Microsoft has confirmed a Start button is returning to the desktop mode’s taskbar of its Windows 8 operating system. The lack of the facility – which had been in every previous version since Windows 95 – has been one of the most controversial aspects of the software.

However, it will not offer all the functionality previously associated with the feature.Instead it will take users to the recently-introduced “Metro” interface. “We’ve improved the way you navigate to Start with the mouse by changing the Start ‘tip’ to be the familiar Windows logo,” the company said in a blog post.

“The new tip appears anytime you move the mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen, and is always visible on the taskbar when on the desktop.” Read more