Why the hell does Windows 10 still have no Start Menu?

[RANT]
Sorry, but I have to ask this: How stupid are these clowns at Microsoft really? I mean, how hard is it to understand the value of a freely configurable hierarchical menu system? How many years will it take them to get that nobody gives a rat's behind for their stupid tiles? So why in all the world would I still be forced to install a third-party Start Menu if, for unfathomable reasons, I decided to run Windows 10 on a PC?
[/RANT]

 

OP can edit title now...

Thread Tools...

Edit Title.

But I agree. Win 95 and on had the basic approach to an hierarchical menu system and the threw it out the Windows. StartisBack is my best Windows friend.

 

This is why I run 8.1 with a windows 7 shell. And yes I wont be getting my "free" copy of windows 10. I dont want to issues with things not working.

 

Until charms bar is totally absent, not viable. I will be staying on Windows 7 for a while, until I gain experience on how it behaves.

 

I and most people around me that have updated like the new start menu. I personally disliked the previous one not so much because of the tiles but because start had its own screen (and you can get rid of the tiles anyway if you want to). Like every form of change, there's always people that are not gonna like it but it doesn't mean everyone is thinking the same thing. I personally think that they've found a good formula for the start menu in Windows 10. I don't think it's a stupid design at all. At least Windows 7 still has support so you can remain there.

 

I prefer the Windows 7 start menu. Not so much for the design but function of everything being there. too much disconnect from the control panel etc.. But true as to each their own. I think the majority of people will prefer the old approach but IMHO this is not a deal breaker like windows 8.x was/is.

It will be true too though that menu options will be out there. Myself I prefer a native one even if tweaked a bit but not overly hacked, if at all.

 

Classic Shell works fine on my 10 testings here, which is a comfort in case one gets stuck with\forced into 10 someday. Regarding tile-world, year after year of 8 debacle + complete disaster trying to sell ugly Gloomia-phones should by now have made someone really think and adjust at MS.

 

Count me in as someone who likes the current start menu. Is it perfect? No it's not but it's a fair compromise. Keep in mind that Windows is now considered a service and as such MS like their approach or not is going after the mass consumers much like Apple does with OS X or Electronic Arts with Madden Football videogame. They are now in a position where the collective is now more important than one group.

Is it a mistake? Maybe if they alienate their business consumers but that waits to be seen. A free product gives you the provider more leeway in how you provide your service. MS could be considering that approach. The only other free OS is Linux (Apple requires reinvestment in hardware and it's pricy) and that may not appeal to businesses yet but they may have no choice if they don't like what MS is doing. Sales numbers will tell the story.

As such Windows 10 is not off to a bad start with something like 14 million installs (albeit probably free) within a couple of days.

 

This is my Start Menu in Windows 10 using Classic Shell 4.2.3 RC

 

Comparing to linux is not relevant imo. Free would be that anyone can download and use it without any previous os or any payment.

OS itself: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Win...TF8&qid=1438430137&sr=1-1&keywords=windows+10, pro is usd 199, and oem's will have to pay.

For the update\service-pack (aka upgrade) to 10, one has previously paid for either the previous retail or the oem supplied with the pc.

And why do they have to resort to invading everyone's pc with their 'free' spam-campaign? Necessary, as otherwise hardly anyone would consider replacing their 7\8 installs, and real retail sales & numbers would have been ridiculously low

 

Heh, what do you expect with the way they have literally forced this "upgrade" down people's throats. My guess is that well upwards of 90% of PC users just click on the confirmations without having the slightest clue what it is they're doing, including never looking at the compatibility report, and finding out which ones of their applications are going to be uninstalled. Then, once they have it on their machines, there is no way a naïve computer-illiterate user is going to go back. Microsoft had very good reasons to implement this rollout the way they did. Smart move, by the way, I have to hand it to them...

 

I too think this is just way to beta for the public. there are just so many issues even for us tech people. not that for me any have been deal breakers yet. In fact some may not be an issue at all.

1.) limit of 500 icons, how many casual users will this affect?
2.) You really should stop using the admin as the primary login. This could be huge for the naïve users.
3.) Dead Windows store. System restore got me back there.
4.) Dead laptop LCD monitors, few and very far between on higher end systems .
5.) M$ Edge as default. I do see this being a huge issue right now.
6.) Some metro apps being default can be perturbing.
7.) Limited metro app functionality compared to same Android apps etc.. (this will become real apparent)
8.) Upgrade process can be painfully slow and looks to be stuck when it may not be.
9.) Convoluted process for finding where to access things. maybe the naïve never went there in the first place.
10.) several places when an option is opened does not bring the new dialog up front, gets confusing.

