Also, the platforms are undergoing increasing unification regarding their applications and stores. Microsoft is widely expected to fuse Windows Phone and Windows RT in the future, as TechCrunch has reported several times. This will put Microsoft in a decent position heading into the back-to-school period and holiday sales cycle. The Start Menu will return as part of the next update to Windows, which will land likely in August. Mary Jo Foley recently reported that Microsoft is looking to boost its Windows development cadence to a twice-yearly update cycle. The new Start Menu - All Of This Has Happened Before And Will Happen Again - will incorporate Live Tiles and other Windows 8 elements that will update the venerable UI element with Microsoft’s “modern” user interface push. But here’s something new: The Start Menu is now expected to return in August. That much is clear enough, as the company announced the forthcoming resurrection at Build earlier this year. Remember the Start Menu? Microsoft is bringing it back.