Some good news for Windows 8 haters – the Start Button’s return has all but been confirmed by leaked screenshots of a pre-release version of Windows 8.1, although perhaps in the way you were hoping for.

Yesterday, Paul Thurrott of Supersite for Windows revealed a leaked screenshot of what he claims is the Windows 8.1 desktop, featuring a redesigned Start button that’s embedded in the bottom left corner of the task bar, exactly where it belongs. Not surprisingly, the button itself has been refreshed, featuring Microsoft’s new monochrome Windows logo rather than the multi-colored orb of days gone by. According to Thurrott, when you mouse over it the button will change color, showing us that it’s good for something at least.

However – and this will almost certainly dash the hopes of Start Button lovers – it appears that it isn’t actually going to be good for much. Wanna know what it does?

Errr, well, it, err…  launches the Windows 8 Start Screen. Yes. The one with the Tiles.

Which means no return to the old-skool Start Menu, because apparently it’s dead or something. Microsoft and the Start Menu are finished, and you should think yourself lucky that it’s even bothered to put the button back at all.

So in other words, yes, the “new” Start Button is totally and utterly pointless, and its inclusion is nothing but a halfhearted attempt to pander to critics that will almost certainly not suffice – after all, the Tiles can already accessed via the charms bar, the windows key on your computer, and the special Windows button found on many of these new hyrbid/laptop thingamajigs.

However, there is another improvement in Windows 8.1 that ‘might’ make the Start Button a little more beneficial to have. Zdnet’s Mary Jo Foley says that as well as bringing up the Live Tiles on the main Start Screen, the button can alternatively be set to take users to the “All Apps” view, if they so desire.

The beauty of this, apparently – remember these are only leaks, albeit from reliable sources – is that users will now be able to group their favorite icons according to which ones they use the most. Foley says that this is the closest that Start Button diehards will get to realizing their dream of a return to the old-style menu, although they’re still going to have to live with the full-screen view.

Voila! Your new Start Menu… Enjoy :)

Thurrott says that the Start Button will be enabled as the default option when Windows 8.1 comes around, although he says that Microsoft were reluctant to do so, most probably because Microsoft absolutely hates admitting it was wrong. For those who like not having a Start Button (which, by the way, really isn’t necessary), they will have to disable it manually.

We should point out that Windows 8.1 isn’t all about the Start Button of course, and Thurrott confirmed a few new features besides it. One of the more popular ones will undoubtedly be the ability to boot directly to desktop, avoiding the need to navigate Microsoft’s Start Menu, though this won’t be the default option. Another neat feature is that users will now be able to use the same wallpaper on their desktops on the Start menu, freeing them from the awful default backgrounds Microsoft provided.

No more cruddy Microsoft wallpaper, apparently

Not that any of this has been confirmed by Redmond itself – bear in mind that Windows 8.1 is still a few months from being released. While Microsoft has promised to bring out a preview version by the end of June, the official release probably won’t happen until later this year – which gives them plenty of time to add even more new features, or kill the revamped Start Button before it ever sees the light of day.