9 ms·

"In the 8.1 update, the area will be more visible. A left-click on the tip will bring up a tile-based Start Screen - formerly known as the Metro interface - des

"In the 8.1 update, the area will be more visible. A left-click on the tip will bring up a tile-based Start Screen - formerly known as the Metro interface - designed for touch-screen users, while a right-click will display a small menu of other options such as Event Viewer, Device Manager and Disk Management." It already behaves that way. Also, searching to launch an app isn't that much different than the old start menu. Mouse to the bottom left, left click, start typing.

wvenable 13y ago
I don't run Windows 8 at home (still on 7) but I did encounter an eye-opening experience when I visited my father-in-law last weekend. He used the start screen to launch the apps that were immediately there, but when he needed to find a non-obvious application he opened explorer and navigated to the Program Files folders! I thought Microsoft always heavily user-tested their UI changes but I can't see how that was possible at all with Windows 8 and Metro.
- iamshs 13y ago
  Same way as before, open start screen and type the program name.
  - wvenable 13y ago
    You know that and I know that but I know a lot of people who never thought to type in program names even on Windows 7. The big flaw in Windows 8 is that you have to already know how to use Windows 8 in order to use it. It gives you almost no hint on how to do anything or where to find anything.
    - iamshs 13y ago
      True. A tutorial other than two screens at the beginning would have saved a lot of hassle. I learnt a lot of shortcuts through Yash Tolia's blog. Regarding programs, every program installed leaves a clutter of things on the Start Screen, that is one major annoyance for me too. Among the main shortcut will be, read me's and other nonsense.
      - wvenable 13y ago
        If you need a tutorial, you've already lost.
        iamshs 13y ago
        What is this kind of thinking? Really? It is better than fiddling around. Let me not read books/manuals on how to make iOS apps, general relativity, and how to set cruise control on KIA Forte since wvenable says I have already lost. There is an adaptability curve, and it is important to list all the improvements in one place through a tutorial rather than finding new things after two months of using OS in old way.
        wvenable 13y ago
        You might need a tutorial to build a nuclear reactor but you shouldn't need a tutorial just to launch applications on a desktop OS that has been around for 20 years.
        freehunter 13y ago
        If I need a tutorial for your web app, then it was poorly designed. If I need a tutorial for your OS, the freaking give me one! You can't say that an OS is naturally an intuitive thing to use. If it's fully-featured, it's going to either include so many things that you're going to need to know how to access in a specific way or it ends up being KDE, giving you a button and shortcut for everything until your eyes cross.
        wvenable 13y ago
        An OS is a naturally intuitive thing to use if you've been using one (the same one) for 20 years. People are adaptable but you can't just throw them off a cliff.
        freehunter 13y ago
        That's not intuitive, that's just familiarity. Intuitive means someone who has never seen it before can pick it up and go without too much training.
  - to3m 13y ago
    I never type the program name. I've just never got on with typing things in the start menu. Single-key shortcuts, yes. Clicking pinned stuff, yes. Mousing through and clicking, yes. Typing things... no. Generally, Windows has generally been pretty good at accommodating all sorts. Like many, I'm sure, I never even realised that my workflow was for the chop, since it's been supported in some form by all previous iterations of Windows. So I'm a bit disappointed to see MS's Windows department suddenly come over all doctrinaire, and I don't - again, like many ;) - think this will be good for them in the long run.
    - iamshs 13y ago
      Hyperbole. If you don't want to type... fine, look for things on the Start screen, mouse and click through. For me, Start Screen changes nothing, it is a welcome change from the menu. Windows 8 possess excellent work flow for me, and i adapted well to the changes. Windows 8 does not look monolithic to me, it is good to see some design language in Windows, but it seems that the internet is always there to make sure it remains a skeleton after all. Seeing new console announcements, internet forums panned them all..be it Wii U, PS 4, XBox One. Ludicrous for me, i know there will not be approval of anything but such a hateful stance at anything new is not harbinger of trust in these forums. I used to think HN has good discussions, but to be frank this place is also riddled with old man stances that i expect from my dad. Which is expected, but I want to see progressive stance too.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
  - neona 13y ago
    I'm not sure why, but this doesn't always work. Stuff that worked just fine for me back in win7 won't always come up for me in start search on win8.
- 300bps 13y ago
  You have a valid point. I've been using Windows 8 for some time and it became a lot easier when I discovered that if you right-click the Start screen that you get a button that says, "All Programs" that will look familiar to you. That button should've been there without having to right-click a bare part of the background. In my experience with Windows 8, you get used to the interface after an hour or so of using it. But your point is very valid - a better design would not have this issue for basic tasks. Comparing it to my iPhone - all 3 of my children knew intrinsically how to do basic tasks on it. There was a lot to discover after that but the UI was intuitive for almost every basic task. I think a lot of Microsoft's recent design considerations are based more on moving from familiar designs to unfamiliar designs to increase the friction of moving to alternatives. For examples, refer to the ribbon control in Office and the inexplicable button moving in recent versions of IE.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
bcoates 13y ago
Huh, I never tried right clicking on the lower-left corner of the screen before, that's pretty handy. Too bad it doesn't work right: despite every shortcut in the list being a shell object they don't have right click property menus, instead right-clicking invokes the item. Ugh.

