Topic '[WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!' in forum 'Microsoft' - dslreports.com

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 11:56:04 EDT

darcilicious posted :

I see no reason to use the Start8 / Start10 products (but I'd be interested to hear something those paid apps have that the free app doesn't).

My primary reason for using Start8/10 is that I also use WindowBlinds (also by Stardock) and they integrate very nicely.
--
♬ Dragon of good fortune struggles with the trickster Fox ♬

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 11:07:43 EDT

Tel posted :

said by Robotics:

Then that's the one for me to. I read about the additional support stuff which is great, but being it was new thought maybe I better hold off a few. But if you like it and it's stable enough then I'm off to get it.

Thanks again.

I actually had a problem with the release candidate starting and stopping constantly when tired to access my start menu. Looking on their forums, the developer posted a dll fix for people having that problem.I replaced the dll file in the program's directory and it fixed the problem.
This is just in case you see something like that. Why some folks have the problem and some don't is a mystery to me.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 09:43:27 EDT

urbanriot posted : ... have you used Windows 10 enough to actually have a 'most used'? If not, it will just list some seemingly random programs.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 08:50:14 EDT

Hall posted :

said by Hall:

On a different note, I have the "Show most used" option toggled on and it is showing apps that definitely are not our most used ones. In fact, I don't think most of them have ever been run. Is MS trying to highlight them for us to get our attention ?

More on this from my virtual machine instance of Windows 10 (I run Quickbooks for Windows on a Mac using Parallels).... In the Start Menu's "most used" items, it lists

Quickbooks (makes sense)
Get Started
People
Calculator
Alarms & Clock
Snipping Tool

Other than QB, I have never run those other programs (on Windows 10). I have used the snip tool in the past.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 08:30:22 EDT

urbanriot posted :

said by Dustyn:

I went with Classic Shell as it appears to offer more granular fine customizations than with Start 10. Plus Classic shell is free. I have also used Start 8 in the past with Windows 8.1 and it does a great job at mimicking the Windows 7 Start Menu. My personal choice is for the free Classic Shell.

I also prefer ClassicShell for the same reasons. For years the start menu with ClassicShell has had a quality Windows 7 look to it and I see no reason to use the Start8 / Start10 products (but I'd be interested to hear something those paid apps have that the free app doesn't).

I'm wondering if there's a native Microsoft Windows 10 method of affecting the spacing on the start menu. Due to their tabletificiation / dumbification of their UI, everything has an excessive amount of whitespace compared to Windows 7. I gave it a fridge look and couldn't find anything...

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 03:22:46 EDT

MarkAW posted : work in progress.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 16:19:42 EDT

Dustyn posted : You're very welcome! :)

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 16:17:25 EDT

Robotics posted : Then that's the one for me to. I read about the additional support stuff which is great, but being it was new thought maybe I better hold off a few. But if you like it and it's stable enough then I'm off to get it.

Thanks again.
--
Long you live and high you fly, and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry,
and all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 16:14:53 EDT

Dustyn posted : I went with the release candidate 4.2.3.
It's more than stable enough and has additional support for Windows 10. :)

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 16:12:43 EDT

Robotics posted : Thanks for the response/info.

Curious if you are using the 4.2.1 or the release candidate version 4.2.3?

Thanks :)

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 16:06:05 EDT

Dustyn posted :

said by Robotics:

How do you get it to look like that? I like that look (no tiles)
Is this Aero Blue/Black a program that does this?

Thanks

»Re: [Other] August Desktops
I looked at two programs to alter the Windows 10 Start Menu.
Start 10 (almost out of BETA) and Classic Shell. I went with Classic Shell as it appears to offer more granular fine customizations than with Start 10. Plus Classic shell is free. I have also used Start 8 in the past with Windows 8.1 and it does a great job at mimicking the Windows 7 Start Menu. My personal choice is for the free Classic Shell.
--
"Graffiti Wall" Dustyn's Wall »[Tech] RIP

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 10:53:20 EDT

therube posted : Different strokes for different folks.
Some can deal with text, some with icons, some simply with shortcuts...

That's why having options is so great.
It's when options (that were) are removed, or not available that people run into issues (& start complaining).

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 10:50:27 EDT

therube posted :

quote:
And to get to the desktop I have to minimize/close all of my windows that I have open.

Minimize.
Win+M. Now does that count as one or two keystrokes? (I just want to be sure.)

Close.
Really? When was the last time you had to close a program in order to get to your desktop?

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 10:48:26 EDT

therube posted :

quote:
Windows 7 has that too, its called a "desktop"

Exactly.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 09:50:27 EDT

Robotics posted : Thank you :)

I will look into this Start 10

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 09:42:04 EDT

darcilicious posted :

said by Robotics:

How do you get it to look like that? I like that look (no tiles)

Thanks

You can unpin each tile in the start menu until all the tiles are gone, if that's part of what you're asking. Otherwise check out Start 10 or ClassicShell add-ons.
--
♬ Dragon of good fortune struggles with the trickster Fox ♬

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 08:43:00 EDT

Hall posted : He's using a 3rd-party Start Menu. That's not really a Windows 10 Start Menu....

