Why Microsoft Killed the Windows Start Button

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Why Microsoft Killed the Windows Start Button

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday June 28, 2012 @05:40AM from the just-to-watch-it-die dept.

Barence writes "Microsoft claims it took the controversial decision to remove the Start button from the traditional Windows desktop because people had stopped using it. The lack of a Start button on the Windows 8 desktop has been one of the most divisive elements of the new user interface, and was widely assumed to have made way for the Metro Start screen. However, Chaitanya Sareen, principal program manager at Microsoft, said the telemetry gathered from Windows 7 convinced Microsoft to radically overhaul the Start menu because people were using the taskbar instead. 'When we evolved the taskbar we saw awesome adoption of pinning [applications] on the taskbar,' said Sareen. 'We are seeing people pin like crazy. And so we saw the Start menu usage dramatically dropping, and that gave us an option. We're saying "look, Start menu usage is dropping, what can we do about it? What can we do with the Start menu to revive it, to give it some new identity, give it some new power?"'"

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stopped using it? by X0563511 · 2012-06-28 05:42 · Score: 5, Informative

Who the hell is their focus group? I've not met a single person who doesn't use the start button.

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1. Re:stopped using it? by SerpentMage · 2012-06-28 05:43 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Mod up the parent... I completely concur. Yes I pinned as well, but I did use the start menu to navigate the positions. But hey why do I matter and care. I shifted all of my machines to OSX, and Linux Ubuntu...
  
  --
  
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  "No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
2. Re:stopped using it? by cpu6502 · 2012-06-28 05:45 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I use the start button about once every 5 minutes. Since my desktop is completely-clean of any icons, the start button is the only method I have to open new programs. Microsoft is probably lying through their teeth about "people don't use it".
  
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3. Re:stopped using it? by Gr33nJ3ll0 · 2012-06-28 05:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Relax, it's the old "The focus group made me do it defense", probably to be followed with "I was just doing my job", and then finally "I didn't know OKAY?!!?!!?!?! I DIDN'T KNOW!!!!"
4. Re:stopped using it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 05:46 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The same idiots who like the ribbon.
5. Re:stopped using it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 05:48 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  You know the little box you can tick that says "Send anonymous usage data to Microsoft"? It's that data. Not a focus group, but telemetry data from actual windows installs.
6. Re:stopped using it? by EdZ · 2012-06-28 05:48 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I never use it. Being the owner of a keyboard, I simply press the perfectly good button on that.
  
  Besides, the start button is still there, it's simply hidden under a hot corner. Move your mouse to the same place you would normally, and click as normally, and you still still perform the same action as in older versions of windows. Of course, the menu is replaced with the start screen, but that's another matter.
7. Re:stopped using it? by jerpyro · 2012-06-28 05:49 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I agree. I keep the top 5-7 pinned (Browser, Explorer, Winamp, Thunderbird, RDP, Visual Studio, SSMS) and then the rest of the stuff I don't need cluttering up my quicklaunch bar. The next top 10 are in the frequent list of my start menu. The rest I use so rarely that I'm ok hunting for.
  I'd be ok with not having a start menu if there was a heirarchical way to organize the things that you don't use often... kind of like OH WAIT THAT'S THE START BUTTON! :)
8. Re:stopped using it? by redbeardcanada · 2012-06-28 05:50 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I think for the most common tasks, people avoid the start bar by pinning their main applications (or use an applauncher in XP like Objectdock). The problem is when you need to do something other than the common. I think this will cause major confusion like the Office Ribbon where you know what you want to do, you know how you used to do it, but you can't find where it is anymore...
  
  The Start menu was at least somewhat intuitive to find buried settings in Control Panel or seldom used programs.
9. Re:stopped using it? by Missing.Matter · 2012-06-28 05:51 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Hello, let me introduce myself. I do not use the start button. I access the start menu for two reasons: to access the search function (95% of the time) and to access a little used program (5% of the time, maybe once a month). Otherwise, my complete workflow is pinned to my task bar. I even access explorer from there and from keyboard shortcuts.
  
  Windows 8 has completely changed that, and I'm thankful. There is a separate, more useful screen for searching and accessing little used apps. Now the start screen is much more useful, and I have a reason to actually access it.
  
