Get out your black suit because we’re going to a funeral. At least we will when Windows 8 arrives and, according to the latest demos and mock-ups being shown around, the Start button dies. Oh Start. You were the centerpiece of the marketing campaign for Windows 95, announced to the world in a commercial featuring the Stones’ song “Start Me Up”. Never mind that it has never made a lick of sense that you need to start with the Start button when you want to shut down your computer.  

But The Verge says a phoenix of functionality has risen from Start’s ashes:

A thumbnail-like user interface will appear in Metro or desktop mode, providing a consistent way to access the Windows desktop and Start Screen in Windows 8 regardless of touch or mouse input. The new interface is activated on hover from the lower-left corner of Windows 8 and includes a thumbnail preview of where you will navigate to after clicking on the new visual element. The same element will appear in touch mode, and we expect it will be activated by a swipe action. If you are in desktop mode then it will show a preview of the Metro mode and vice versa.