Microsoft admits to a Windows user interface design mistake?

The first thing I hear when a client discusses Windows 8 is, "Where is the Start button?"  Complaints  about Windows 8 and it user interface redesign have been common place since its release, but now it seems like something is going to be done about it.  Windows 8.1 is going to be released later this year with some major changes to Windows 8, including adding a Start Button, common user tools, and a reversion to the Windows 7 look feel.  So is Windows 8 a big mistake?   I think that the issue is larger than that.  Here is a excerpt from a Forbes article that is  a good summary of the issues,  

"So, is Windows 8.1 a “mea culpa” from Microsoft? Perhaps. Microsoft has taken issue with the concept that Windows 8.1 is any sort of apology for Windows 8, or that the latest operating system  is the “New Coke” of this generation.

Whether or not it’s any sort of acknowledgement of failure for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 is essentially Windows 8 Service Pack 1. It’s the big update that fixes the bugs, addresses the issues, and adds new features users want. The fact that Microsoft is not calling it Service Pack 1, and the way Microsoft is positioning and deploying Windows 8.1 is significant, though.

Microsoft typically takes years to develop and release a new operating system. There were more than five years between the launch of Windows XP and Windows Vista, and nearly three years between Windows Vista and Windows 7. People in general have an aversion to change, but Microsoft has fostered a culture where Windows users become so entrenched in the status quo that even minor tweaks to the operating system are a major shock. More than 10 years after its launch, and more than six years after the launch of its successor, Windows XP is still the number two operating system with more than a third of the desktop operating system market."

Original Article

Some of the feature improvements in Windows 8.1 sound promising, but the one that I am holding out for is the Start button.   Weather Windows 8 is a failure or not time will tell.