what do you need the start button for?

[theyarecomingforyou]

I like the start button because when my mother or father calls me, because they can't find their game or whatever, i tell them to click 'start', 'all programs' and then just look alphabetically down the list for what they want

That's amusing, as Microsoft removed the Start button in Vista and replaced it with the orb - by that logic it would be no different telling somebody to click start in Win8. You've just destroyed your own argument.

[Amarok]

That's absolutely right, you're in the minority.

Really? Because I don't know one person that doesn't at least have a dual core processor these days. Quite a few people I know have recently upgraded to quad core PCs. Just because you're in a technologically dead area don't assume that everyone else is. :)

[9]

i use quickstart menu+ submenus more, containing my major notes files and just a few apps and bat.

accessories or system apps are in start menu. restart/shutdown is in start menu. also, rarely used apps that have installer (though i have sometimes searched thru program folder to drag some executables or batches to start menu. some of nir sofer's for example).

imo, apps don't belong on desktop unless you drag files to them. you can't drag files to apps in quickstart or start menu.

[9]

That's amusing, as Microsoft removed the Start button in Vista and replaced it with the orb - by that logic it would be no different telling somebody to click start in Win8. You've just destroyed your own argument.

his parents probably still know vista's labelfree start button is the start button. it's been there since win95.

ghacks.net/2012/03/06/stardocks-start8-brings-back-the-windows-8-start-menu/comment-page-1/#comment-1421980

[Coi]

I like the start button because when my mother or father calls me, because they can't find their game or whatever, i tell them to click 'start', 'all programs' and then just look alphabetically down the list for what they want

or does metro put the icons alphabetically so you can just scroll 3, 4, 5+ pages to the left and right to find stuff?

The Start Screen puts your icons the way you would like them to be. Besides, you can always (tell people to) type the name of the program they're looking for.

[nominak]

I like the start button because when my mother or father calls me, because they can't find their game or whatever, i tell them to click 'start', 'all programs' and then just look alphabetically down the list for what they want

or does metro put the icons alphabetically so you can just scroll 3, 4, 5+ pages to the left and right to find stuff?

Yes

And you can also just start typing on the metro screen to find the app you're looking for.

[blade1269]

Hey,

For me just something i'm just used too. Also that for most of us who don't have a touch screen, What about the older people that barley know how to use our a computer at the moment. I'ts hard enough to walk them threw over the phone. We should have an option (Choice) to toggle the use of the start screen and the Start menu on the "Normal" desktop.

[HawkMan]

Average people will pick up how to use this faster and easier than "power users" stuck in their ways.

As for explaining on the pone. Several alternatives

1. Move the moouse all the way down and left as far as it goes, and click.

2. Look at your keyboard, click the button with the flag in the bottom left corner.

[BeerFan]

Average people will pick up how to use this faster and easier than "power users" stuck in their ways.

That is absolute rubbish. In my opinion, you are flat wrong. Windows users have had years and years of the Start Menu. Years and years of always clicking on a visible button on the bottom left. The Start Menu is what they know. Show them the Windows 8 Start Screen and Desktop and they will not have a freaking clue how to access either the hidden charms bar or how to switch between open Apps, the Start Screen, and the Desktop. Not a clue. Clicking on a visible button is easy and intuitive. Mousing over a certain area to get a bar or a menu to appear is not. At least not for the average malware-magnet user.

[Southern Patriot]

Some people are under the false impression that Metro doesn't work with keyboard and mouse input, and think Microsoft is forcing them into buying new hardware.

If anything, it over emphasizes the keyboard, but it is somewhat more awkward to use with a mouse. Despite the claims of Win8 fanboys, Metro is designed first and foremost for a touch interface, with mouse and keyboard access seeming tacked on as an afterthought.

[BeerFan]

If anything, it over emphasizes the keyboard, but it is somewhat more awkward to use with a mouse. Despite the claims of Win8 fanboys, Metro is designed first and foremost for a touch interface, with mouse and keyboard access seeming tacked on as an afterthought.