  If you don't like it, you have many options including not upgrading to Windows 8, or applying what will most certainly be a large array of hacks, tweaks, and UI modifications to get windows working the way you want it to, just as there have always exists in Windows.
10. Re:stopped using it? by Chas · 2012-06-28 05:51 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You know the little box you can tick that says "Send anonymous usage data to Microsoft"? It's that data. Not a focus group, but telemetry data from actual windows installs.
  Oh. The thing everyone and their brother is told to NEVER check!
  No wonder they got such asinine and utterly useless feedback. Because the only people giving them feedback were morons.
  
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  THANK GOD!!!
11. Re:stopped using it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 05:52 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  And only idiots agree to send them that data.
12. Re:stopped using it? by girlintraining · 2012-06-28 05:53 · Score: 2
  
  Who the hell is their focus group? I've not met a single person who doesn't use the start button.
  Marketing executives that are trying to compete with Apple by appearing hip and trendy, but instead fouling things up so bad they're going to need a backhoe instead of a shovel.
  
  --
  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
13. Re:stopped using it? by cpu6502 · 2012-06-28 05:55 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Insightful comment from the FA. They are surveying the novice users not power users, hence they produced a Win8 interface for novices, not us:
  Flawed, like most surveys
  "Weâ(TM)d seen the trend in Windows 7," referring to the telemetry gathered by the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program." ----- Well there we have it, all but the most basic users opt out of the intrusive MCEIP - so they are surveying people who don't even know what the Start Button is for - I kid you not. As a computer tech I see it all the time.
  
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14. Re:stopped using it? by Missing.Matter · 2012-06-28 05:56 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Right, because Microsoft hires exactly 0 competent people who know what a representative sample is. I'm sure they have dozens of different methods to collect this data, one of which is the automated usage data built within Windows. I know in one blog post they addressed concerns that corporate users don't have this on, and therefore were not represented in the sample. Microsoft responded that they have other methods for collecting data from corporate users.
15. Re:stopped using it? by jmerlin · 2012-06-28 05:56 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  As a former IT professional who's used Windows more than any other OS and who's memorized most of the useful shortcuts and configured his desktop to allow me to get things done really quickly, even I still use the Start menu.
  
  I have never once ever pinned anything on the task bar (Indeed I remove all the default pins and set it to show text unless the bar is full), because that would require me to click on an icon, and reduce task-bar real-estate for my apps. Horrible trade-off.
  
  And a direct answer to their question: "What can we do with the Start menu to revive it, to give it some new identity, give it some new power?" -- remove pins. Pins and quickstart/recently used are the exact same fucking thing. I don't ever CLICK on the Start button, I hit my win key, which means it's not an extra click for me to access that menu, and it's vertically stacked which means I don't have this glob of icons. I hate that enough on OSX.
  
  What it seems like is happening here is that Microsoft is trying to emulate OSX's Dock. The problem with that is that OSX also provides a start-menu of sorts, it's just got nowhere near as much power. So trying to emulate OSX but removing the one benefit you have over it seems like sawing off half of your foot so you can fit into designer sneakers. Good move, Microsoft. I won't use Win8 without a Start menu. Thanks, though.
16. Re:stopped using it? by Jeng · 2012-06-28 05:57 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  It is a misinterpretation of the data.
  People pin the programs they use the most and in that way there is less start menu items being used total, but for infrequently used programs one usually accesses them via the start menu.
  So basically Microsoft is saying that since you use certain programs 90+% of the time you don't need an easy way to access the ones you don't use on a regular basis. That is actually one of my main complaints in regards to using Linux so I think it is funny Microsoft is fucking this up in this way.
  Microsoft could have came to the same conclusion if they were tracking how one uses Windows 95, but instead of it regarding pinning programs in Windows 95 you mainly used desktop items.
  
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  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
17. Re:stopped using it? by Missing.Matter · 2012-06-28 06:01 · Score: 2
  
  The Start menu was at least somewhat intuitive to find buried settings in Control Panel or seldom used programs.
  And how is the new solution not? There is a new applications list for seldomly used programs. Maybe you're confused because the new start menu isn't supposed to just be a place for things you never use. That's kind of what this entire article is about; they're trying to turn it into something that you actually use instead of being a closet for all your old junk that you only look through when you need to find your tennis racket you haven't used in 3 years.
18. Re:stopped using it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 06:05 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I *USED* to use the start menu quite a bit. Then they burred everything and smashed it into a small area of my screen (instead of expanding menus). So yeah I created a zillion icons and pinned the commonly used ones. Did they stop and think *maybe* they broke the start button and so people stopped using it?
19. Re:stopped using it? by clarkn0va · 2012-06-28 06:07 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  True story: I support a couple hundred staff (small tech school), and by far the most common trouble call after deploying a new computer is "this computer doesn't have Outlook". The correct translation for this, in our case, is "Outlook isn't on my desktop, so it must not be installed".
  How somebody can use a computer every day and not know how to use the start menu is a bit baffling to me. My best guess is that these people simply use a small subset of a computer's functionality, all of which somehow magically made its way to the desktop, quick launch or taskbar, as the case may be. This is the same demographic, by the way, that knows Internet Explorer simply as "The Internet".
  
