Do You Really Miss the Start Menu

[smakme7757]

You could also argue it's a preference thing as well,end of the day down to the user in question.

Yes you could, but the Modern UI hasn't really ever caught on. I'm well aware that the people who are happy don't whine on the internet, but the outcry for something better than Metro has been so big that everyone has an opinion.

If it was just a "Brand" thing or a love/hate fanboy orgy then it wouldn't have gotten as much (negative) attention as it has gotten since release.

 

[Mem]

Yes you could, but the Modern UI hasn't really ever caught on. I'm well aware that the people who are happy don't whine on the internet, but the outcry for something better than Metro has been so big that everyone has an opinion.

If it was just a "Brand" thing or a love/hate fanboy orgy then it wouldn't have gotten as much (negative) attention as it has gotten since release.

Win8 is their first hybrid OS,problem is those users that hated Metro etc never gave it a chance,sure it will be refined down the road or improved etc..I guess you could also argue doing something the same way for almost twenty years with a start menu from Win95 to Win7 then expected to do it differently in Win8 is too much for some users,I'm sure you can see my point of view.

I'm not a fan of the old start menu or even Metro but can handle either just as well.


Big question is what will they do in Win9 and 10 for the start menu,that should be interesting,I'm guessing they will keep it a hybrid start menu but with options for the user.

 

[akugami]

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.

The real problem is that MS thought they could pull an "Apple" and tell users what they want. MS's customer base is completely different from Apple's.

There's a good reason for it. MS is trying to get you to use Metro (and this is important) to use the MS Store. A very real reason why the Windows 8.1 update is only available through the MS Store. MS gets a cut of everything sold, just like iTunes Store, Apple's Mac Store, and Google Play.

I don't hate the idea of the Metro interface and using it on a tablet makes good sense. It does work on touch devices. The problem is MS tried to force power users who are used to doing things a certain way to make an abrupt adaptation to a new interface that flies in the face of how they've worked before. Kinda like how everyone uses QWERTY instead of DVORAK.

The simplest thing was to ease the user base into Metro. Allow the Start Menu but default is to use the Start Screen. Let Metro have its growing pains but you have a fallback option since the Start Menu is still there. See what works, what doesn't and fix it in Win 9.0 where you can maybe remove the Start Menu.

 

[lupi]

Yes, yes, and yes.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Great post! and I think that they are finally starting to see this perspective.. should be interesting to see what happens in Win 9.
The interface is definitely one main reason we are not migrating to win8 but going with win7 first here.

The real problem is that MS thought they could pull an "Apple" and tell users what they want. MS's customer base is completely different from Apple's.

There's a good reason for it. MS is trying to get you to use Metro (and this is important) to use the MS Store. A very real reason why the Windows 8.1 update is only available through the MS Store. MS gets a cut of everything sold, just like iTunes Store, Apple's Mac Store, and Google Play.

I don't hate the idea of the Metro interface and using it on a tablet makes good sense. It does work on touch devices. The problem is MS tried to force power users who are used to doing things a certain way to make an abrupt adaptation to a new interface that flies in the face of how they've worked before. Kinda like how everyone uses QWERTY instead of DVORAK.

The simplest thing was to ease the user base into Metro. Allow the Start Menu but default is to use the Start Screen. Let Metro have its growing pains but you have a fallback option since the Start Menu is still there. See what works, what doesn't and fix it in Win 9.0 where you can maybe remove the Start Menu.

 

[cbrunny]

I don't miss it for two reasons.

1 - I have ample desktop space to drop icons & can drop taskbar shortcuts, so there really isn't a need for one

2 - and most significant - they improved the Search function by orders of magnitude, so that anything - even Control Panel stuff or stuff I don't know what is called - can be searched with just a few keystrokes. No dealing with messy folders or buried applications or searching endlessly for anything.

I think the hybrid start-menu metro thing looks cool and I'll use it, but I really don't feel like I need a start menu at all right now.

 

[darkewaffle]

Nah. I use it very rarely on my work computer because it has about a hundred one-off utility type programs installed that I need sporadically. On my personal PCs I pretty much don't use it at all.

 

[nickbits]

i don't miss the start menu per say but I hate that the start screen is full screen.

 

[beginner99]

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.... 🙂

the command line is pretty much more keyboard and mice friendly than Start screen / modern UI.

Having said that with classic shell (or similar) Win 8 is fine. With SSD, boots faster than my phone...(note: if you tinker a lot also with hardware fast boot times do matter)

 

[bunnyfubbles]

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.

Too late for 8 maybe, but it wouldn't be in vain, Windows 9 can swoop in and be super successful even if its 99% the same thing as 8.

