Microsoft blames US for the design of the START Menu...

I personally like what the third person said, "It's really easy to design something you like, but that doesn't mean it will necessarily work well for everyone."

I said elsewhere, and about nothing to do with the Windows Start menu, that operating systems are not now, and never have been, bespoke software meant to fit any of us like a custom-made suit. The number of diverse demographics being served, and what each one wants, are often at odds with each other. Decisions any one of us may hate with a burning passion are bound to be made when it comes to something like Windows or any operating system UI.

Just because I happen to hate something doesn't mean that others don't adore it, and vice versa. My hating it doesn't make it a bug, either, just an intended behavior I happen to despise. I deal (of course, we all do).
 
//shrug

I dunno, always worked fine for me, it's "mostly been the same" since Windows 3...we've had Program Manager...<whatever you need>.
Windows 95 made it Start..Programs...and basically been the same since then. Save for subtle changes...you really still started in lower left corner and worked your way to what you wanted. Yeah Win11 centered it. But just minor cosmetic.

I put my "frequentl flier" programs on my task bar. Anything else...search..launch.
 
britechguy said:
any operating system UI
Click to expand...
No reason to remove / reduce the UI customization options...
I have a lot of programs & utilities, no way I can organize them well with w10 start menu nor remember them by names (and btw, the search function of w10 is so lame in the French version).
 
The only thing I want to get rid of is that stupid "suggested" section. Half the files I recently access don't show up in that section, probably because they're not the 20 or so file extensions it supports. Not only that but it's a huge breach of privacy when you're streaming or on a Zoom call or whatever. I'd also be fine getting rid of the search box at the top as it's not needed. Just hit the start menu and start typing. You don't need a freaking box. Not that I use Windows search anymore anyway. Not when they try to search Bing and other bullsh*t when I'm trying to search for a file name. I use UltraSearch by Jam Software. It's INSTANT and much more useful than the built in Windows search even if they stopped trying to shove Bing down my throat.

Having the start menu in the center sucks, as does the built in garbage like Teams. I use StartAllBack on my personal systems to put the start menu on the top where it belongs and the start menu on the left side.

Add all the other garbage "apps" that Windows 11 includes and it's just a messy nightmare with a terrible UI. They designed it for us? I call bullsh*t. They designed it to try and make money through Bing search and their stupid store that NO ONE uses. And of course to try and corner the market with Teams so they can show advertisements to us in the future.

Windows XP/Vista/7's start menu was pretty much perfect usability-wise. It was super intuitive. Every computer illiterate client I had knew how to use it. Windows 10/11 start menus are all really bad in comparison because they're confusing to the average computer illiterate user.
 
WHo's effin' idea was it to start spamming my Win10 search box with goofy football icons, NFL Draft Buzz-text one day, and 'Arbor Day' BS the next? (I think this search box BS just started after an update 36 hours back? Thanks MS!)

And more importantly....how do I turn it off?
 
MDD1963 said:
And more importantly....how do I turn it off?
Click to expand...

I have no idea about what shows up if the search box is visible because I long ago changed this to the show search icon option. There's also hidden, which I really should think about using since I've really started using the "hit WinKey and type" method for invoking Windows Search on the occasions I use it.
 
The problem with any of the start menu shells is that if you use them you never really learn how the native interface works, and for those in our business that's poor planning indeed.

I'm constantly having the same battle with a number of my blind or visually impaired clients who have used things like Classic Shell/Open Shell, Start 10, or Start 11. Invariably, at some point, they are seated in front of a machine on which these sorts of shells are not installed, and where they really need or want to do something. And when that occurs, it's "deer in the headlights" time. They have no idea how to use the native UI of Windows. I've seen the same, but to a lesser degree since some guessing is easier when you can literally see what's there, with the sighted.

I don't give a damn what the OS is: learn to use it's native UI. It doesn't matter whether you like it or not; you need to know how to use it.
 
The problem is that both sides of the argument have merit. I use a computer to increase my productivity. But I also do have to support other users who are likely using the stock system. Windows 11 is taking away useful functions as 8 did before. Windows 10 exists largely because Windows 8's GUI was so badly received. Start 11 fixes much of that and restores productivity features that Windows 11 has taken away. Yet you are not wrong about shells. So I have and use systems with both Start 11 installed and not.
 
timeshifter said:
I like having the taskbar positioned vertically on the left. Best I can find is that you can only do this with a registry hack.
Click to expand...
Windows 11 requires the taskbar to be on the bottom at present. Personally I despise people that put it elsewhere, not to mention auto hide it... either of these conditions results in a reset to default behavior, and if the user fights me on it I stop supporting the system. Why? Because it adds at least an extra 10min for every single trouble ticket on that unit thanks to the way remote access works with the interface. Most business owners won't pay for the extra time without a huge whine, so I set the standard and move on.

That being said, Microsoft HAS recognized this as a bug and I'd expect this limitation to be fixed with the first feature release for Windows 11 this fall. It's one of the many reasons why I do not suggest use of Windows 11 in production at this time, and won't until Q4 2022 and possibly Q1 of 2023.
 
nlinecomputers said:
Yet you are not wrong about shells. So I have and use systems with both Start 11 installed and not.
Click to expand...

And that's a different situation. You just know more, then, not less.

But my personal opinion is that most of the gripes about "productivity" go away, quickly, once one adjusts to "the way things are done now" when OS UIs change. They always have, they always will.

I long ago stopped personally indulging in the, "What in the hell were they thinking?!! I loved {insert gone thing here}! How could they take that away!," mode of thinking and put my energy into figuring out how I now do the odd bit and piece where that's changed. Nothing is so constant in life as change, and nowhere in life is change more constant than in computing.

@Sky-Knight: I'm with you about those who insist on moving the taskbar, too. And I've always despised auto-hide with a burning passion. But, if it's something supported in user settings, then it's not up to me whether I like it or not as to whether I support it (and, remember, I'm dealing with residential break-fix as my work context). If I were doing "fleet management" such as many here do, I would be setting certain things up as I wanted them for ease of maintenance over the long term and disabling the end user's option to change them. Businesses, in particular, are places where computer consistency is far from the foolish consistency that is the hobgoblin of little minds.
 
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@britechguy I generally let my users customize to their hearts' content. Sadly, when it comes to moving the taskbar around, and making it hide... it just disrupts the flow of support too much.

When you have to manually install some stupid software that cannot be scripted on 60 machines, the 2 or 3 units that have special UIs when you hit them remotely REALLY throw things off. That break in flow for me is physically painful, but even that I'd be OK with, if and only if the business owners were OK paying for the additional time it takes to manage. But they aren't... they want things on the cheap. And well... most of them just leave things default too, and they want all machines easy for themselves to use.
 
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