Fix the disappearing “Windows 8 Mode” in Chrome

A while back Chrome began its slow steady march to Metro, or Modern UI, as Microsoft would now prefer you call it. The current browser allows users to morph back and forth between desktop and Start versions by heading to the settings and clicking the option that appears in the initial dropdown menu.

It gives the user the opportunity to relaunch the web browser in Windows 8 mode or, conversely, relaunch in the more conventional desktop mode.

In the most recent version of Chrome, which is numbered 32, there have been some users experiencing issues. The problem is that the link, seen above, has simply disappeared. You may not see it, but it’s still there. Here’s how to get it back.

The problem involves hardware acceleration, and that’s the first thing you’ll need to check. In case you don’t know this off the top of your head, and few of us do, head to Chrome, open a new tab and type about:gpu.

Look for an option titled “use hardware acceleration”. If it’s disabled, then enable it. If it says it’s not available then you’re sadly out of luck. That means that the latest version of Chrome simply will not function in Metro mode for you, but the desktop version will still continue to function just fine.