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Do You Really Miss the Start Menu

I also think this new hybrid menu is pretty nice! if the final one is like that it will be better than I expected...
 
microsoft is pissed from all the attention start menu makers are getting

another market where its too little too late for most people.
 
on 8.1 and boot to desktop and rarely if ever use the metro apps on non touch. Don't miss start but the updates shown look very nice
 
Yes, I like 8.1, but I don't like the start screen. I immediately installed Start8 and ModernMix, and have been completely happy with Windows 8 ever since then.
 
I don't miss it. I've got the boot to desktop enabled and the show the apps view enabled when you click on start. Its worked really well for me.
 
Not particularly. I never installed anything like Start8 or StartIsBack. I'm pretty used to the loss of the Start button at this point, though I wouldn't mind if it was brought back somehow.
 
Since W8 is unusable without one, and Classic Shell or StartIsBack are the very first things I install on a W8 build, yeah, its necessary.

This is what W8 should have had from Day One. Now though . . . its too little, too late. Windows 8.x is firmly in the same company as Millennium and Vista.
 
The biggest problem with Win8 is not the lack of a start menu, but the fact that they shoehorned two interfaces into one OS. The start screen and metro applications just do not work for a desktop environment, especially if more than one screen is used.
 
never missed the start menu, but I also don't care about the start screen, the new update looks like a better solution, but it's not going to change the way I use the OS (keyboard shortcuts, desktop shortcuts, winkey+search and so on..)
 
well, still running windows 7 here, as i didn't like win 8.
on the other hand, i use command line red hat enterprise linux a lot, so.... 🙂
 
Bateluer said:
I wouldn't be overly surprised to find the Start Screen relegated to the same dustbin as Bob.
Click to expand...

I doubt it. The Surface range would be finished if MS did that.

While the Surface hasn't been the success that MS had hoped for, it's a good idea with a logical niche in the market, and from what I've seen of the Surface, it wasn't badly executed either.

If I was MS I'd probably bin the Surface and keep Surface Pro.
 
Bateluer said:
Since W8 is unusable without one, and Classic Shell or StartIsBack are the very first things I install on a W8 build, yeah, its necessary.

This is what W8 should have had from Day One. Now though . . . its too little, too late. Windows 8.x is firmly in the same company as Millennium and Vista.
Click to expand...
How is it unusable unless you refuse to use Metro or pin stuff to taskbar ,old desktop etc..


Lets face it any modern Windows is dead simple to use,do I miss it obviously not.
Can I adapt either way yes because modern Windows is not rocket science.

I would like to see it phased out to be honest,Win95 to Win7 is long enough,I'm all for something new in Win9 however.

Problem is Win8 was there first hybrid OS and lot of users never really gave it a chance because of Metro etc...


Nothing wrong with Vista(I used it from day one until Win7 was released without issues) again a lot of FUD spread due to lack of driver support by companies in the early days and OEM companies shipping hardware below Vista's minimum recommended spec,remember Win7 is based on Vista with two years refinement ie speed improvements/less UAC nagging and could also use Vista drivers in the early days for the most part unlike Vista which was new OS from XP so Vista drivers were critical.

WinME well I did not like that OS at all so will agree on that part.


Regardless some users will always find something to moan about in Win9,10,11 etc some things never change.

The day I can't use a Windows OS without a Start menu I will stick to consoles,power on and power off 🙂 .

🙂
 
Last edited:
Ancalagon44 said:
The biggest problem with Win8 is not the lack of a start menu, but the fact that they shoehorned two interfaces into one OS. The start screen and metro applications just do not work for a desktop environment, especially if more than one screen is used.
Click to expand...

This. Metro is pretty sweet for tablets and windows phone devices. They actually did a pretty bang up job designing it.

The problem, and massive pushback, come from the desktop users. Metro and the accompanying touch gestures that carry over to the desktop are a mess to use with a mouse and keyboard. Making swoops with a mouse is awkward at best, and they tend to trigger precisely when you don't want them to. It's just not a good fit.

As someone who is very outspoken against Metro/Win8 on the desktop, as well as someone who actually uses Win8 on a laptop daily, I am extremely excited for the "8.2/Windows 9" hybrid start menu. It's like they merged the old Win7 widgets with the start menu, having access to things like real-time weather and CPU usage in tiles right on the start menu is awesome.
 
My Win 8.1 Pro is modded with Start8 (now version 1.4) so that it functions exactly like 7, This is my boot screen - no layer of boxes and text between me and my programs. They are all 1 click, BTW. All my icons are customized and titles as well. I know exactly where and what they are and don't need a finger swiping layer in between us. It's not easy to teach old dogs new habits. The Start Menu is not something I use frequently. Next to the Start8 button aree two dots - red for power down and green for reboot. Like I said, I don't ,like layers. 🙂

Win81.jpg
 
It's not really a matter of missing the start menu, it's just that the start menu is better than the modern UI. The Metro UI just doesn't do anything better than the original start menu. Maybe the only exception is the search, but that could have just as easily been integrated into the original start menu as an enhanced version.

So it's really not a matter of just wanting to hate Metro, it's just that is doesn't do anything useful that couldn't already be done.
 
corkyg said:
My Win 8.1 Pro is modded with Start8 (now version 1.4) so that it functions exactly like 7, This is my boot screen - no layer of boxes and text between me and my programs. They are all 1 click, BTW. All my icons are customized and titles as well. I know exactly where and what they are and don't need a finger swiping layer in between us. It's not easy to teach old dogs new habits. The Start Menu is not something I use frequently. Next to the Start8 button aree two dots - red for power down and green for reboot. Like I said, I don't ,like layers. 🙂

Win81.jpg
Click to expand...


I've Metro organised so it keeps my old desktop clean but has stuff I need and use there without any Start button menu mod like Classic Shell etc..

DESKNEW9_zps88065638.png
 
smakme7757 said:
It's not really a matter of missing the start menu, it's just that the start menu is better than the modern UI. The Metro UI just doesn't do anything better than the original start menu. Maybe the only exception is the search, but that could have just as easily been integrated into the original start menu as an enhanced version.

So it's really not a matter of just wanting to hate Metro, it's just that is doesn't do anything useful that couldn't already be done.
Click to expand...


You could also argue it's a preference thing as well,end of the day down to the user in question.
 
We've got about 3k workstations here and about 1k virtual desktops.....all running XP and Windows 7. Windows 8 was skipped in the last hardware rollout because of compatibility issues due to their poor design considerations.

Mostly, the learning curve was too great at the time of deployment, so it was decided not to make the switch yet. If they add the start menu back, that will likely give them a chance again.

What bothers me most about windows 8 and 2012 server is when I need to edit a file with UAC enabled, I want to start notepad...I have to run it as administrator and that takes me typing "notepad" in metro, then right clicking on it.

If I pin it to the start menu, that's great, but right clicking on it to run as administrator means I have to click "run as administrator" at the bottom of the screen. I'm moving my mouse all over the place to do what I used to be able to do in half the time and a third of the mouse movements. It's simply inefficient and cumbersome....same for many of the menus. I'm sure it works great with a touch screen on a surface.
 
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