Start Menu Concept


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So many people are dissatisfied with the current start menu in build 9926. What I decided to do just for fun is whip up a quick concept. The picture below shows a start menu that's more similar to the old start menu from Build 9879. As you can see, the search bar is back in the start menu where it should be, the power and full screen buttons have moved near the bottom in the left column, and more tiles can actually show up in the start menu box now, even though the start menu box is actually a bit smaller. 

 

All I did really was take a snapshot of the current start menu and move a couple things -- that's it. Just by doing that, I've greatly decreased the amount of blank space used by the start menu and made a significant amount of space for the taskbar icons. 

 

Note that the Cortana icon is still present. If the user clicks on it, she would still show up as a standalone box, but she'd never overlap the start menu either. 

 

Also note that none of the transparency effects are shown in this concept because it's a very quick image I slapped together, but in the real version they'd totally be there. Any thoughts/comments/criticisms are welcome. :3

 

If you don't like the concept, I encourage more details instead of just saying "it sucks". I would like to know what exactly is wrong with the design, so I could improve as a designer for my next concept I might make. Thanks! ^^

 

quickconcept_zpsdxqhtqgc.png

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So many people are dissatisfied with the current start menu in build 9926. What I decided to do just for fun is whip up a quick concept. The picture below shows a start menu that's more similar to the old start menu from Build 9879. As you can see, the search bar is back in the start menu where it should be, the power and full screen buttons have moved near the bottom in the left column, and more tiles can actually show up in the start menu box now, even though the start menu box is actually a bit smaller. 

 

All I did really was take a snapshot of the current start menu and move a couple things -- that's it. Just by doing that, I've greatly decreased the amount of blank space used by the start menu and made a significant amount of space for the taskbar icons. 

 

Note that the Cortana icon is still present. If the user clicks on it, she would still show up as a standalone box, but she'd never overlap the start menu either. 

 

Also note that none of the transparency effects are shown in this concept because it's a very quick image I slapped together, but in the real version they'd totally be there. Any thoughts/comments/criticisms are welcome. :3

 

If you don't like the concept, I encourage more details instead of just saying "it sucks". I would like to know what exactly is wrong with the design, so I could improve as a designer for my next concept I might make. Thanks! ^^

 

 

I like the button placement on power and the expand. That space is dead-space regardless and it reduces the travel distance to power (which is a commonly used button). It also reduces all the blank space at the top of the start menu. I don't care for the search bar in the start  though. I can't think of a single reason for it not take up taskbar space. No one goes into their start menu and then realizes they wanted to click an icon on their taskbar or something. Plus by keeping it over the taskbar it reduces the size of start even more. 

 

That's just my 2c. 

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I like the button placement on power and the expand. That space is dead-space regardless and it reduces the travel distance to power (which is a commonly used button). It also reduces all the blank space at the top of the start menu. I don't care for the search bar in the start  though. I can't think of a single reason for it not take up taskbar space. No one goes into their start menu and then realizes they wanted to click an icon on their taskbar or something. Plus by keeping it over the taskbar it reduces the size of start even more. 

 

That's just my 2c. 

 

Thanks for the reply. :3 

By putting the search bar in the start menu, I was thinking that some users are used to pressing the Windows key and typing something to quickly search for an app or something. On the other hand though, that's still possible even now with build 9926.  

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By putting the search bar in the start menu, I was thinking that some users are used to pressing the Windows key and typing something to quickly search for an app or something. On the other hand though, that's still possible even now with build 9926.

I'm guilty of this. I was using Windows Server 2012 the other week and I was quite disconcerted by hitting the windows key and not seeing where the letters would appear on the screen.

I assume your tiles would be completely customisable, to the point of being able to completely remove them if you wanted?

Also, would those buttons to the apps on the left be scalable? I'm still not sure why there are big squares with a small font next to them - make them the same size to free up space and fit more in to the lists.

I'm not up to speed on current looks and functionality, so I'm only going off of your screenshot.

EDIT: Since others have pointed it out, I will say that I like putting the power button back where it belongs.

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So your concept is to make it look like current Microsoft Start menu... hmmm....

 

Well like I said, this is a very quick mockup, and I just moved a couple things. A more radically different design would take longer for Microsoft to do, and there's not much time left until June.

I'm guilty of this. I was using Windows Server 2012 the other week and I was quite disconcerted by hitting the windows key and not seeing where the letters would appear on the screen.

I assume your tiles would be completely customisable, to the point of being able to completely remove them if you wanted?

Also, would those buttons to the apps on the left be scalable? I'm still not sure why there are big squares with a small font next to them - make them the same size to free up space and fit more in to the lists.

I'm not up to speed on current looks and functionality, so I'm only going off of your screenshot.

EDIT: Since others have pointed it out, I will say that I like putting the power button back where it belongs.

 

Yeah, the tiles would be completely customizable and removable, and if all of the tiles are gone the start menu could either shrink back down to a one-column start menu (like in previous builds), or it could even become like a Windows 7-style menu if that's what you prefer. o;

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The only thing different from your concept is the placement of power\fullscreen.

 

MS already stated that search will be moved back into start menu.

 

I thought they said the results are being moved back into the start menu. I don't think the search bar itself is being put back. There is literally zero purpose of putting it back. It just takes up more room on start for what? So that people who aren't used to it won't have to look 10 pixels lower? On Windows 8 it was on the opposite side of the screen.

