“Where do you want to go today?” was a much-asked question by computer users in the mid-90s, as Microsoft launched a $100-million campaign during the second half of 1994 to try and remove the nerdy stigma that had hitherto been applied to the PC.

Coinciding with the launch of its flagship browser Windows 95, Microsoft added a simple little button to the desktop that aided less sophisticated consumers in finding what they wanted to use.

The ‘Start’ button has sat in the bottom left hand corner of our screens since 1995, being the focal point for PC users around the world. Whether playing games like Quake and Doom or loading up a spreadsheet, any action usually “started” with the Start button.

But now, after getting rid of the paper clip, Microsoft is doing away with another Windows ‘icon’, replacing the Start button with a new ‘hot corner’ in Windows 8.

The revelation came as a Windows 8 “Consumer Preview” found its way onto the internet last weekend, baffling users who had come to expect a friendly welcome from the Windows logo in the bottom left-hand side of their screen.

However, only when switching between different “views” of the desktop to “Windows Classic Mode” was the button visible – and even then only revealing four options (Settings, Devices, Share and Search) – as opposed to a flowing list of menus and sub-menus that open as a user hovers over them.

The new user interface for Windows 8, known as “Metro”, means that booting up your computer will result in a full “Start Screen” as opposed to a desktop with Start Menu taskbar along the bottom.