Microsoft Bring the Start Menu Back to Windows 8

[Vipera]

I don't really feel like I need to upgrade from Windows 7 just yet, This is not like the switch I did from Vista to 7, or Vista to Ubuntu, or Vista to Austrumi, or Vista to Vista Premium.

Nah. But really, 7 is too much of a good OS to upgrade it already. Maybe when 9 arrives, or if we get a new hardware standard not compatible with 7.

 

[chartube12]

^^^^^^

Windows 9 comes out between Oct. and March.

I do not defend windows 8 for the lulz. I genuinely like Windows 8. Nearly every single person who hates on it acts like the desktop isn't there (IRL people, not just the temp). They don't even call the START SCREEN by the right name and call it by it's UI style instead, METRO. Then around half of the same people hate give the windows version of the metro style give it love on the 360 and xbone.

My father in law is in the computer tech business and it seems microsoft needs to educate these downers more. Why?, because until they upgraded the windows partition on their dual boot PC's even he didn't know the desktop was still there. The START SCREEN was for all intended purpose a replacement for the START MENU on windows 8. Now I guess it is been set back by haters and people afraid of change as an alternative to the start menu. RT is the version w/o the dam desktop not 8, btw.

Has I said in my original post in this thread, I realized with windows 8 how useless the start menu and start screen are. Combo of shortcut keys, desktop shortcuts and name typing are more efficient. Plus both Windows 8 and windows 8.1 introduced new native features such as mounting virtual drives. CPU usage by it has been cut down anywhere from 15%-20% compared to windows 7. That alone has reduced heat in my gaming laptop by 10 degrees F. Not mention the slimer universal drivers that are now starting to get back ported to windows 7.

 

[Arras]

Onto what? How is Metro a more efficient UI than the start menu? I like to actually see what's on my screen when I'm searching for files/programs. Change for the sake of change (sidegrades) are downgrades when they don't offer anything superior to the table.

guize microsoft made a new keyboard qwerty's been around for 120 years time to move on people

To be fair something like Dvorak is much better than Qwerty... I mean, seriously, one of your fingers is on the semicolon by default. That's literally only a good thing if you're a programmer. But trying to move people away from Qwerty will be pretty much fucking impossible. It'll be like the Windows 8 thing but a million times worse.

 

[techboy]

How long does it take you to launch an application? Like, really?

I use the menu 54 times a day based on average (based on a crude program I wrote that counts the number of times it's opened on my Win7 box)...so a lot, and it'd be even more if I didn't use a command prompt for a lot of stuff.

Also, the new screen doesn't even support a hierarchy. You can make groups, but there was no way to put groups inside groups the last time I tried it, and in the "all apps" view, you can't collapse them, instead being forced to scroll past them.

That's a massive step backwards, IMO.

How long does it take you to launch an application? Like, really?

I do agree that what they should have done was have an overlay pop up (like when you first use an Android device) that highlights where the start button used to be and says "We've moved the start button to your keyboard now."
[/quote]
I'll agree this would help with confusion, but I still want the option to use it with my mouse. There was no real reason to remove the ability to use it with a mouse other than "because we can".

 

[omega59]

They should give people an option to want the metro or classic win7 interface/start menu. Yes they brought it back, but I still don't care for the tile crap. M$ give us better options not force us to use any part of metro including that startmenu metro crap!

 

[Arras]

I use the menu 54 times a day based on average (based on a crude program I wrote that counts the number of times it's opened on my Win7 box)...so a lot, and it'd be even more if I didn't use a command prompt for a lot of stuff.

Also, the new screen doesn't even support a hierarchy. You can make groups, but there was no way to put groups inside groups the last time I tried it, and in the "all apps" view, you can't collapse them, instead being forced to scroll past them.

That's a massive step backwards, IMO.

I'll agree this would help with confusion, but I still want the option to use it with my mouse. There was no real reason to remove the ability to use it with a mouse other than "because we can".

You could still use it with the mouse by moving to the bottom left corner and clicking, there just wasn't a visual Windows button anymore. Clicking that corner in Windows 8 does the exact same thing as clicking the button in 8.1.

