If you have a Surface RT or Surface 2, you may not have noticed that Microsoft quietly rolled out the Windows RT Update 3 as an optional update.
The update (KB3033055) is rolling out now, so you should be able to go into Windows Update and install it at your leisure, in case you haven’t installed it already.
Windows RT Update 3: What’s Changed?
Unlike the Windows 10 update on the Surface Pro tablets, which was impossible to miss, you may not have even noticed when the Update 3 installed. There’s really only a couple of things that changed and the most dramatic thing (the Start Menu) has to be manually configured before you’ll see it.
- Start Menu: The new Start Menu looks a lot like the new Start menu in Windows 10.
- Circular Pictures: MS replaced the old, square user account picture frames with round “Windows 10 style” picture frames.
There may be some more changes but even Microsoft’s own update notes only list these two things.
Windows RT Update 3: Get The New Start Menu
Once the update is installed, you’ll still need to manually configure your Surface RT to use it. To get the new Start Menu, follow these steps:
- Go into Desktop mode.
- Tap and hold (right-click) on the taskbar and select Properties from the menu that appears.
- When the Taskbar Properties menu appears, select the Start Menu tab then make sure the Use The Start Menu Instead of The Start Screen checkbox is checked. Press OK.
- There will be a popup like the one below. Press Sign Out and Change Start.
After your Surface restarts, you’ll have the new Start Menu instead of the Start Screen.
If you decide you don’t like it and want to go back to the Start Screen, simply uncheck the Use The Start Menu Instead of The Start Screen check box.
Tim
Kent Beck is an American software engineer and the creator of extreme programming, a software development methodology that eschews rigid formal specifications for a collaborative and iterative design process. Wikipedia
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