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Where is this love of the Start Menu coming from? Can't people just type in the name of program they're interested in? What does the Start Menu offer that peop

by Permit 14y ago

Where is this love of the Start Menu coming from? Can't people just type in the name of program they're interested in? What does the Start Menu offer that people miss?

ygra 14y ago
Some people apparently still click. But there is indeed a portion of users that benefit more from a start menu. If you regularly have to use Windows 8 via RDP, either in a window or on a multimon configuration, then have fun hitting the hot corners. And the start screen needs plenty of time getting rendered over a network.
- Permit 14y ago
  The RDP complaints sound justified to me. Fading, sliding and other animations sound like they would cause a headache, as would the hot corners.
xtirpation 14y ago
Personally I don't like that the new start menu takes up an entire screen. You're right that people can just type in the name of the program they're interested in, but in that case it makes even less sense to me for the start menu to take up all that space unnecessarily. It's just jarring to me that if I ever want to launch a program from the new start menu, I'll have to drop everything I'm doing when I might otherwise be looking at another window. Really I think the new start menu is meant to be easier for people who don't just type in the name of the program they're interested in, allowing them to put all the apps and programs they use onto their start menu and arrange them however they want, not unlike an extended "favourites" menu.
Angostura 14y ago
Apparently people like GUIs
gregd 14y ago
Have you used Windows 8 on the desktop? The start menu and the desktop top are two separate "eco systems" for lack of a better word. When you're on the desktop, you can't just start typing and have search popup what it finds like you can on the start menu. The new start menu is a usability nightmare. I can't get desktop alerts on my Start Menu (from AV and Firewall). Toast notifications, when desktop programs catch up to that functionality, won't be as elaborate as desktop notifications. Meaning I won't be able to click "allow" or "deny" or "block" while in the start menu.
- gregd 14y ago
  In addition, when I RDP into my Windows 8 machine from my mac, the hot corners on the mac are for OSX functionality and begin to interfere with bringing up the start menu
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  You never could "just start typing" when on the desktop. You either had to click the start button or the windows key. That's still true in Windows 8.
  - gregd 14y ago
    I didn't say you could. But the start menu was always one click away. Now it's a hot corner, a click, and typing to find the program, away. Well except I bought and paid for Start8 and I've been way happier with it installed.
    - drharris 14y ago
      Or just hit the windows key (or Ctrl-Esc) and type. Why do people like to click so much?
    - stinos 14y ago
      "But the start menu was always one click away. Now it's a hot corner, a click, and typing to find the program" I do not have Windows 8 but just reading this makes it sounds like two methods that are exactly the same? - moving the mouse to the start orb == moving the mouse to a hot corner - clicking the orb == clicking the hot corner - typing == typing
barrkel 14y ago
Spatial rather than lexical memory. I have a console, aliases, scripts etc. if I want to start programs with typing.
- drharris 14y ago
  The new start screen is actually perfect for spatial memory. Instead of an unordered list of programs on the start menu, you get a colorful matrix of icons you can size and arrange however you like. For those with lexical memory, hit the windows key and type a few letters and you're good to go. It's really the best of both worlds.
  - barrkel 14y ago
    Unfortunately not for my purposes; my start menu is not unordered, it is dense, categorized and alphabetical - like this: http://imgur.com/XRAG1 http://imgur.com/XRAG1
nitrogen 14y ago
Can't people just type in the name of program they're interested in? For the same reason people like vi -- switching back and forth between keyboard and mouse is slow, inefficient, and distracting. When using the mouse, you want to stay on the mouse as long as possible. When using the keyboard, you want to stay on the keyboard as long as possible.

by Permit 14y ago

Where is this love of the Start Menu coming from? Can't people just type in the name of program they're interested in? What does the Start Menu offer that people miss?

ygra 14y ago

Some people apparently still click. But there is indeed a portion of users that benefit more from a start menu. If you regularly have to use Windows 8 via RDP, either in a window or on a multimon configuration, then have fun hitting the hot corners. And the start screen needs plenty of time getting rendered over a network.

Permit 14y ago
The RDP complaints sound justified to me. Fading, sliding and other animations sound like they would cause a headache, as would the hot corners.

xtirpation 14y ago

Personally I don't like that the new start menu takes up an entire screen. You're right that people can just type in the name of the program they're interested in, but in that case it makes even less sense to me for the start menu to take up all that space unnecessarily. It's just jarring to me that if I ever want to launch a program from the new start menu, I'll have to drop everything I'm doing when I might otherwise be looking at another window. Really I think the new start menu is meant to be easier for people who don't just type in the name of the program they're interested in, allowing them to put all the apps and programs they use onto their start menu and arrange them however they want, not unlike an extended "favourites" menu.

Angostura 14y ago

Apparently people like GUIs

gregd 14y ago

Have you used Windows 8 on the desktop? The start menu and the desktop top are two separate "eco systems" for lack of a better word. When you're on the desktop, you can't just start typing and have search popup what it finds like you can on the start menu. The new start menu is a usability nightmare. I can't get desktop alerts on my Start Menu (from AV and Firewall). Toast notifications, when desktop programs catch up to that functionality, won't be as elaborate as desktop notifications. Meaning I won't be able to click "allow" or "deny" or "block" while in the start menu.

gregd 14y ago
In addition, when I RDP into my Windows 8 machine from my mac, the hot corners on the mac are for OSX functionality and begin to interfere with bringing up the start menu
MatthewPhillips 14y ago
You never could "just start typing" when on the desktop. You either had to click the start button or the windows key. That's still true in Windows 8.
- gregd 14y ago
  I didn't say you could. But the start menu was always one click away. Now it's a hot corner, a click, and typing to find the program, away. Well except I bought and paid for Start8 and I've been way happier with it installed.
  - drharris 14y ago
    Or just hit the windows key (or Ctrl-Esc) and type. Why do people like to click so much?
  - stinos 14y ago
    "But the start menu was always one click away. Now it's a hot corner, a click, and typing to find the program" I do not have Windows 8 but just reading this makes it sounds like two methods that are exactly the same? - moving the mouse to the start orb == moving the mouse to a hot corner - clicking the orb == clicking the hot corner - typing == typing

barrkel 14y ago

Spatial rather than lexical memory. I have a console, aliases, scripts etc. if I want to start programs with typing.

drharris 14y ago
The new start screen is actually perfect for spatial memory. Instead of an unordered list of programs on the start menu, you get a colorful matrix of icons you can size and arrange however you like. For those with lexical memory, hit the windows key and type a few letters and you're good to go. It's really the best of both worlds.
- barrkel 14y ago
  Unfortunately not for my purposes; my start menu is not unordered, it is dense, categorized and alphabetical - like this: http://imgur.com/XRAG1 http://imgur.com/XRAG1

nitrogen 14y ago

Can't people just type in the name of program they're interested in? For the same reason people like vi -- switching back and forth between keyboard and mouse is slow, inefficient, and distracting. When using the mouse, you want to stay on the mouse as long as possible. When using the keyboard, you want to stay on the keyboard as long as possible.