More evidence that Windows 10 Live Tiles are dead

We posted recently on a rumour that Windows Lite may come without support for Microsoft’s Live Tile system, and that this change may percolate to the rest of desktop Windows.

Today there has been another sign that Microsoft is de-emphasising Live Tiles, which first came to our attention with Windows Phone in 2009.

The above screenshot from Windows 10 19h1 was posted by the WC’s Zac Bowden, and shows the pop-up menu which Microsoft shows after installing an app.

It appears Microsoft has removed the "Pin to Start" option from new app install notifications on 19H1. hmmm pic.twitter.com/pljkJwcnBR

— Zac Bowden (@zacbowden) January 29, 2019

In earlier versions of Windows 10 it normally offers the option to Pin to Start, as can be seen below:

With 19H1 it only offers the option to Launch, suggesting the presence of Live Tiles on the desktop may be in danger.

Thinking a bit more on the subject, there could be multiple reasons why Microsoft may choose to get rid of live tiles.

1. They never caught on and their telemetry tells them they are unused.
2. Microsoft needs to convert hundreds of millions of Windows 7 users to Windows 10, and an OS without Live Tiles may be exactly what they want.
3.  Live Tiles are designed for tablet mode, and Microsoft is planning a new dedicated tablet mode based on CShell.

Of all those reasons #2 seems most compelling, given Microsoft’s dedication to serving the enterprise market, who are the majority still on Windows 7.

Ironically this would give the dying Windows 7 the last laugh, with Steven Sinofsky’s tablet-focused Windows detour finally ending up right where it started.

What do our readers think? Let us know below.