5 ms·

My favorite Windows feature is how the start menu search is so slow. I hit the windows key, type the name of the app, hit enter and I get an Edge window with wh

My favorite Windows feature is how the start menu search is so slow. I hit the windows key, type the name of the app, hit enter and I get an Edge window with what I typed as a Bing query.

geolgau 7y ago
At the same time I've had instant search in menus in Linux (gnome, kde, xfce, whatever, you name it).
stedaniels 7y ago
Which displays ads next to the search results, which makes MS money. Coincidence? I think not. Though as Hanlon's Razer said: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Part of me wants Microsoft to be so evil they have deliberately made the start menu search so impossibly poor that you end up opening a web search half the time and making them money. But I know deep down, that they are just incompetent and can't be bothered with the desktop anymore.
- MrP 7y ago
  > "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Yes, but: "Sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice"
snarfy 7y ago
Start menu 'web search' is the first thing I disable. Of all the stupid things in windows 10, web search is quite possibly the worst. It's a feature nobody wants except Microsoft.
- lacker 7y ago
  This comment makes me realize I should go disable it right now. Thank you
  - snarfy 7y ago
    Sadly in the latest win 10 update it's no longer a simple setting in group policy. You have to muck around in the registry. https://www.howtogeek.com/224159/how-to-disable-bing-in-the-windows-10-start-menu/ https://www.howtogeek.com/224159/how-to-disable-bing-in-the-...
  - 1996 7y ago
    Create dword with value 0 for BingSearchEnabled in [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] I already had disabled Cortana, if not also create CortanaConsent dword with value 0
    - citrusui 7y ago
      It may be because I am running a Windows Insider build (19008.1), but this registry tweak doesn't seem to work for me. Any other tips?
throwaway8941 7y ago
I cut the start menu out completely and replaced it with Keypirinha. Instant fuzzy search with no shady web requests, just like on Linux with xfce4-whiskermenu/rofi. The script looks something like this. It's written from memory and I don't have a Windows machine nearby to test it, but it's better than nothing. $path = %windir%\systemapps\microsoft.windows.startmenuexperiencehost* get-process *startmenuexperiencehost* | stop-process -force takeown /f $path /r /d y icacls $path /grant "${env:UserName}:F" /inheritance:d /t /c rm -recursive -force $path
- celticmusic 7y ago
  I try to stay away from Windows, but Keypirinha is my go to as well when I'm forced onto it. That and VirtuaWin make Windows a lot easier to deal with.
icegreentea2 7y ago
Disable websearch, and just start typing right away. I agree that a lot of Win10 defaults are derpy. But just tune it a bit and its reasonably power user friendly. Maybe not what you want to support personally, but sufficient for professional use.
- Narishma 7y ago
  How do you disable it?
  - icegreentea2 7y ago
    Registry >.> https://superuser.com/a/1325836 https://superuser.com/a/1325836 Like I said, maybe not the crap you want to put up with in your personal life, but as a professional tool... worth tweaking to suit your needs. (Oh, and in a full professional environment, can also be set by group policy)
- rhinoceraptor 7y ago
  Windows is like desktop linux from the 00s now. There are several different UI toolkits, all of the settings buried in separate areas, and the desktop defaults are completely unusable without a lot of tweaking.

My favorite Windows feature is how the start menu search is so slow. I hit the windows key, type the name of the app, hit enter and I get an Edge window with what I typed as a Bing query.

geolgau 7y ago

At the same time I've had instant search in menus in Linux (gnome, kde, xfce, whatever, you name it).

stedaniels 7y ago

Which displays ads next to the search results, which makes MS money. Coincidence? I think not. Though as Hanlon's Razer said: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Part of me wants Microsoft to be so evil they have deliberately made the start menu search so impossibly poor that you end up opening a web search half the time and making them money. But I know deep down, that they are just incompetent and can't be bothered with the desktop anymore.

MrP 7y ago
> "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Yes, but: "Sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice"

snarfy 7y ago

Start menu 'web search' is the first thing I disable. Of all the stupid things in windows 10, web search is quite possibly the worst. It's a feature nobody wants except Microsoft.

lacker 7y ago
This comment makes me realize I should go disable it right now. Thank you
- snarfy 7y ago
  Sadly in the latest win 10 update it's no longer a simple setting in group policy. You have to muck around in the registry. https://www.howtogeek.com/224159/how-to-disable-bing-in-the-windows-10-start-menu/ https://www.howtogeek.com/224159/how-to-disable-bing-in-the-...
- 1996 7y ago
  Create dword with value 0 for BingSearchEnabled in [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search] I already had disabled Cortana, if not also create CortanaConsent dword with value 0
  - citrusui 7y ago
    It may be because I am running a Windows Insider build (19008.1), but this registry tweak doesn't seem to work for me. Any other tips?

throwaway8941 7y ago

I cut the start menu out completely and replaced it with Keypirinha. Instant fuzzy search with no shady web requests, just like on Linux with xfce4-whiskermenu/rofi. The script looks something like this. It's written from memory and I don't have a Windows machine nearby to test it, but it's better than nothing. $path = %windir%\systemapps\microsoft.windows.startmenuexperiencehost* get-process *startmenuexperiencehost* | stop-process -force takeown /f $path /r /d y icacls $path /grant "${env:UserName}:F" /inheritance:d /t /c rm -recursive -force $path

celticmusic 7y ago
I try to stay away from Windows, but Keypirinha is my go to as well when I'm forced onto it. That and VirtuaWin make Windows a lot easier to deal with.

icegreentea2 7y ago

Disable websearch, and just start typing right away. I agree that a lot of Win10 defaults are derpy. But just tune it a bit and its reasonably power user friendly. Maybe not what you want to support personally, but sufficient for professional use.

Narishma 7y ago
How do you disable it?
- icegreentea2 7y ago
  Registry >.> https://superuser.com/a/1325836 https://superuser.com/a/1325836 Like I said, maybe not the crap you want to put up with in your personal life, but as a professional tool... worth tweaking to suit your needs. (Oh, and in a full professional environment, can also be set by group policy)
rhinoceraptor 7y ago
Windows is like desktop linux from the 00s now. There are several different UI toolkits, all of the settings buried in separate areas, and the desktop defaults are completely unusable without a lot of tweaking.