I'm so tired of uninstalling Windows 8 from the machines of friends/family/coworkers... maybe this will give me a break. Seriously, virtually NOBODY likes this interface. A few people like the ones who manifested themselves in this thread do exist, but I seriously think they must be doing it for the lulz, because nobody can seriously like the idea of having the limitations of a tablet interface in your desktop computer. It can't be possible that people like the idea of running a single non-game piece of software fullscreen and find that remotely productive.

Or the abosutle pinnacle to me: if you use a touchpad and make sideway swipes it cojures that useless fucking menu on the right and steals focus away from what you are supposed to be doing, like, you know, working, chatting with yout buddies... instead of closing that monstrosity for the 50th time. Even better: absolutely no way to disable it without external hacks.

But great system otherwise, guys. Keep doing it for the lulz.

False. In your touchpad settings, disable "Enable Edge Swipes".

If the setting is not there, try installing the generic Synaptic drivers instead of your OEM's drivers. Also, no one is forcing you to use the fullscreen apps, you can just ignore those.

 

[FAST6191]

Regarding the start screen/interface formerly known as metro... most new machines I deal with are still windows 7 but for the 8 crowd (granted only about 20 at this point) there were murmurs of discontent, translated that means "I hate it, I really do, get this shit off my machine right now". Classic Start (I would have tried the others but this is stable enough, free and available on ninite) installed and the only one I have heard a peep from was the tablet one I installed it on, which meant I stuck a shortcut back to it in the taskbar and left it to default to classic start enhanced screen by default. Ever since the start screen is mainly there as a glorified news RSS feed and an email notification/subject reader.

Now for some of those I took the executive decision and installed it from the get go (they turned it on, entered names and later called me to transfer all their old files), others muddled through it for a month or two as their primary use machine (or primary use laptop). At some level it might have happened if I had given it longer but whether it would have made a positive difference to the users would be a different matter (I own a hammer and a screwdriver, why would I ever learn to live with something?).
Many of those otherwise get along well enough with OSX and various flavours of linux as well (more than a few now have linux mint, mainly mate though XFCE is not unheard of), made the jump to ribbon or the jump to libre office (and open office before that died) without too much hassle and otherwise do OK.

That said someone took a machine back to the shop (it was an insurance recommendation and the wireless was abysmal on it) with classic start installed and it got one of the better PC shop incompetent stories I have heard in a while of "the machine has half of windows 7 installed".

My bigger problems with windows 8 seems to be that the security model is built tablet style and in favour of the start screen, this gave me issues with some of the camera stuff and older style programs. In some ways it brings me back to the early days of Vista's UAC before they toned it down a bit and program developers upped their game a bit. Now that was ultimately a boon, and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was a slog.

I would got into a desktop vs tiles thing but that would probably err dangerously close to a tabs in IE6 being provided by stacked things on the taskbar type affair.

 

[Mario92]

Windows 8.1 and classic shell. Basically the same thing, but not that I really use windows 8 that much

As a serious point though, I have to say that windows 8.1 does more than most people even understand. Quite a few of those things are better than on windows 7.

I'm not the most power heavy user since my main OS is OS X 10.9, but I digress..

One major problem with 8.1 was that they decided naming it 8.1. That update already made computer to be as usable as 7 like you said and has pretty nifty power user tools added. Even I despise 8 but with 8.1 I have no problems aside from metro apps but I already removed all of them and installed regular versions. Metro apps are installed via Store anyway so nobody uses them.

I'll stick with Windows 7, no one has given me any reason to update or any real major/groundbreaking feature as to why I should. I'm comfortable with what I have.

There's actually basic problem with Windows: like you and many in this thread said there's no reason to upgrade, XP was already pretty much perfect so that's why still many use it and if they change too much they are alienating basically everyone who has used computer in any form. With either case people aren't going to pay for license unless it's forced with new computer. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Can they even make anything new groundbreaking other than upgrading IE and DirectX and forcing it for newest Windows so everyone will have to buy it eventually?

And seriously, why complain about something that they're bring back if they're not forcing you to use it anyway? We complained because we were forced to use the new interface. There's a difference.

What I have noticed with electronic devices usually is that less there's options to cutomize it more popular it is. iOS is good example and last time I tried Ubuntu they made customizing Unity really hard. Even on Nexus with vanilla android there's suprisingly low customization options overall so I had to install Cyanogenmod! If I look someones Windows 7 computer it's almost always same way: default pinned programs still pinned, nothing cusomized other than background.