Heck, its already happened; 7 is basically the same thing as Vista; people just too stupid to realize that Vista's problem were just as much their own fault or the fault of hardware manufacturers trying to cheat Microsoft's hardware requirements as much as it might have been Microsoft's fault for trying to push Vista on users clearly not ready for it. Clean some things up, slap on a new name, and voila - big fail is huge success...heck, I'd be 100% cool with using Vista today if it had TRIM support.

And WinMe was truly terrible, not even fair to mention Vista or 8 in that same category, except for maybe strictly talking about success or failure scenarios in a 100% black and white sense.

 

[Imaginer]

No.

The proposed new Start menu would be nice and addresses the potential problems with long pointer travel and mouse drag, having menus closer and moved with a scroll...

But once I treated the Start Menu as a better desktop icon launcher that is more easily switched to (leaving the desktop as a scratch space), I really do not mind and prefer the Start Screen.

With the Start menu though, it would present the option to have some simultaneous view of forefront windows along with live tile information when the Start menu is invoked.

So, either way, I am good.

 

[Imaginer]

2 - and most significant - they improved the Search function by orders of magnitude, so that anything - even Control Panel stuff or stuff I don't know what is called - can be searched with just a few keystrokes. No dealing with messy folders or buried applications or searching endlessly for anything.

THIS! I like the improved search. BY FAR.

It is like a better command text input of DOS days. And no need for drilling through directories either or even remotely remembering full commands.

Hell, I thought Vista would be the first to use this, since at the time, I was under the impression that this would be possible with the new file system approach.

 

[davelpg]

I do not miss Start and wonder why all the negative comments about its absence. Might it be because some folks haven't spent the (brief) time to learn something new?

 

[GrumpyMan]

Start menus are like ex-loves and long time relationships, you never miss them until they are gone. Had MS left in the old start menu in W8 by default and had an option to try out Metro, then it would been more of a hit. Most people probably hardly ever used it, but once it was eliminated everyone was horrified and missed it. Of course the childish design of Metro didn't help either.

 

[jhansman]

Never missed it 'cause I never left it. Played with Win8 for a bit, and decided it's not for me. I can see it on a touch device, but on the desktop? Nope. So, now that Balmer is gone, I'll be interested to see what the next iteration of Windows looks and feels like.

 

[Towermax]

I do not miss Start and wonder why all the negative comments about its absence. Might it be because some folks haven't spent the (brief) time to learn something new?

Windows 8's new interface was easy to learn, true. But for me, it was far less efficient to use. You'll note I said "for me"--it might be different for you or someone else. We're not all the same. 🙂

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Just to annoy happy Win8 users, Microsoft intends to completely do away with the Start screen 😛

But no promises to do away with the BSOD.

 

[MongGrel]

But no promises to do away with the BSOD.

Have rarely seen a BSOD in ages myself, you're doing it wrong.

 

[Newbian]

A ton but classic shell fixed it and sad people have to rely on that while MS ignores it and watches as win 8 is hated for the horrible metro crap that is not what desktops are for.

 

[debian0001]

Using Windows 7 because 8 is terrible. Sorry, but if all you do is play games I can see it being ok but when you are a Windows Server admin, it's terrible to use Windows 8.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Just got win 8.1 installed finally and only because I built a new computer. I don't use the apps at all and I make it boot straight to desktop. I really can not tell any difference from win 7. The only reason I didn't buy 7 is because 8 supposedly boots faster and runs bf4 better. I can't tell.

 

[Raduque]

I don't miss the start menu. I found Modern to be mostly "alright", but it really comes into it's own with a touchscreen.

I don't even have icons on my desktop anymore, everything is on the Start screen or taskbar. I boot into Start and launch Chrome from there then the rest of my programs from the taskbar.

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.

Pin it to the taskbar and change the shortcut properties to always run as an admin.

 

[Raduque]

.dp

 

[Morbus]

No, because I use Windows 7.

Except at work, where I do use Windows 8. And I miss:
- the ability to close the start menu by clicking anywhere in the screen
- the speed of its opening/closing, i.e. lack of animation
- the accessibility it brings, with the control panel, run, computer, search, folders, tidy program folder, etc.
- and just all around its common sense and consistency

Metro's start screen is just sad, it's just a big shouty tool to promote an OS that has no idea of what it wants to be, used in advertising and touted as making things faster, when in reality it serves absolutely no purpose, it's just a pathetic pitiful marketing plot to make people think Windows 8 is new and improved, when in reality it's just a worse way of doing things that we could already do in Windows 7, Windows Vista even.

 

[infoiltrator]

I dislike playing where oh where have my simple program access gone?
As long as W8 accomplishes what I need in a straight forward manner it is acceptable. Yet always W8 find new ways to frustrate and annoy me.
What's with Microsoft store and media player not simple to even buy?