Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   Summary: There are plenty of legitimate concerns about the Windows 8 interface. But if you think the removal of the Start menu is the root cause of those problems, you're mistaken. See for yourself.
   Ed Bott

   By Ed Bott for The Ed Bott Report | May 24, 2013 -- 02:34 GMT (19:34 PDT)

   I keep reading critiques of Windows 8 whose central premise is that Microsoft needs to bring back the Start menu.

   And I ask, in all seriousness, why?

   Yes, there are legitimate concerns about the changes in the Windows 8 user interface. The learning curve is steep, some of its most basic new functions are difficult to discover, and parts of the UI are, frankly, unfinished and in transition. Windows 8.1 needs to fix those problems.

   But simply plopping a Start menu on the screen isn't the solution. The problems with Windows 8 weren’t caused by the removal of the Start menu. All of the things you can do with the Start menu in Windows 7 can be accomplished using the new interface.

   Don’t believe me? Here, look at the Windows 7 Start menu, where I’ve highlighted its core functions.
   00-windows7-start-menu-620

   Let’s go through each of those five parts.

   1 - Search

   In both Windows 7 and Windows 8, you start a search by tapping the Start button or moving the mouse pointer to the lower left corner of the screen and clicking. (The fact that there’s no Start button in Windows 8 doesn’t matter; that gesture still works.)

   In Windows 7, you can begin typing as soon as you see the Start menu. Your input appears in the box at the bottom of the Start menu, and as you type, the Start menu’s contents adjust to show programs, settings, and files that match your input.
   00-start-menu-search-results

   That unified list might be a good thing if you find exactly what you’re looking for. But it’s limited to the top three results in each category, which means your search term has to be very specific or you have to click the heading to open another window. At that point it’s not really a shortcut anymore.

   In Windows 8, you can just start typing at the Start screen to begin a search. Results appear immediately as tiles on the left, and you’re not limited to three items in the list.

   Click (or tap) Settings to find matching results in Control Panel options, as shown below.
   00-start-screen-search-results

   And then there’s Files search, the weakest of the three options. I get more complaints about this than any other aspect of Windows 8, so here’s a tip. Ignore the Files option on the Start screen and use the search box in File Explorer (on the desktop) instead. If you remember the keyboard shortcut Windows + E, it’s easy.

   2 – Pin

   In Windows 95, it was a big deal that you could pin program shortcuts to the Start menu. But Windows 7 added the ability to pin programs to the taskbar, which meant that you didn’t have to visit the Start menu at all.

   The taskbar is still there on the Windows 8 desktop, which means you can still pin your most frequently used programs to it, which means once you get to the desktop and pin those program shortcuts you can mostly ignore the Start screen.

   And you can pin programs (including some system shortcuts) to the Start screen too.

   So, those desktop programs you use occasionally but not often enough to warrant cluttering the taskbar with? Pin them to the Start screen in a custom group. Call it Utilities or Extras or, really, whatever you want, and those pinned shortcuts are never more than a tap of the Windows key away.

   There's an All Programs shortcut at the bottom of the Start menu that leads to a cascading menu. It takes at least three clicks to find a program there (Start, All Programs, folder name). In Windows 8, you can see the same program shortcuts on the All Apps menu, which is three clicks away: Start, right-click, All Apps.

   3 – User Account

   Did you even know that clicking the icon at the top of the right column opens the User Accounts section in Control Panel? Very few people know about that little trick, and even fewer have the need to use it more than once or twice a year. In Windows 8, you can find it by opening Control Panel, typing user in the search box, and clicking the User Accounts tile in the search results.

   But if this little icon’s a dealbreaker for you, well, I guess you need the Start menu.

   4 – Files

   The right side of the Start menu holds shortcuts that open top-level folders in Windows Explorer: your user profile, your Documents/Pictures/Music folders, and (of course) Computer, where you can browse your entire file system starting with drive letters.

   Does anyone still use these shortcuts in 2013?

   File Explorer (the new Windows 8 name for what used to be called Windows Explorer) has a shortcut on the taskbar. It has a Favorites section in the sidebar on the left, where you can put shortcuts to the folders you use most often. You can pin folders, drives, and libraries to the Start screen. Here's what a suitably customized Start screen looks like.
   00-remade-start-screen

   This custom screen has a bunch of useful administrative tools under the Desktop tile, and a separate group of shortcuts to folders and system locations just to its right.

