altogether, making way for a more original-looking workplace. This is also a change made for those that want to game – or anyone looking to continue using a mouse and keyboard well into the future.

NOTE: Threshold, like Cortana, comes from the Xbox franchise Halo. Threshold is the planet around which the first Halo ring orbits from the first Halo game from 2001.

This update will be device-specific, of course, launching features as defaults depending on what sort of machine you're working with. Tablets will retain the Modern UI while desktop machines will have the option of keeping the Modern UI to a minimum.

Of course with Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update 1, we've got a lot more control over the desktop/Modern UI split from the start, but beyond Update 2, Threshold should open a brand new (old) door.

The keyword "Thereshold" comes from Mary Jo Foley from CNET who speaks with Microsoft contacts who remain nameless. The name was mentioned in an internal email sent by Vice President Terry Myerson who mentions Threshold as a keyword for a unified operating-system engineering group.