wvenable 13y ago

I don't run Windows 8 at home (still on 7) but I did encounter an eye-opening experience when I visited my father-in-law last weekend. He used the start screen to launch the apps that were immediately there, but when he needed to find a non-obvious application he opened explorer and navigated to the Program Files folders! I thought Microsoft always heavily user-tested their UI changes but I can't see how that was possible at all with Windows 8 and Metro.

iamshs 13y ago
Same way as before, open start screen and type the program name.
- wvenable 13y ago
  You know that and I know that but I know a lot of people who never thought to type in program names even on Windows 7. The big flaw in Windows 8 is that you have to already know how to use Windows 8 in order to use it. It gives you almost no hint on how to do anything or where to find anything.
  - iamshs 13y ago
    True. A tutorial other than two screens at the beginning would have saved a lot of hassle. I learnt a lot of shortcuts through Yash Tolia's blog. Regarding programs, every program installed leaves a clutter of things on the Start Screen, that is one major annoyance for me too. Among the main shortcut will be, read me's and other nonsense.
    - wvenable 13y ago
      If you need a tutorial, you've already lost.
      - iamshs 13y ago
        What is this kind of thinking? Really? It is better than fiddling around. Let me not read books/manuals on how to make iOS apps, general relativity, and how to set cruise control on KIA Forte since wvenable says I have already lost. There is an adaptability curve, and it is important to list all the improvements in one place through a tutorial rather than finding new things after two months of using OS in old way.
        wvenable 13y ago
        You might need a tutorial to build a nuclear reactor but you shouldn't need a tutorial just to launch applications on a desktop OS that has been around for 20 years.
      - freehunter 13y ago
        If I need a tutorial for your web app, then it was poorly designed. If I need a tutorial for your OS, the freaking give me one! You can't say that an OS is naturally an intuitive thing to use. If it's fully-featured, it's going to either include so many things that you're going to need to know how to access in a specific way or it ends up being KDE, giving you a button and shortcut for everything until your eyes cross.
        wvenable 13y ago
        An OS is a naturally intuitive thing to use if you've been using one (the same one) for 20 years. People are adaptable but you can't just throw them off a cliff.
        freehunter 13y ago
        That's not intuitive, that's just familiarity. Intuitive means someone who has never seen it before can pick it up and go without too much training.
- to3m 13y ago
  I never type the program name. I've just never got on with typing things in the start menu. Single-key shortcuts, yes. Clicking pinned stuff, yes. Mousing through and clicking, yes. Typing things... no. Generally, Windows has generally been pretty good at accommodating all sorts. Like many, I'm sure, I never even realised that my workflow was for the chop, since it's been supported in some form by all previous iterations of Windows. So I'm a bit disappointed to see MS's Windows department suddenly come over all doctrinaire, and I don't - again, like many ;) - think this will be good for them in the long run.
  - iamshs 13y ago
    Hyperbole. If you don't want to type... fine, look for things on the Start screen, mouse and click through. For me, Start Screen changes nothing, it is a welcome change from the menu. Windows 8 possess excellent work flow for me, and i adapted well to the changes. Windows 8 does not look monolithic to me, it is good to see some design language in Windows, but it seems that the internet is always there to make sure it remains a skeleton after all. Seeing new console announcements, internet forums panned them all..be it Wii U, PS 4, XBox One. Ludicrous for me, i know there will not be approval of anything but such a hateful stance at anything new is not harbinger of trust in these forums. I used to think HN has good discussions, but to be frank this place is also riddled with old man stances that i expect from my dad. Which is expected, but I want to see progressive stance too.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
- neona 13y ago
  I'm not sure why, but this doesn't always work. Stuff that worked just fine for me back in win7 won't always come up for me in start search on win8.
300bps 13y ago
You have a valid point. I've been using Windows 8 for some time and it became a lot easier when I discovered that if you right-click the Start screen that you get a button that says, "All Programs" that will look familiar to you. That button should've been there without having to right-click a bare part of the background. In my experience with Windows 8, you get used to the interface after an hour or so of using it. But your point is very valid - a better design would not have this issue for basic tasks. Comparing it to my iPhone - all 3 of my children knew intrinsically how to do basic tasks on it. There was a lot to discover after that but the UI was intuitive for almost every basic task. I think a lot of Microsoft's recent design considerations are based more on moving from familiar designs to unfamiliar designs to increase the friction of moving to alternatives. For examples, refer to the ribbon control in Office and the inexplicable button moving in recent versions of IE.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

bcoates 13y ago

Huh, I never tried right clicking on the lower-left corner of the screen before, that's pretty handy. Too bad it doesn't work right: despite every shortcut in the list being a shell object they don't have right click property menus, instead right-clicking invokes the item. Ugh.