Eh, right now it's just a matter of setting the registry value at HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer to 0 so it's not like the functionality is absent in any way. Everything points to that there'll be an easily accessible setting for it.
I don't see how a Developer Preview is supposed to indicate the differences between release versions of a product that isn't due till like, Q3 of 2012.
There were some things I discovered I couldn't change between Windows 7 Home Premium and Pro/Ult versions even with registry editing because it was handled by Group Policy Editor (an administrative function non-existent in Home) - so I'd expect a watered-down start menu if they make it an accessible choice for starter/home versions. This is just inherent to the theme of making people pay more for more functionality and control which they have always done.
Well, perhaps you'll see after reading my explanation or, if you'd prefer a smaller wall of text, reading some news articles on the subject. I'll be collectively refering to the taskbar and start menu and everything related as "the start menu" in this post.
With Windows 8 and the move to WinRT, Microsoft could have just gone "oh hey, we're instantly dropping the Windows API, from now on it's WinRT only and you'll all have to deal with it". However, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, Microsoft usually doesn't make such compatability-breaking decisions, no, what Microsoft usually does is that they carry on legacy from their previous operating systems into their new ones. This specific case is no exception, Windows 8 will have full backwards-compatability with the Windows API and thus be able to run non-WinRT (aka what most would simply but somewhat incorrectly refer to as non-Metro) applications. What this means is that
all the functionality required by the start menu is in the operating system at the level where it's relatively a matter of just a few extra lines of code in the codebase to have the old start menu in the OS.
As I mentioned above, Microsoft have stated that Windows 8 will be backwards compatible with the Windows API. Having made such a statement, it's unthinkable beyond ridiculousness that they would later go on to add something like "oh wait, actually Professional/Ultimate is the only (/are the only) editions that are going to have the backwards compatibility we've been talking about. You guys buying home won't actually be able to run any of the Windows applications written pre-2011."
If you're now thinking that what I've said so far doesn't mean or in any way indicate anything about the start menu being or not being in Windows 8, let me clarify.
Here is a comparison of the editions of Windows 7 showing their differences. The actual technical reason (which of course is there for economical reasons) that some functionality is unavailable in the cheaper range of the editions is that the underlying parts of the OS is either written in a different way or completely absent in those editions. The Group Policy Editor you mentioned being absent in Home is a good example of this; it's not there because group policies and all the code related to them is simply not part of the OS.
That's the difference, in our case with the start menu, the underlying functionality actually
is there to it's fullest. And even if it may seem to you, as a non-programmer, that this knowledge is very obscure and that Microsoft thus could still "get away" with not making the start menu available below the Professional edition, let me tell you that it's clear as crystal to every single person who has ever done any kind of native Windows development. More importantly, there's no reason for them to "get away" with not putting those extra few lines of code in the codebase (AKA not removing them as they're already there). See, they get to do their favorite thing, carrying on legacy, and they get to do this without any other to-be-restricted parts of the OS being exposed.
Adding to all this, despite your general impression that it's inherent of Microsoft to make people pay more for more functionality, they've never actually omitted any functionality in any way even vaguely similar in kind to a fundamental UI element such as the old start menu only being present in the Professional/Ultimate edition of the OS. You can find some arguably related differences between the Starter and Home Basic (and by a very long stretch between the Home Basic and Home Premium) editions of Windows Vista and 7, but there's no differences of the kind at all between Proffesional and Home (Premium) in any version of Windows.
As things are, registry editing to change a major interface option is not an accessible choice.
Even if everyone is capable of making a registry edit, most people will need a step-by-step guide or a third-party tool to do such a thing.
This is very true. Interestingly, I actually found out about the existence of the setting in an
article about such a third party tool.
Whether Windows 8 actually will include a start menu or not below Professional/Ultimate in the end will be interesting to see. As stated in my previous post, I do indeed find that everything I've seen said and shown so far regarding Windows 8 and previous Windows versions points towards it.
Edit: Typos etc.