   You don’t need a Start menu to browse files, honest.

   5 - Settings

   The Windows 7 Start menu has a shortcut for Control Panel and Default Programs. You can pin either or both of those shortcuts to the Start screen, the taskbar, or both in Windows 8. The thing is, though, you’ll be much more productive if you search for the specific setting you’re trying to find. Enter a search term on the Start screen, click or tap Settings, and go.

   That Devices and Printers shortcut on the Windows 7 Start menu can’t be pinned to the Start screen or the taskbar. But really, when was the last time you visited that page? Did you even know it existed?

   Yeah, I thought so.

   So tell me again why taking the Start menu away made you less productive and why bringing it back will restore that lost productivity?

   Seriously, I want to know.

   Update: Several people have asked, what about the power buttons? Ha. I remember the jokes in 1995 when everyone thought it was hilarious to point out that you clicked "Start" to shut down. On modern hardware, the operating system and the hardware work together.You want your notebook to sleep? Close the lid. You want to shut dpown your PC? Press the power button. You want to lock your PC? Learn the keyboard shortcut Windows key + L.

   You can even customize these settings:
   Modern power options

   Back in the dark ages, Windows couldn't respond to these requests from hardware, and if you tried shutting down by pressing the power button you would lose your work. But that hasn't been an issue in years. Every modern PC design supports these features.

   article plus visuals

   Posted 11 years ago #
2. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   Bott seems to like the new win8 GUI -- apparently most people disagree.

   "Windows 8 Metro apps usage"
   http://www.soluto.com/reports

   " among desktop and laptop users, 60% of users launch a Metro app less than once a day."
   "44% of Windows 8 tablet users launch a Metro app less than once a day. "

   Bott questions re-adding the Start Button/Menu...

   This is more complicated, but the core problem I think is manufacturers sell Windows PCs & laptops to loads of people who've seen all the easy to use ads, only Windows isn't really. If you think about it it's easier to drive a car, only with a car you need not only training but practice & have to pass a test. Using Windows is one of very few things in life where almost everyone learns by doing, & if/when they do take any sort of training outside of work, chances are pretty good that the instructor is nothing more than someone who taught themselves, but is just further along the learning curve -- 1/2 of what they teach may be incorrect. Long story short, many people don't take full advantage of their PC/laptop; many have systems that don't work properly, but because support is nonexistent, they can't do anything about it; many who muddle through learn to use their PC/laptop by rote memorization, e.g. do this & that happens; most things about PCs/laptops are inherited from the days when it was a DIY thing, not something most households may have in many countries [a Very recent development].

   Now take someone who only knows the Start Menu, doesn't know much of anything else about their PC other than how to turn it on/off [& may not even remember that], & turn their world sideways by 1) saying only idgits use the Start Menu, & 2) you should be using a tablet anyway. Happy they are not. It's like someone decided on a whim that all milk from now on would be green, or purple -- you're messing with peoples' definition of their world, & psychologically that ticks people off.

   Bott likely prides himself in thinking like a Windows geek -- more power to him. But the percentage of total PC/laptop users reading his stuff is in decline, just like the % of total users who are Windows geeks is in decline -- PC & laptops aren't just for geeks anymore. You want to pretend they are? Fine, you'll just drive them to tablets. Tablets may do far less, but they don't require learning, they do exactly what the ads show them doing, & anyone can do that stuff within seconds of turning the tablet on. IN fact I'd go so far as to say that Windows nerds like Bott are one of win8's biggest problems -- if it weren't for that loyal segment of the market MS execs would have figured out some other way to up stock prices & get their bonuses.

   Ah well, I'm going to go fix another cup of coffee whilst Bott drinks Redmond's Kool-Aid.

   Posted 11 years ago #
3. 

   ChrisS
   Administrator

   Comparing Win8 to a car is a good analogy and brings to mind the old joke If Windows were a car

   Drastically changing the Windows GUI is like GM swapping the location of the break and accelerator pedals. Sure, it might make some ergonomic sense, and all the cool kids would immediately tell you it was a vast improvement, but it immediately invalidates years of acquired expertise.

   I would have thought that Microsoft would have wanted to build on the success of XP, their most successful release, but they're telling their vast user base "you're dead to us". It's "New Coke" all over again. I'm sure some recall when Coca Cola reformulated their recipe to mimic Pepsi because they lusted after all those Pepsi drinkers. Yeah, that worked out well.