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I thought they said the results are being moved back into the start menu. I don't think the search bar itself is being put back. There is literally zero purpose of putting it back. It just takes up more room on start for what? So that people who aren't used to it won't have to look 10 pixels lower? On Windows 8 it was on the opposite side of the screen.

 

What if people have their taskbar positioned on the left or right sides vertically though? o.o

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I thought they said the results are being moved back into the start menu. I don't think the search bar itself is being put back. There is literally zero purpose of putting it back. It just takes up more room on start for what? So that people who aren't used to it won't have to look 10 pixels lower? On Windows 8 it was on the opposite side of the screen.

"According to our sources who have used the builds, searching will now be done inside the Start menu and do away with the overlay that currently exists in build 9926. This change makes the Start menu the functional area for searching and could be part of Cortana as well. Seeing as search is now inside the Start Window, it would makes sense that Cortana would migrate this way too." neowin

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"According to our sources who have used the builds, searching will now be done inside the Start menu and do away with the overlay that currently exists in build 9926. This change makes the Start menu the functional area for searching and could be part of Cortana as well. Seeing as search is now inside the Start Window, it would makes sense that Cortana would migrate this way too." neowin

Yeah. If you press start and run a search, a separate overlay comes up over the start screen. It would make more sense for the results to just populate into the start screen itself. It makes no sense to move the search bar itself into the start menu though. Over the taskbar is superior placement. 

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So long as the start menu is full of the metro nonsense, I personally want nothing to do with it. Thanks, but I will continue to use a replacement, like Classic Shell.

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So long as the start menu is full of the metro nonsense, I personally want nothing to do with it. Thanks, but I will continue to use a replacement, like Classic Shell.

You can just unpin or resize it to an icon...

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So long as the start menu is full of the metro nonsense, I personally want nothing to do with it. Thanks, but I will continue to use a replacement, like Classic Shell.

What an odd thing to say, when the rest of the OS is built off of that "metro nonsense".

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What an odd thing to say, when the rest of the OS is built off of that "metro nonsense".

Why would that be odd for me to say...??? Ive been saying that since they first came out with it. To say otherwise at this point would be ridiculous.

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You can just unpin or resize it to an icon...

Nah, it's ok. I'm perfectly happy to use Classic Shell.

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Nice concept, but I'd rather wait to see what the next promised build brings to the table. What Microsoft brings to the table matters, not some random forum post. No offense. They know what they're doing. My advice: go to work at stardock. Again, no offence. But thank you for your effort. It's the end user that matters, and there's a compromise, no matter what. Good Photoshop work, however. Maybe someone at Microsoft is watching, or is ten miles ahead already, who knows.

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Why would that be odd for me to say...??? Ive been saying that since they first came out with it. To say otherwise at this point would be ridiculous.

Right, but you're ignoring the bigger picture. Metro is more than the Live Tiles. It *is* the entire OS at this point. Metro *is* Windows 10.

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So many people are dissatisfied with the current start menu in build 9926. What I decided to do just for fun is whip up a quick concept. The picture below shows a start menu that's more similar to the old start menu from Build 9879. As you can see, the search bar is back in the start menu where it should be, the power and full screen buttons have moved near the bottom in the left column, and more tiles can actually show up in the start menu box now, even though the start menu box is actually a bit smaller. 

 

All I did really was take a snapshot of the current start menu and move a couple things -- that's it. Just by doing that, I've greatly decreased the amount of blank space used by the start menu and made a significant amount of space for the taskbar icons. 

 

Note that the Cortana icon is still present. If the user clicks on it, she would still show up as a standalone box, but she'd never overlap the start menu either. 

 

Also note that none of the transparency effects are shown in this concept because it's a very quick image I slapped together, but in the real version they'd totally be there. Any thoughts/comments/criticisms are welcome. :3

 

If you don't like the concept, I encourage more details instead of just saying "it sucks". I would like to know what exactly is wrong with the design, so I could improve as a designer for my next concept I might make. Thanks! ^^

 

quickconcept_zpsdxqhtqgc.png

 

I would put a padlock icon next to the start menu size icon on the left. the padlock would equate to the Win+L combination for locking the PC when away. Businesses will surely need this to secure a system in a business for sure. the placement is perfect and practical.

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So your concept is to make it look like current Microsoft Start menu... hmmm....

Yep. The start menu works fine. There is no need to change it. If it ain't broke don't fix it!

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Yep. The start menu works fine. There is no need to change it. If it ain't broke don't fix it!

 

Are you referring to the 9926 version of the start menu? If so, then I'm afraid it's quite flawed.

 

I moved the search bar back into the start menu because with it residing in the taskbar, it doesn't accommodate for every possible setup. With the current design, if users keep the taskbar situated at the top or the bottom of the screen, the search bar will look fine. However what if the person snaps the taskbar on the left or right side of the screen vertically? You can't have a vertical text box awkwardly going down the taskbar. You also can't have the search bar sticking out horizontally and going out into the desktop space. So I figured the best design decision for the search bar was to position it inside the start menu again. Perhaps there's another alternative that I didn't think of, but I can't think of one. 

Besides, having the search box reside in the start menu will be more familiar to users of Windows 7, which is what Windows 10 is aiming for. 

 

(Sorry if this post comes off as rude. It's not meant to be read that way. ><)

I would put a padlock icon next to the start menu size icon on the left. the padlock would equate to the Win+L combination for locking the PC when away. Businesses will surely need this to secure a system in a business for sure. the placement is perfect and practical.

 

I like this idea! ^^

Thank you for your input. ;o

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