Options and customization are great things and I love to have more power to customize my stuff. Thing is if they wanted to make Windows experience same way on all devices they had to make that change and other thing is that they basically customized everyones computer at that point.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Microsoft can't seem to do anything right lately...
This abomination is just as messy as the start screen

 

[smf]

Sorry, but unlike you, we are not mindless drones that are willing to be fed every questionable decision that Micro$oft makes

Adding the start menu was a questionable decision and you ate that up like a mindless drone.

There's actually basic problem with Windows: like you and many in this thread said there's no reason to upgrade, XP was already pretty much perfect so that's why still many use it and if they change too much they are alienating basically everyone who has used computer in any form.

XP isn't perfect by a long shot. Windows 8.1 has many nice features that are missing from XP. However if you're happy with XP then that is fine, just don't hate on Windows 8. I wouldn't run anything older than Windows 7 & just recently a Linux fan boy I know who had followed the "LOL let's hate Microsoft for Windows 8" line has actually started using it and says he quite likes it.

 

[MushGuy]

Adding the start menu was a questionable decision and you ate that up like a mindless drone.

Translation:

Try harder.

 

[osirisjem]

Microsoft fails at everything.
Windows 8 with no start menu was absolute classic Microsoft screwing up.

Windows 7 is more reliable ... no reason to move to Windows 8.

I use Windows 8 + Start 8 on one PC. It's my most unreliable PC. Even a few Vista boxes work better. Windows 7 was very reliable.

 

[the-green]

a good news even if I love windows 8 & 8.1 like it's now !!
getting back the start menu is a good decision

 

[SparkFenix]

So will the stuff in the menu be the same as the start screen? I got annoyed when I installed something and then was missing the .exe in the all apps screen.

Not to mention the disabling system restore feature that came with 8.1.

 

[lukands]

Maybe now I will actually kind of like using windows 8

 

[JPhantom]

To be fair something like Dvorak is much better than Qwerty... I mean, seriously, one of your fingers is on the semicolon by default. That's literally only a good thing if you're a programmer. But trying to move people away from Qwerty will be pretty much fucking impossible. It'll be like the Windows 8 thing but a million times worse.

too be absolutely fair to qwerty most people using a keyboard when keyboards first it came out did do programming so it was logical to have the semicolon a default key

and to the people saying microsoft like's to change for the sake of change you are wrong. They like change for the sake of license fees. If they kept up the updates on xp it would still be perfectly useable but they want to make money so they arbitrarily limit software to not run on that os and introduce another os with just enough visible changes to claim it is a new os. metro is pretty much the only visible change from 7. going back on it by adding a start menu really sends the message that upgrading to win 8 is not necessary which is a horrible message to send from the perspective of the bottom line.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

yeah, classic shell user here...i like my Epic Smiley Face start button...but since my laptop I bought recently has a legit copy of windows 8.1 (usually I pirate activate all my OS's) i'll take advantage of this..no reason not to. This is better than when they trolled us with 8.1 saying that they would bring back the start menu with no screenies and found it it was a damned shortcut to metro

 

[TVL]

too be absolutely fair to qwerty most people using a keyboard when keyboards first it came out did do programming so it was logical to have the semicolon a default key

That's not the reason. It's done the way it is because typewriters were supposed to get jammed as little as possible. Not many people knew C, C++ and Java back in the late 1800s.

I don't think I will have anything to complain about with Win 8.1 once they add functionality just like ModernMix.

 

[DaVince]

Microsoft Bring the Start Menu Back to Windows 8

And it makes no difference whatsoever because Windows 8 already had a Start menu known as Metro.

 

[vbkun]

I'll agree this would help with confusion, but I still want the option to use it with my mouse. There was no real reason to remove the ability to use it with a mouse other than "because we can".

The main idea was not "because we can", it may look like that but it was a matter of integration of devices. The whole 'start button' was moved to a button no matter where, no matter which interface you would be....

metro on pc? start on button bellow screen
desktop on pc? start on button bellow screen
your phone? start on button bellow screen
tablet? start on button bellow screen
some future win8 tv ? start on remote control button
etc...

Resuming, the idea was removing it from screen cause any device should always have the start button somewhere, but not all devices/interface would have a start button on screen.