Microsoft → Re: MS may be bringing back the "Start menu" in 8.2

Did they fire the idiot who butchered the Start menu?

Nope, they transferred them to the Xbone UI division. Have you seen how hideous it is?

I don't know who butchered the Start menu, but Sinofsky is no longer with MS. Whether it was an ultimatum: "resign or to be fired" or it was truly a mutual decision to leave -- that we may never know.

Based on Microsoft's behaviours in the past few years, Sinofsky isn't the problem.

Start8 was hugely popular even during the beta of Windows 8, remember when they proudly posted the number of downloads? These days I hardly see any Windows 8 systems without ClassicShell. It's not just there though, it's the little things like Windows 7 gadgets which plenty of people used for weather, clock and calendar, Microsoft killed them with Internet Explorer 11.

There was a time when I was pushing Microsoft on anyone that claimed *nix was more reliable, etc., and proudly displayed my Windows NT / 2000 server uptime but by today, I'll take any opportunity I can to switch people to Apple, Linux, or Google alternatives because, basically F**K Microsoft.

Most if not all of those uploaded Metro Start screen solutions are simply ugly as fack! No way would I use that kind of GUI. Until Microsoft comes out with a solution for desktop users, (without relying on 3rd party tools or hacks) I'm happy with what I'm using right now. I'm in no rush to abandon what works perfectly well, which is Windows 7.

What's wrong with relying on third party tools or hacks?

If you buy Win 8 you're telling them you wanted Metro, and we shouldn't have to rely on 3rd party to fix Microsoft's problems. Vote with your wallet.

What BlitzenZeus stated is exactly how I feel.
It's simply unnecessary. How long will that 3rd party tool or hack continue to work when Microsoft updates something in the OS? It's not supported by Microsoft, so what kind of guarantee do I have that my 3rd party Start Menu will always work in desktop mode if Microsoft never intended there to be one to begin with? None. The very fact that there are other companies providing this Start Menu restoration/replacement for Windows 8 shows that Microsoft clearly did not listen to their customer base in terms of what customers wanted to see in Windows 8. I'm not paying to restore past useful features now removed from Windows 8.

I want the latest and greatest, I will not hold out on something just to make a point. Fuck that! My computer that had Windows 7, is worlds better with Windows 8.1 installed. Boot up is faster, launching programs is faster, video performance is improved. I’ve been using Classic Shell with Windows 7 since it first came out because Microsoft removed the traditional classic start menu in 7. The whole reason Classic Shell even exists is because of Windows 7. The default XP/Vista/7 style start menus are beyond retarded to me, and if I had the choice only between the 8.1 Start Screen or the Windows XP/Vista/7 menu, I’d go with the Start Screen in a heartbeat no question about it. No way in hell would I have ordered my new computer with Windows 7, brand new computer with a 4 year old operating system. Makes no sense to me.

Don’t most people make third party enhancements to their computers user interface in some fashion? How many people here with multiple displays run Display Fusion for added features and customizability? Look at the ‘Post your desktop’ threads here with people running various widgets/gadgets, docks and whatever. How many people with Android devices use third party launchers? I use Display Fusion at work with Windows 7 with dual displays, but at home the features that I care about from Display Fusion are built into Windows 8, so I have no need to run it at home. Another plus for WIN8.

I don’t care what I have to rely on to make the user interface the way I like it. If the tools are available, why the fuck should I even begin to care? I’m not going to cry about the crappy radio in my car, when I can replace it with something better. What if I care about audio customizations, and my sound card’s software just has a few environmental DSP settings and a crappy 5 band equalizer? I will do and download a third party application to solve my problem. I will not ‘boycott’ a PC or sound card for something so stupid.

