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When it came to light that Microsoft was planning to remove the Start button from Windows for good, many ardent fans of its functionality were unhappy. Now, Microsoft has explained why it made the choice to ditch the button, which has graced PC desktops for over 17 years.
Speaking to PC Pro, Chaitanya Sareen, principal program manager at Microsoft, explains the decision:
“We’d seen the trend in Windows 7. When we evolved the taskbar we saw awesome adoption of pinning [applications] on the taskbar. We are seeing people pin like crazy. And so we saw the Start menu usage dramatically dropping, and that gave us an option…
“So I’m a desktop user, I pin the browser, Explorer, whatever my apps are. I don’t go the Start menu as often. If you’re going to the Start screen now, we’re going to unlock a whole new set of scenarios, or you can choose not to go there, stay in the desktop, and it’s still fast. You can’t beat the taskbar.”
Of course, although the Start button is gone, it’s not forgotten. In fact it’s replaced by a hot corner in the lower left of the screen, and also complemented by another in the bottom right which offers up more menus, too. Whether that will appease every Start button fan is still uncertain — but come October, the loss is something they’ll have to to face up to. [PC Pro]
Images credit: freestockimages from Shutterstock
“Of course, although the Start button is gone, it’s not forgotten. In fact it’s replaced by a hot corner in the lower left of the screen” so in other words, it’s not really gone, they just changed the name and the look of it?
Apologies for my ignorance but I haven’t bothered with Windows 8 so far.
I just use an application called Launchy on windows 7, I imagine I’ll do the same on 8 when I upgrade. Click alt and space and then type the name of whatever the program is. Nice and simple.
Young people today cant spell Word though.
I’m sure you think that you’re hilarious but if you want to insult the use of the English language by, “Young people today”, at least correct your own grammar: can’t* Word,*.
He is actually quite funny, but if you want to be nit picky it should be ‘Cannot’ or even ‘Can not’. ;P
you can do that in windows 8 without an app, from the start screen, just type to start the search. brings up all apps etc.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I think you can do exactly that in windows 7 without any application, just press the Win key, type a name and press enter
I wouldn’t bother in the future either.
Not only have they ‘split’ the start button into two buttons (bottom left and bottom right), they have made them really hard to press with a mouse. Especially on a dual monitor set up. I have to keep moving my mouse around slowly to find the sweet spot where the button appears. Its terrible.
They have said they are fixing that dual monitors problem before RTM
I’ve not experienced that problem, but then again I suppose I am using a touchpad instead of a mouse.
Just start typing the name of the document/application you want and the Metro UI will pop-in and perform the function of the Start Menu. Or…if that is a little too intuitive, hit the Windows Button and hey presto you’re in Metro again (which as mentioned, has all of the essential functions of a Start Menu)
Hmm. Not to be a luddite, but this doesn’t look like a win for power users. I use the start menu constantly since I didn’t spend lots of money and effort on my desktop just to browse the internet and play games. Sounds like the functionality is still there, but a bit harder to get to. Not convinced about this apparently industry-wide shift towards making content consumption easier, and content creation secondary. Great for tablets etc, but I’d like more options on a desktop.
so why cant you use either A- desktop icons, or B- Tiles on start screen, there is room for 30 tiles on start screen, do you need more than 30 tiles? If so make a second screen, lots faster than moving through the start menu, just takes a few days to get used to it.
Do tiles (this is a real question, not being sarcastic) have built-in drop down menus for opening recent files like items pinned to the start menu? If so, I could probably get used to doing things that way.
As long as it doesn’t stop me getting to the guts of things I’m ok; I’m just concerned if along with this kind of tablet-friendliness comes an added layer of difficulty in doing more advanced things. That said, “advanced things” in windows generally means things an order of magnitude simpler than those in linux (and to a somewhat lesser degree OSX) so perhaps that boat has been missed already!
not that i know of, but if you want that, you still have your task bar in windows 8 anyway? Just press windows key + D and your there.
And then they thought “Now they’ve got all those useful icons on their Taskbar, lets make them have to click on Metro to get to their desktop when they log in.”
What will the Start button on the keyboard do now?
I would imagine it opens the home screen thing.
I’m pretty sure the reason at the time was that users thought that in order to turn off your computer you had to go into the start menu.
………… There is no point in dropping it, I mean this makes no sense. All they’ve done is taken functionality away, at least give me the option. I’ve tried the Metro UI and it sucks, it clearly wasn’t designed for desktop.
I’m not scared on change, I wouldn’t buy Windows 8 if it was just Windows 7 all over again. However I want good change and not bad change, I don’t know anyone who likes Windows 8, in fact all my friends complained about the same points, no Start Bar and the Metro UI.
I’ve been using Windows 8 for the best part of a year and I haven’t spotted any functionality that they’ve ‘taken away’. You can still access everything you could before, and in most cases, you get there by following the same process as you did before…it just looks a little different.
I engage with dozens of people every day who are responsible for swathes of devices that run Windows and the response to Windows 8 has been overwhelmingly positive. This is NOT Vista Mk. 2 by any stretch of the imagination. It might sound like hyperbole, but it’s getting all sorts of people excited about how devices can work harder for individuals/groups and in new ways whether they are at work or play.
I’d wager your friends have not used Windows 8 for more than a few hours. Once you’ve acclimatised yourself to the environment (this can take a few days as Metro is challenging 20years of OS UI rulebook), I’m sure you’ll feel right at home…
windows 8 was a fail ever since they introduced metro.. what were they thinking… the start menu is the least of their problems
So, task bar or dock?
Looks like windows edges closer towards osx
Windows 8 sucks, period. If you don’t have a touch screen it is of no use whatsoever. I’m happy with what I have thanks M$.
I use never combine + small icons on the taskbar in Windows 7, and only have my primary browser pinned. I’ve used Windows 8 and much prefer the start button over being dragged into the Metro UI to search for something.
This is pointless as hell, why not keep it like it is now, but put an option somewhere to enable the good old start button? I like the other UI improvements to the classic desktop so it’s a shame they’re being so ridiculous about it.