With Windows Blue comes fear of desktop's demise

Windows Blue rumored shutdown screen.

(Credit: Neowin)

Windows Blue has triggered a spate of doomsaying about the end of the Windows desktop.

Today there has been no shortage of articles claiming that Blue portends the end of Windows 8 desktop mode. You know, the mode that most Windows 8 users spend their time in.

Rumored changes for Metro -- the Windows 8 touch-centric tablet mode -- include a different way to handle multitasking in side-by-side snap view. Possibly providing less reason to drop to the desktop for multitasking.

But what seems to have most observers worried is the changes to Control Panel.

Here's what Information Week said.

Build 9364's (Windows Blue) tablet-centricism is so pervasive...the ability to modify Control Panel settings -- which previously required that users shift to the desktop side of the OS --... [Read more]