And it Microsoft updates something, two things can and will happen. #1) You can roll back the update #2) Hackers and crackers will be on it within days and a new hole will be exploited. I didn’t pay to restore a past useful feature. I’ve got Classic Shell installed on my two Windows 8.1 desktops, a Windows 7 desktop, Windows 7 laptop, Window 7 desktop at work and my Server 2012R2 installation on the old desktop. Didn’t cost me a dime, never cause me a problem. Although, I probably will eventually donate to them. They folks there do fine work and it made Windows 7 usable to me.

And nothing in life is guaranteed, especially with computers. I’m not worried about or even thinking about something that may or may not happen in the future. At work we have a series of highly customized Excel files with many many custom macros in them. Not this past round of updates, but the previous round of updates to Office and Excel, completely broke some of the functionality and we were in a world of hurt for a few days. Shit happens.

Well, I'm certainly not paying for reduced functionality either nor will I. But some people are going this route by paying addition $ to bring back the Start Menu in Windows 8 with Start8. I do find it rather interesting that you also went ahead and installed Classic Shell to restore the Start Menu. It's just so unnecessary. It again tells me that consumers aren't happy with the decision to remove it so they are going to replace it themselves at their own expense, or for free from some 3rd party company. Something that that could have all been avoided from the very beginning if Microsoft had listened to consumer feedback. Lesson learned the hard way. I'm happy with my native Windows 7 Start Menu.

What reduced functionality is there and what exactly would you be paying for?

Why should I care if they listened to customer feedback or not? Whether or not they listened is completely irrelevant. Either they put a Start Menu in the OS, or I download a third party one that literally takes about 20 seconds of my life. The end result is the same. It doesn’t matter how I get there as long as I’m there. And had Microsoft included a Start Menu, more than likely it would have been like the Windows 7 one and would not have had the option to take it back to classic view so I’d be using it anyhow. It’s a moot point. I’ve been using CS since I first installed Windows 7 weeks after it first came out in December of 2009. What Microsoft or any other company does or changes is something I couldn’t give two shits about so long as I can customize it. I flashed my router and ran third party firmware on my old Linksys 54G for years because it lacked features I wanted. I didn’t cry about it on the internet, I did some research, took initiative and found a few third party options.

But we have all always used third-party software to correct what we don't like about whatever particular flavor of Windows we are using. Why should Win 8 be any different?

I'm like Steve in that I prefer the Classic start menu style, so once Microsoft started screwing around with that, I bought the earlier incarnation of StartMenuX and put that on my computers. And I didn't suffer any existential angst over doing so, because no version of Windows has operated out-of-the-box exactly how I would wish it to operate.

How many of you have replaced Windows Media Player with your preferred software?

Me buying a Win 8 computer wasn't telling Microsoft that I liked/disliked Win 8. It simply meant that I needed a new computer and that I wanted the most recent OS to ensure that I'd get the maximum life-of-product support, not to mention whatever under-the-hood improvements that have occurred since my last computer purchase.

They have removed apps (widgets) from win7 saying they are too unsafe for us to use because of security concerns.

There is an app to run my Yamaha receiver, app for HD Netflix, media center, and others I'd like to use.

Through the years I have been accustomed to a certain elegance on my desktop, Vista especially is very elegant and orderly and I liked it.

When I see those metro screens, they are opposite of elegant and orderly.
Looks like a mishmash of a day care center and a tree service yard that makes it hard to concentrate on tasks at hand.

I have set up win8 for an elderly client with classic shell and he is not having problems except I had to teach him 2x to use the os cause he was used to xp and forgot. Some printer drivers didn't act like he expected but we worked it out.

I'm putting win8 on a new SSD and will dual boot with win7 for now.

I now see whatever answer I provide you won't be satisfied with or simply won't accept as you're content with Windows 8. Which is perfectly fine so... congratulations. You are now part of a small minority of consumers that actually like what Microsoft did with Windows 8.

That's the best description I've seen so far! I got a really good laugh ....but sad that all I manage is big fat laugh at Microsoft for thinking something that crude, garish and silly looking would fly with anyone but those under 30.