Absolutely correct. (Y)

[siah1214]

Instead of whining about something that won't change, why don't you make it work for you? Take 15 minutes, think about anything you might want to quick access to or do frequently that you might want faster access to, and pin it to your start screen. Set it up the way you might use it. It's not going away, so why don't you make it work for you? Just try it. It won't hurt you.

[stockwiz]

I do like being able to press the windows key and type one letter to find an application, however it's not finding everything, and not everything, such as the defrag program, actually works. They need to tweak it so it will find everything. For example... administrative tools, device manager, misc. control panel items that 'power users' like to access. The new interface, like a lot of software such as video games these days, is too dumbed down.

Also, I don't want silly big looking icons on an operating system designed for a high resolution screen. It's like Fox New's HD channel and their huge graphics in HD. It just looks silly. I can understand them wanting to cater to tablet users but they need to allow the option to customize. There's a lot of wasted space on the metro screen .. the whole top 1/4 just has 'start' in it with nothing there, while the bottom 1/5 also has nothing there. Perhaps I just haven't found the settings to tweak yet, I just dislike wasted space and overly big icons. A person with a lot of programs needs a better interface.

Have to face the fact this OS was designed with tablets in mind first ,and accept it I guess.

Microsoft is an example of a company that does what it does well, however they've been somewhat stale and have gained competition from unexpected companies which have continued to evolve and innovate. Apple, Google, and the like have all evolved in ways I would not have expected. There's no doubt Microsoft needs to do the same, so I'm not faulting them for change. I do like to navigate more by mouse but the more I start using the keyboard it's really no big deal. Faster to press windows key and type one letter, once they tweak it better. :)

[x-byte]

I honestly don't care what method is used so long as it doesn't reduce the functionality. I've noticed that the metro start screen is less useful than the start menu when it comes to search.

For example:

Win7 - WinKey, type photo... PHOTOSHOP APPEARS... HIT ENTER

Win8 - WinKey type photo... Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Photo Gallery appear... NO PHOTOSHOP UNTIL I TYPE THE WHOLE DAMN THING!!!

This is just bloody irritating.

You must have written wrong. Works perfectly fine with me.

[Spyder Veteran]

to start things! i cant start using my computer without a start button. :o

[theyarecomingforyou]

Windows users have had years and years of the Start Menu. Years and years of always clicking on a visible button on the bottom left. The Start Menu is what they know. Show them the Windows 8 Start Screen and Desktop and they will not have a freaking clue how to access either the hidden charms bar or how to switch between open Apps, the Start Screen, and the Desktop. Not a clue.

For that to be true they would have to wilfully ignore the tutorial explaining how to use the new interface.

Do people panic when products are rearranged in a supermarket? Does society ground to a halt? Nope, they simply look around to find where they've been moved to. The reality is that anybody who has used Windows before will know what the Desktop is and simply click the tile on the Start screen (there's even an image to help them out); in order to get back to Start they just have to move their mouse to the same corner as they are used to with Win95-Win7 and be greeted with a popup image that says "Start" - it really hasn't change that much. People coped when Win98 removed the animation telling people where to click and when Vista removed the word "Start". To me some of the criticism is verging on hysterical and bares no relation to reality. Nobody is suggesting that everybody has to like the changes and it is the biggest change in over 15yrs but there's plenty enough to legitimately criticise without making stuff up.

To me the more important criticism is how the hot-corners work on multi-monitor setups. Accessing the Charm bar is difficult when using monitors of the same resolution and the overlap in functionality with Aero Peek and Aero Snap isn't helpful. A simple way to address this would be to create an invisible border at the top and bottom of each corner - it could be triggered accidentally but users would quickly adapt, as they did with Aero Peek. The new app switching pop-out from the left is also inconsistent, as it doesn't pop out when other apps aren't open and the functionality of the bottom left corner is different to the bottom right (this is by design but even after using it for months it doesn't come naturally for me). And more annoyingly, if you have a Metro app snapped to the side and close a full size Metro app it leaves you with a blank screen, rather than returning to the desktop (preferable) or the Start screen - when you click it then brings up the Start screen but that hides your snapped Metro app. I imagine that we'll see a few changes before release, likely for the RC.