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Mon, 03 Aug 2015 08:16:41 EDT

Robotics posted : How do you get it to look like that? I like that look (no tiles)
Is this Aero Blue/Black a program that does this?

Thanks

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Sun, 02 Aug 2015 21:50:43 EDT

Dustyn posted : So here is my desktop and Start Menu. :) (just fine tuning color)
Pretty much done with it. May fine tune it a bit (minimize Cortana in taskbar ect...) but I like this look with all/most options displayed.
This was an upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 to Windows X Pro 64-bit. Probably 98% of preinstalled applications survived the upgrade and no more than 5 apps needed to be reinstalled to correct strange or non functional behavior. It was a remarkably smooth ride jumping from Windows 7 to Windows X. :)
--
"Graffiti Wall" Dustyn's Wall »[Tech] RIP

AERO BLUE
AERO BLACK

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Sun, 02 Aug 2015 20:11:56 EDT

Hall posted : I've done some Googling on this but maybe I'm not using the right terms or more likely, it's just not possible, but can the alphabetical groupings in the Start Menu be eliminated ? I mean the "A" - list of apps that start with A, "B" - list of apps that start with B, and so on.

On a different note, I have the "Show most used" option toggled on and it is showing apps that definitely are not our most used ones. In fact, I don't think most of them have ever been run. Is MS trying to highlight them for us to get our attention ?

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Sat, 01 Aug 2015 17:36:48 EDT

IluvMoney posted : And how running tasks can be displayed on the desktop

[att=1]

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Sat, 01 Aug 2015 15:15:06 EDT

armed posted : Use a third party app for what?

If you're still referring to needing a third party app for Notepad from your other thread then you are just wrong.

said by jsmiddleton4:

Sorry not getting it. IF we still have to use a third party app how is Windows 10 "better" than Windows 8?

Playing with it now and I guess I was expecting more.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Sat, 01 Aug 2015 12:21:32 EDT

darcilicious posted :

said by jsmiddleton4:

IF we still have to use a third party app how is Windows 10 "better" than Windows 8?

You don't. There IS a Start Menu in Windows 10. There wasn't in Windows 8.
--
♬ Dragon of good fortune struggles with the trickster Fox ♬

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Sat, 01 Aug 2015 11:41:55 EDT

jsmiddleton4 posted : Sorry not getting it. IF we still have to use a third party app how is Windows 10 "better" than Windows 8?

Playing with it now and I guess I was expecting more.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 17:36:31 EDT

trparky posted : If I could give you more than one vote up I would. You nailed it right on the head.

Just because something's new doesn't automatically mean it's bad. Yes, it takes some getting used to but after making it your own the new Start Menu can be a lot more useful. Like I said before, I have everything I need right there, all ready for my click. Plus I have news like weather all at the press of my mouse button or click of the Windows key on my keyboard. It's so much more convenient!!

Those haters are just that, haters. They just don't want to change because they're stuck in their ways. I adapted in five minutes. So easy.
--
Tom
Tom's Tech Blog

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:11:08 EDT

armed posted : Rant On

I have always been a user of the desktop as a place to store links to programs I use the most. It has worked for me mostly and at 71 its not always easy to change.

But I have noticed more and more that I use Start in Win 7 as it contains my most used programs and I am getting tired of searching my desktop icon maze to find the programs I want. In addition every time I add a new icon to the desktop it screws up the location of the other icons and I'm continually on a search for the right icon.

I admit that when I upgraded my laptop to Win 10 I was relieved that all my desktop icons survived the upgrade.

But then I got looking at the Win 10 start menu and slowly the light began to brighten. In two days I have become convinced that storing 30-40 icons on the desktop is not the most efficient way for launching my most used programs. Between putting the programs I use daily (4 of them) in the task bar and having the graphic in the new Win10 and by using "All Aps" and using the big search bar I can open my programs (especially ones I don't use as much) faster than searching a plethora of icons on my desktop. (You know... where the hell is that Photoshop icon? )

I think one has to be careful of the syndrome "the way I do things now" is superior to any new method because I don't know the new method. What can happen is you get stuck in old ways and the world begins to pass you by.

But if you want to go along on what you learned 10 years ago that's OK too.

Its funny... I was talking to someone I help with computer issues. The subject of Windows 10 came up. She said I thought the purpose of upgrades was to make things easier not harder. My response was that she had had a tendency to equate "different" with "harder".

Then I got home and installed Win 10 and I was adamant that it look and act just like Win 7. I remembered I went through the same problem with converting from Win xp to Win 7. So I decided to follow my own warning and not equate hard with different and decided to go with the new and abandon the old. At my age that was a struggle.

I have a sister in law who won't touch a computer and thinks any one who does is sick. If I want to talk with someone I call or write them a letter she says. I have catalogs and stores for shopping. I want to read and touch real books and magazines and not on some friggin Kindle. If I need a recipe I get out my cookbook. In short she is 50 years behind... but she's happy. But she sure likes to show me pictures of her grandkids her husband downloaded and printed on the computer.

