Windows 8.1 - Return of the start button :)
Microsoft's announcement on Windows 8.1
Ars Technica's impressions on Windows 8.1. From Ars: As such, Windows 8.1 still has the Start screen. It is, however, a more customizable Start screen. There are new tile sizes: a double height tile, to allow apps to show more information, and a smaller tile size, to allow apps to be packed more tightly. There are more options for the Start screen background and colors, including animated backgrounds and the ability to use the same background as used on the desktop. This last change should make the Start screen feel a little less visually disconnected from the desktop world. I don't think they're bringing back the whole start menu, just the button, and a boot straight to desktop option. I'm just glad they're being flexible. |
08:40am 31/05/13 Permalink
have been using classic shell which brings back a heap of useful interface options, it's the goods imo.
http://classicshell.net/ |
08:50am 31/05/13 Permalink
Too bad it's just the minor cosmetic change of bringing back the start button and not the whole menu. Still, anything to force people into Metro so they're more exposed to the apps and Windows Store ecosystem, amirite!?
At least returning to a unified search result screen is a step back in the right direction. |
08:54am 31/05/13 Permalink
I still don't understand the uproar with the start button or the "boot to desktop" ... it's seriously just one button to get to the desktop :| I never used the start menu with windows 7 either.
Also, since getting a second screen, starting to love the metro apps. Usually dock Music and Emails to my right screen and keep desktop on my left. |
09:24am 31/05/13 Permalink
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/345096,the-start-button-definitely-returns-in-windows-81.aspx
As reported by Winsupersite.com and ZDNet, the button's back, but it does behave very differently. It sits in the same spot, but clicking on it will not bring up the old (or current, if you still using Windows 7 or earlier) Start menu. Instead, it will open the current Start Screen. |
09:32am 31/05/13 Permalink
I still don't understand the uproar with the start button ... -snip- ... I never used the start menu with windows 7 either. You just answered your own question as to why you don't understand. Pretty much >90% of positive Metro-related comments come from people who orobably didn't use the start menu to begin with, so they had nothing to lose from the change. |
09:41am 31/05/13 Permalink
I still don't understand the uproar with the start button or the "boot to desktop" ... it's seriously just one button to get to the desktop :| I never used the start menu with windows 7 either.Also, since getting a second screen, starting to love the metro apps. Usually dock Music and Emails to my right screen and keep desktop on my left. Pretty much my thoughts exactly. I do use my start menu however and always have but not in the traditional sense. I just hit the windows key and type for what I'm looking for and select from the search results. Similar to spotlight for OSX. Although, to be honest - I have found myself pinning things to the metro screen instead of clogging up my taskbar. One thing I wish they would do it allow more custom positioning for metro apps so I could pin one in each corner if I wanted for example. |
09:42am 31/05/13 Permalink
They need a dock like osx has, I use rocket dock on w7 but it seems to break my w8 laptop. Not that w8 isnt already broken
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10:19am 31/05/13 Permalink
What I want from Windows is less organising of things, less customisation, less wallpapers, less different ways for it to look. I want to be able to jump on a vanilla Windows machine and go "oh it's already exactly how I like it, and there is nothing that anybody can do to make it weird."
I don't have time to 'pin' stuff to things or to download apps to get the functionality I need. I just want to get on with what I'm doing. |
10:27am 31/05/13 Permalink
A step in the right direction but this doesn't change my opinion towards MS. Forcing your customers to learn a touch based UI on a desktop, removing the start button just because they thought it's a good idea? totally wrong.
Speaking for myself, I'm a heavy start menu user and I pin my most used programs all the time. I have been doing this since WinXP came out that's over 10 years and they remove it in favor of tiles? I have no interest in smartphones or tablets so Metro isn't to my liking either. It's their product no arguments on that and I know about 3rd party start menu replacements but the damage is done and I won't bother with Win8. My start menu currently: http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9347/startol.jpg |
11:00am 31/05/13 Permalink
Yet you have time to post on a forum complaining about it. Logic friend. Deeper, don't be smart. i giggled. a touch based UI on a desktop f*** that, i'm happy with my maus. besides, how many people have a touch screen pc? |
11:37am 31/05/13 Permalink
Unified search, yay.