I really like Windows 8 but I accept that there are many legitimate concerns that ought to be addressed. I just wish that people would be objective rather than simply responding on an emotional level.

[migo]

I like the start button because when my mother or father calls me, because they can't find their game or whatever, i tell them to click 'start', 'all programs' and then just look alphabetically down the list for what they want

or does metro put the icons alphabetically so you can just scroll 3, 4, 5+ pages to the left and right to find stuff?

Ever since Vista I tell people to click start and start typing the program they want. That hasn't changed.

[migo]

Really? Because I don't know one person that doesn't at least have a dual core processor these days. Quite a few people I know have recently upgraded to quad core PCs. Just because you're in a technologically dead area don't assume that everyone else is. :)

You're not too bright. I clearly meant dual core or more.

[MFH]

yes, that's still the minority

Let's see how successful MS would be if the minority of "IT pros" just ignores Metro? Oops, seems like that minority can be pretty important all of a sudden?

[Nick H. Supervisor]

No need of Start Button to access these. You can pin them to jumplists in Windows 7 and in Windows 8, you can pin anything on Start Screen.

I like how while quoting me you missed this bit:

I know that Windows 8 offers me other ways of doing this, but they're not as easy for me as using the Start menu.

I know that there are ways around the Start menu in Windows 8, but they're not as easy for me to use. I'm used to having a small quick launch bar, and if I have to pin all of these options to the taskbar then it makes life more frustrating for me because it takes up valuable screen space, as does Windows 8's start screen.

[techguy77]

The only solution for Windows is in form of virtual desktop and virtual start menu rather than bringing Start Screen.

[firey]

To start programs with. I like the start menu because it doesn't take up my entire screen (unless I am on XP). Vista/7 menu is very compact. I can have videos, web browsers, etc open in the back while using the start menu, no need to switch screens just to open a new program.

Many times, I will be working on something, press start, type notepad have it launch without even paying attention to the launch process. This lets me keep whatever I am working on in view, while loading another program.

[efjay]

Let's see how successful MS would be if the minority of "IT pros" just ignores Metro? Oops, seems like that minority can be pretty important all of a sudden?

None of the "IT pros" posting here are in a decision making position for a major company, you can almost guarantee it. Any reasonably well run IT division will EVALUATE a new OS, be it ios on the ipad, android tablets or phones or Windows 8. And in its current state Windows 8 is still unfinished and no competent IT professional will be basing final decisions on a beta product, they will do that with at least the RC when all features are complete and the OS is considered finished or close enough to make no difference and proper testing can be done in a corporate environment. Anyone claiming that they wont be deploying Windows 8 is just blowing BS because no corporation is going to base rollout decisions on a beta OS, and corporations are now just starting to move to Windows 7 in numbers and will examine Windows 8 when its final and after testing will make a decision. Those claiming otherwise are just spreading FUD.

[migo]

Let's see how successful MS would be if the minority of "IT pros" just ignores Metro? Oops, seems like that minority can be pretty important all of a sudden?

They won't, because it's actually better for IT pros. The start button isn't a big deal, it's what a lot of people are used to, but they'll do just fine without it. Having direct access to administrative command prompt, device manager and the like in the right click power users menu is worth a hell of a lot more than the start menu ever was.

[migo]

To start programs with. I like the start menu because it doesn't take up my entire screen (unless I am on XP). Vista/7 menu is very compact. I can have videos, web browsers, etc open in the back while using the start menu, no need to switch screens just to open a new program.

Many times, I will be working on something, press start, type notepad have it launch without even paying attention to the launch process. This lets me keep whatever I am working on in view, while loading another program.

You can still do win+R to bring up the run dialog and do that.