   I guess Microsoft figures that they can completely alienate their user base whilst attempting to capture the Smartphone market but I think that they should be watching Google because Google has the cash to make a viable Linux desktop for the masses. For a while I thought Sun would go after MS but their focus is different and Open Office was really just about jabbing a sharp stick in Bill Gates' side but Google wants to control the world.

   Posted 11 years ago #
4. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   I Like the joke, & agree very much with what you've posted Chris.

   A couple of weeks ago something or other really drove home the fact that there are loads & loads of people who truly know little about Windows or PCs. Most all the time it's not their fault. No one, not Microsoft, not the manufacturers, most often not the stores ever said you needed to learn anything when they were looking to buy a PC or laptop. That's not a big deal when you're making &/or selling most things, since people generally know what the products are, what training & skills are necessary, & the amount of work involved -- you buy a lawnmower you figure you'll need to learn the controls, have to fill it with gas, & using it's going to involve some physical labor -- you buy a sewing machine it's taken for granted you'll have to learn how to sew if you don't know already. Stuff like tablets & cell phones are newer to the world, so there's all sorts of instructions & such available from the manufacturer and cell phone carriers, plus they're locked down, partly to keep you from getting lost &/or doing something that would require any sort of expertise to fix. And both are much simpler than PCs/laptops -- like say a microwave oven, get it unboxed & you can do the same stuff they show in the ads, often within seconds. PCs & laptops -- not so much.

   Microsoft's focus on training has always been centered on what was good for Microsoft short term, stuffing IT dept.s with Windows folks to keep *nix out, & encouraging coders/developers when & where they saw the numbers of new software &/or games drop. Unless you're a big business customer or large government institution Microsoft *Never* wants to see or talk to you -- unless you're doing something they consider bad, You don't exist. That lack of any focus on user training, plus the lack of standard, Microsoft endorsed user level manuals or textbooks allows a relative ego-centric few to bluff & BS their way into pretending they're expert. Worse, they can & do bluff their way into tech support & sometimes helpdesk positions, making life harder yet on the less experienced & those less tech inclined. I used to run auto, truck, & material handling [forklifts & such] parts &/or service, so I started comparing end user experiences... Service personnel did disagree on occasion, but almost always any disagreement was based on how individuals preferred to do something &/or a tentative diagnosis -- if you want to find something out that's PC related OTOH, if you don't look for a consensus answer you're Very often [in fact usually] screwed.

   I'd go so far to say it's a social &/or cultural thing, where there's no broadly based, sort of universal understanding of what something is & how you use it -- I think that's why people so often have this perception that kids not only understand but are whizzes at any new tech products, which comes about because they grew up understanding what these tech products *Are* rather than having to learn afterwards. I think of an Iraqi family my son knew -- they generally fit into American life extremely well, but it turned out that when he bought them one of those popcorn poppers that uses hot air, it was a totally alien concept, & they very naturally added oil because that's what you did when you made popcorn -- luckily AFAIK no one was hurt. Cars, TVs, stereos, you name it & they were perfectly fine, maybe even more expert than average, but they had no prior definition of what a hot air popcorn device was. There's no reason to expect anyone has a better idea of what PCs are, or how PCs &/or Windows works, other than what's sometimes shown off in whatever ads. PC folks know this, have known it for over a decade, but I've only seen it talked about when making fun of someone(s). Skilled techs usually have a lack of perceptual empathy for lesser skilled users or consumers -- you don't have techs talk to customers or move them into sales because they know too much to relate to anyone but other techs -- but when it comes to computers & such, their culture has even come to celebrate this lack of empathy, embracing the thought of being a nerd or geek, looking at that lack of empathy as revenge towards anyone they ever felt slighted them.

   Microsoft originally got away without better defining Windows PCs because in the days of DOS [& when Windows came out] you had to be a tech enthusiast to pay maybe $2,000 to bring home a box that didn't do all that much. You essentially bought a super calculator with a monitor, keyboard, & mouse, that could run whatever software you fed it -- the challenge of seeing what you could make it do was a big part of why you bought it in the 1st place. Tech support was if you got defective hardware you'd return it. To a shocking degree that's never changed, only the majority of buyers aren't enthusiasts any more, nor are they in any way tech -- That makes a HUGE difference.

   Posted 11 years ago #

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