MICROSOFT has said it will give a preview of a new version of Windows 8 next month.

The much rumoured update to the latest incarnation of Windows is expected to give users the option of booting direct to the traditional desktop, rather than the tile-based Start screen.

However, the desktop environment lacks the start button, which has been integral to all versions of Windows since 1995.

This has led to some users being put off by the radical changes they feel Microsoft has made.

Despite fears, the Redmond firm claims around 100 million Windows 8 licences have been sold, although predcessor Windows 7 is installed on around 10 times as many machines.

Windows 8 was designed to bring a standard operating system across multiple platforms, namely desktops, laptops and tablet devices, such as Surface.

The tile-based menu, which was called Metro before it was officially launched, is meant to work well with touch screen devices as well as normal mouse and keyboard interfaces.

The more simplistic structure was meant to make tasks simplier, although there have been reports of some users being baffled about how to complete tasks they were used to in previous generations of Windows.