Everything you need to know about the Windows 10 Start menu {Perfect blend of Windows 7 and 8]

BETA NEWS ^ | 10/02/2014 | By Wayne Williams

[usconservative]

I went from Vista to Win(d)ows 8.1

So you went from running a desktop OS that SUCKED to a desktop OS that SUCKS AND BLOWS!

[Svartalfiar]

The tiles on the right side of the Start menu look and work the same as the tiles on the Windows 8.1 Start screen. You can launch an app, or if you right-click its tile you’ll be able to unpin it from Start, pin it to the taskbar, uninstall it, or resize it. There are small, medium, wide and large sizes available (although not all sizes are available for all tiles). Live tiles can be turned on or off.

Or, I can just open the window the .exe's (or shortcuts) are located in, and slide the view from list to info list, to ordered icons, to small icons, to medium icons, to large icons, if I really need 'tiles' that badly. The whole concept of forcing the tiled Metro display (was 'Homo' already trademarked?) was with the idea of tablets. Touchscreen-only interfaces. But on a PC with a mouse, they're stupid.

I don't quite see why someone would want a bunch of huge, randomly sized links when you can have neat, ordered lists of links like a regular menu.

[Svartalfiar]

For less than $3, I purchased a tiny start button app called StartisBack froma web site off the same name. It is bettet than the win 7 start menu, but looks identical. The best thing is, with it, I can boot automatically into desktop mode and never fool with Metro.

You should have gone with ClassicShell. Does the same thing (skips Metro, Win7-style default setup), and is free.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Great post!

[roamer_1]

Why the heck would they go with the alpha name?

I don't really remember, but something like this: The main thing that was problematic with batches was DOS v. NT. Parsing was easier using word based (space delineated), because one had to assume DOS tools till one found out one had NT.

I don't remember exactly, but I DO remember a very long struggle trying to parse the version number assuming DOS. IIRC, DOS used a two word alpha name (Windows 98 [version]), NT4 used a two word alpha name (Windows NT [version]), but NT5 used one word (Windows [version])... So the only char you COULD test for was that '9'.

So generally speaking, VER and FIND was what was available (IIRC, FOR worked differently DOS/NT so it couldn't be used till you knew which one). Not much to work with. Once you knew which one, then you could do more.

Now, I know I could FIND for the precise version number right off the bat, but that is several more lines, when all I really needed to know is whether DOS or NT... which is where the lazy comes in. : )

As far as executables are concerned, I am too far away from BASIC and Pascal to even try to remember without examining some of that old code. But I DO know I would be suspicious that I had looked for 'Windows 9'.

[InterceptPoint]

So you went from running a desktop OS that SUCKED to a desktop OS that SUCKS AND BLOWS!
++++
LOL. I think I mentioned that I’m the only known Windows 8 fan. While there may be others, at least 3 or 4 perhaps, none except me have actually been identified.

But we are In perfect agreement vis a vis Vista.

[TexasTransplant]

**** “So, really, what’s the point of Windows 10? What does upgrading to Windows 10 do - other than enrich Microsoft - that Windows 7 doesn’t currently do?” *****

Exactly....

Only thing I can think of is that it starts training you for Windows 12 or 54 (depending how many numbers they want to skip)

TT

[Still Thinking]

That’s very interesting. Thank you for the background!

[prisoner6]

MS skipped it.

[HamiltonJay]

I don’t claim Windows 8 sucks because its not Apple or Linux, in fact, most of the folks rejecting Win 8 are people who have used windows their entire lives... what a foolish thing to say that those reject it are just apple and linux fanboys.

Windows 8 is an unmitigated disaster, and that is the consensus of the market, which is made up mostly of folks who have never touched a linux or apple PC... they are people who have for the most part have only worked with Windows, at least since Windows 3.1 came on the scene.

Windows 8 sucks pure and simply because its a bastard product looking for a reason to exist. Metro is a horrible interface for a PC.. its a reasonable touch interface, but an abysmal failure for a PC... and to force your PC owners into this idiot paradigm because you once again misread the market was beyond idiotic.

Now to compound the failure of shoving Metro (ZUNE) onto the desktop, lets make it the default interface, which they did with 8.0 which made it beyond insane. 8.1 undid enough to at least make it passable but the damage has been done.

In fact the only people I have found who go out of their way to defend Windows 8, are either folks on the MS Payroll, or MS fanboys, and yep, they do exist believe it or not.

Metro just needs gone from the desktop, it has no place there.. and telling folks they should just shut up and take it is the attitude of a rapist not a successful business model.

[HamiltonJay]

7 ate 9.

[Still Thinking]

Exactly. I haven’t tried Apple since the early 90s (may revisit that soon), but I didn’t like their interface then. Found it very unintuitive. So up till now at least, I’ve been a Windows guy, and I’m here to tell ya, W8 blows. Severely. Tons of stuff that was easy in 7 is not just nonintuitive, but objectively more work to get done in 8. Braaaap on this one, Microshaft! Please play again!

[Neidermeyer]

So you went from running a desktop OS that SUCKED to a desktop OS that SUCKS AND BLOWS!
*************************
Vista Business (windows 6.0) works better than Vista “home” and is 99% as good as Windows 7 (windows 6.1)...

[usconservative]

LOL. I think I mentioned that I’m the only known Windows 8 fan.

Glad you got the humor in my post. I don't hate Windows 8. I actually like the fact that it's much faster than Windows 7, uses resources more efficiently, etc..

I just shake my head at Microsoft's boneheaded move to have two different user paradigms in the same OS on the same physical machine. Even moreso now that they've put both in the same interface (the start menu) where tiles and icons live together. It's absolutely HORRIBLE!

Whoever suggested that to them ought to be taken out and thoroughly horsewhipped and sent back to Usability Class.

[rarestia]

other than enrich Microsoft

Windows 10 will be free to Windows 8 users. That's the first time Microsoft is doing anything like it, and while they stand to lose some licensing money on the back end, they're betting on a solid platform to appease the masses to get folks off of 7.