Rant off

Just sayin :-)

said by pjsutton:

I can still do it in 2 clicks:

1. Click the "show desktop" button/toggle thing all the way to the right of the taskbar.
2. Double click the icon on the desktop.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:03:25 EDT

BillRoland posted : Live Tile doesn't work for me.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:41:40 EDT

towerdave posted :

said by miataman:

'nuf said..Geezer

Wow, that just took me back 25 years!! LOL

TD

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:32:21 EDT

jp16 posted : Mine was tnuk07a....

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:28:33 EDT

jp16 posted : And to get the desktop in W7 you click the desktop button. To be honest I just found it myself....

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:59:15 EDT

Taino posted : Still a work in progress. I really like the melding of Metro in there. It took me a long time used to the Win 8.1 Start menu, and I got used to seeing the live tiles. I'm sure as I add more apps and the like the menu will grow.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:51:51 EDT

miataman posted : 'nuf said..Geezer

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:03:53 EDT

Nanaki posted : That is sweet. Metro tiles plus normal start items

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 02:08:14 EDT

justin posted :

said by trparky:

I spent about five minutes customizing it, pinning program icons, and categorizing them under headers on my Start Menu. All of my most used programs and apps, all there, pinned and ready to go.

I don't see dslreports. And I made such an effort to get the live tile working.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 01:31:02 EDT

William18 posted : Still deciding what to use or get rid of.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:57:32 EDT

pjsutton posted : I'm assuming you're using something 3rd party to do that???

One of my most favorite Start Menu things is to expand Control Panel as a menu - I forget when we got this (XP maybe??) but it's so useful. Especially since Control Panel usually takes a while to open. And, several of the default views are annoying to me - like having the different items grouped together under generic headings.

It took me a good year to remember where in Win 7 the "Add/Remove Programs" box was!

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:55:11 EDT

pjsutton posted : Does Windows 10 still give you the option to show the name of the program when it's open in the Taskbar? I've used that setting from the beginning in Win 7, and I also disable the grouping-together of like items. However, I have a 24" monitor... I also "use small icons"

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:52:17 EDT

pjsutton posted : I can still do it in 2 clicks:

1. Click the "show desktop" button/toggle thing all the way to the right of the taskbar.
2. Double click the icon on the desktop.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 23:49:18 EDT

chip89 posted : Here's mine! :)

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:41:51 EDT

takeahike posted : By the way if anyone wants to know you can turn the white section black in Start 10 by choosing 'Modern theme' under Style.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:39:42 EDT

WK2 posted : I was considering the use of a 3rd party dock application however, I really like the Windows 10 Start Menu.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:27:58 EDT

trparky posted : Mind you, I was probably in the "Top Ten Most Vocal Haters" of Windows 8.x on this site. And believe you me, I was quite vocal of my hate of Windows 8.x on other sites as well. I would have put Emperor Palpatine to shame with my hate of Windows 8.x. The Start Screen was the thing that completely and utterly killed Windows 8.x for me, that one thing alone was the ultimate buzzkill for me.

But here comes Windows 10 and they suddenly gave us a Start Menu and now it's not bad, not bad at all. For once, I congratulate Microsoft on a job well done. This is what Windows 8.x should have been from the very start. If Windows 8.x was what Windows 10 is today it would've not received nearly as much hate as it did.
--
Tom
Tom's Tech Blog

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:21:44 EDT

IluvMoney posted : And, of course, my desktop has all the items I use most frequently.
[att=1]

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:12:52 EDT

SipSizzurp posted :

said by trparky:

Sorry... two clicks and I'm done.

1. Click the Start button.
2. Click the icon.

1. Click "Show Desktop"
2. Click Icon or shortcut to the desired resource.

It is a tie. Two clicks each. The speech recognition engine is where the excitement is at.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:12:50 EDT

IluvMoney posted : My laptop start screen and a good link on how to customize Win10 Start menu:
»bgr.com/2015/07/29/windo ··· stomize/

[att=1]

My favorite apps are in the "Life at a Glance" section upper left of start menu.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:08:53 EDT

trparky posted : Sorry... two clicks and I'm done.

1. Click the Start button.
2. Click the icon.

As versus your way...
1. Click the Flip-3D button.
2. Click for the desktop.
3. Find the icon on the desktop and click it.
3. Click the Flip-3D button.

Four clicks versus two. Which one wins? I don't know, I think the first one does. ;-)
--
Tom
Tom's Tech Blog

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:08:04 EDT

darcilicious posted :

Start10 from Stardock

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:04:46 EDT

Cartel posted : not really you could use flip 3d the the show desktop side button to put the windows back up.

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 21:53:09 EDT

trparky posted : And to get to the desktop I have to minimize/close all of my windows that I have open. But with the Windows 10 Start Menu one click or press of the Windows key and I have it on top of my open windows. It's so much easier and more convenient to have it all right there.
--
Tom
Tom's Tech Blog

Re: [WIN10] Show us your Windows 10 Start Menu!

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 21:43:45 EDT

Cartel posted : Windows 7 has that too, its called a "desktop"