Microsoft continues to drip feed us sneak peeks at the upcoming Windows 8 software interface, unveiling the start menu in a video that also reveals how ISO files will be natively mounted in the new OS.
Thrilling news on the start menu front, we think you'll agree – and the headline is that it looks a bit like the Windows Phone interface, taking on the Metro UI stylings of the mobile system.
Hitting that familiar on-screen button currently brings up four options for Windows 8 users: settings, devices, share and search, which reiterates Microsoft's new multi-device focus.
Let's get it started
That may not sound like much, but don't forget the company has also developed a tiled desktop Start Screen for quickly launching apps and other programmes, which you can just about see in the background of the video.
It's not often that Start Menu fans get a story all of their very own, so we're sorry to have to sully it with a bit of peripheral detail about the ISO files:
"An ISO file is simply a disc image stored as a file, composed of all of the contents of a CDROM or DVD disc. You can also think of an ISO file as a full-fidelity image (digital copy) of the optical disc," explains Rajeev Nagar, Windows 8 group program manager on the storage and file systems.
"You can simply access the contents of the ISO file without needing to either burn a new disc or needing to find/download/install additional software just to logically access the ISO."
So in Windows 8, you "just 'mount' the ISO file (you can select mount from the enhanced Explorer ribbon or double-click or right-click on the file), and a new drive letter appears, indicating that the contents are now readily accessible," he concludes.
From Building Windows 8 via WinRumors