More options to customize metro, yay. Hope they also expand thr right click start menu a bit. |
11:50am 31/05/13 Permalink
It'll be interesting to see whether Microsoft reintroducing their own start button will break everyone's 3rd party start buttons.
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01:51pm 31/05/13 Permalink
f*** that, i'm happy with my maus. besides, how many people have a touch screen pc? Hi there! Seems like you can't opt out either. I wish there was an option to leave it, apparently you whiney f**** are going to force me to have a button taking up space on my taskbar that I neither want or need. GW peanuts |
02:28pm 31/05/13 Permalink
thermite,
Sounds like you'd feel at home on OSX. |
02:28pm 31/05/13 Permalink
A step in the right direction but this doesn't change my opinion towards MS. Forcing your customers to learn a touch based UI on a desktop, removing the start button just because they thought it's a good idea? totally wrong. The start screen is basically the start button, just a full screen version. On the desktop if you move your mouse to the bottom left of the screen on the task bar the start button pops up and YOU CAN CLICK IT!!! MAGICS! It behaves like if you want to set your taskbar to auto hide in previous version of windows. So you can either access it that way, or most keyboards these days have a start button on it so its easy to hit that aswell to bring up the menu... All the applications you want to be pinned are right there on the start screen, its exactly the same as pinning on the start menu, but with more customisation. I think its way easier and quicker to get what applications you want to open. I've got all my stuff listed in groups. I know all my games are on list to the right, all my main applications are in the middle, and on the left are my social apps. All microsoft is doing here is removing the auto hide of the start button, and all people that havent used Windows 8 seem to be doing is complaining about something they havent even used. |
02:36pm 31/05/13 Permalink
My start menu currently: http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9347/startol.jpg Why don't you just pin those apps to the quick launch and save yourself a click? |
03:59pm 31/05/13 Permalink
It'll be interesting to see whether Microsoft reintroducing their own start button will break everyone's 3rd party start buttons. Classic shell seems to update pretty regularly, I've had a fair few updates come down through auto update since installing it. I'm sure it won't take them long to figure out a fix for any breakages. |
04:58pm 31/05/13 Permalink
The start screen is basically the start button, just a full screen version 1. Press Windows and start typing something, in Windows 7 its all grouped together while in Windows 8 its delineated into programs, settings, and documents. The Windows 8 behaviour is a stupid change that's demonstratably worse if you have any idea what you are searching for. 2. How do I fix such-and-such setting? Let me google that and follow a guide. On Windows 7, press Windows and type in the name of whatever you're told to search for. On Windows 8, press Start and I cannot see whatever document I was looking at, forcing me to type it from memory. The Windows 8 behaviour is a stupid change that gets in the way of that fancy thing called multi-tasking. |
03:08pm 03/06/13 Permalink
1. Press Windows and start typing something, in Windows 7 its all grouped together while in Windows 8 its delineated into programs, settings, and documents. This is my only real issue with Win8. Really annoys me that I have to cycle through the groups to find what I'm looking for especially considering that the global first option would be usually the one I'm looking for. |
04:48pm 03/06/13 Permalink
1. Press Windows and start typing something, in Windows 7 its all grouped together while in Windows 8 its delineated into programs, settings, and documents. The Windows 8 behaviour is a stupid change that's demonstratably worse if you have any idea what you are searching for.Agreed. This is my only real issue with Win8. Really annoys me that I have to cycle through the groups to find what I'm looking for especially considering that the global first option would be usually the one I'm looking for.I like the way OSX searches stuff in spotlight. It searches my hard drive, a dictionary, a thesaurus, the internet, f*****g everywhere it can get its hands on for my search term. I'd really love that functionality in windows so I can quickly just go search for a word if I'm not sure how it's spelled and autocorrect just gives me drastically incorrect answers. |
05:40pm 03/06/13 Permalink