Just 10 items so far and there is much more to work on.

 

Given that their goal is 1 billion devices, 14 million is only a drop in the bucket. I'm actually a little surprised the number is that low and that they are envisioning a few weeks to roll out installs for everyone. The install is a pretty good size, but a company as big as Microsoft should be game to take that on. I expected after about a week it would be rolled out to anyone that signed up.

I got largely used to living without the start menu in windows 8, so I don't mind that as much. My initial reaction to the windows 10 start menu is that I like it better than windows 8 (how could it not be better?), but I think it's worse than windows 7, so I can understand the frustration. TANWare has a pretty good list: #3 and #4 above are actually very concerning. Even if rare, they point to larger issues.

 

Classic Shell is the way to go! I've used W8 since it came out and I have no idea how to access anything from the start screen as I've hated it from the first day. W10's start menu will probably be the same case, as I haven't even seen it for a couple of weeks (since installing classic shell again)

 

I think the tiles look ugly but the Win10 start menu functions as well for me as it did in Windows 7. I pinned the control panel and the manual Windows update to start tiles and its function is as good as it was before.

I think that having two control panels is confusing and pointless but the start menu works well enough. Looking at the classic shell, the Windows10 menu does every one of those features - although granted the tile links only to the control panel and requires a further click to get to 'devices and printer' etc...

Personally, I've found that hitting the 'Windows key + S' and typing the first few letters of what you are looking for works well and finds it ~95% of the time (With an SSD - results with mech HDD may be different). It's a feature that I love in OSX and it works well enough in Windows too. I used O&O Shutup10 to get rid of Cortana which means it only brings up local files and programs.

Woahh... Thread necromancy... how did something this old appear on my news feed??

 

Though it still pales in comparison to Apple's Spotlight, Windows 10 search is light years better than Windows 7/8.1. Even when it doesn't put the most relevant result first, which is far less often than I expected, 99% of those times it shows up as the second entry.

 

Interesting, in win 7 the Win key + S brings up OneNote on my machine.

 

Ran across this today, good timing

Has your Windows 10 Start menu stopped working? Here are four ways to fix it
http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/com...g-here-are-four-ways-to-fix-it-11364000314532

From my Windows 10 Insider days, I still preferred using ClassicShell, so maybe that is the 5th/best way to fix it.

I would assume any more fooling around with the Start Menu / Metro stuff would be hidden by installing ClassicShell, bringing about some measure of stability / consistency to the Windows 10 experience.

Update: Lots of recent activity on recovering Windows 10 Start Menu functions:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Has+your+Windows+10+Start+menu+stopped+working?&num=50&safe=off&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:m&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbvJDruKfLAhVHyGMKHRNDB7kQpwUIFQ&biw=1120&bih=530&dpr=1.71

 

That's interesting. I stopped using Windows 10 after one of the preview builds crashed my virtual machine, but in my experience search was about on par with Windows 8/8.1 and a definite step down from Windows 7.

 

For Windows 7 it's Winkey + name of stuff you are searching for. For full on search it's F3.
Same thing works for Windows 10. Pressing Winkey only should suffice.

 

Not for me - Winkey plus other keys just perform a number of shortcuts. Winkey+L, for instance, locks the user account.

 

Don't hold it. Press Winkey and start typing, Windows will start search automatically.

 

Right. Just tap it and then type. It's been that way since xp actually.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

Strange, that didn't work yesterday... Although I've had a few instances of the start menu and search not working at all, until locking the station and then logging back in, so perhaps that's a related issue. Seems to work now - thanks!

 

Great for you, bad for rest of us... again it goes back to flexibility and *choice*. How hard would it be really to offer a "classic style" Start menu. As long as there are third party apps that do it I'm not so concerned, just that it should be part of the OS. And Start menu is the least of the concerns for Win10.

 

If somebody takes options away and forces for something new then it must be better in all ways. For me this means full customization to look and feel as I want. Time has past since I really cared about that testing Windows 10. Now I just put balls on them same way as they put balls on me.