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20. Re:stopped using it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 06:09 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I find myself using the Search function in the Start menu more. Just type the first few letters of the program I want to open and BAM motherfuckers! It starts.
21. Re:stopped using it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 06:09 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I actually love the ribbon. It makes complex features more accessible and provides a superior visual organization of features.
22. Re:stopped using it? by Tough+Love · 2012-06-28 06:10 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Standard practice at is to collect this data methodically, efficiently and comprehensively then ignore it completely in favor of a powerpoint slide.
  
  --
  When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
23. Re:stopped using it? by cayenne8 · 2012-06-28 06:10 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  I'd never heard of 'pinning' something to the task bar before this article....??
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
24. Re:stopped using it? by jandrese · 2012-06-28 06:10 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You clearly weren't part of the focus group. I'm sure the focus group was also full of the kind of people who maximize every window, no matter what it is and have their desktop absolutely full of icons.
  
  --
  
  I read the internet for the articles.
25. Re:stopped using it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 06:14 · Score: 2
  
  "I never use it. Being the owner of a keyboard, I simply press the perfectly good button on that."
  ummm.. You do realize that the start menu, and the key which activates the start menu, are the same thing right? One would assume if they removed the start menu, your key would obviously no longer work. Otherwise, they would not have removed the start menu.
  +5 insightful? wow
26. Re:stopped using it? by spire3661 · 2012-06-28 06:18 · Score: 2
  
  No, but its ok that you think that.
  
  --
  Good-bye
27. Re:stopped using it? by space_jake · 2012-06-28 06:19 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I spend more time using the ribbon than the old menus! That's good... right?
28. Re:stopped using it? by BeanThere · 2012-06-28 06:20 · Score: 2
  
  In Vista and Windows 7, they made the Start menu WORSE -- it doesn't seem to occur to them that this might be another big reason people are using it less. Recall, the old Start menu expanded out broadly with as many of your programs as possible; then they confined it to a tiny more finicky area where firstly it takes longer to appear, and secondly you have to work harder to scroll through the thing looking for your application.
29. Re:stopped using it? by yorgo · 2012-06-28 06:21 · Score: 2
  
  Sounds like the old, "our goal was to integrate conversations across multiple channels of communication ...We want people to use whatever's easier for them" defense!
30. Re:stopped using it? by alva_edison · 2012-06-28 06:22 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I actually love the ribbon. It makes complex features more accessible and provides a superior visual organization of features.
  Assuming you already know where things are. If you are trying to do something new, you have the added step of trying to figure out what icon represents the task. Also somethings can be only done from the dialog boxes (accessed by clicking the lower right corner of individual panels inside the ribbon). Finally there is the Quick Access Toolbar, which mostly has things that didn't go onto the ribbon. It's placement on the title bar is annoying because by default I'm not going to be looking there.
  
  --
  He effected a bored affect.
31. Re:stopped using it? by SJHillman · 2012-06-28 06:23 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  By far my favorite feature of Win7. Windows key -> type want I want to run (usually under 4 characters) -> Enter. Very efficient.
  I know of no regular users that understand pinning. Myself, I only pin my email and web browsers (by far my most frequently used programs) and nothing else.
32. Re:stopped using it? by arkane1234 · 2012-06-28 06:26 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Well, Maximizing every window isn't even a noob thing.. not a part of the whole stereotype.
  In fact, I know lots of people including myself that do it to use the screen real estate. Alt-tab (or apple-tab) or switching screens is pretty simple.
  Yes, I switch screens on my work Windows desktop. I was tired of being constrained to one screen, so I downloaded an open source app named VirtuaWin to have easily switchable virtual desktops.
  
  --
  -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
33. Re:stopped using it? by John+Bokma · 2012-06-28 06:26 · Score: 2
  
  When on XP I used this the most A better start menu with Quick Launch.
  Besides Windows key + R.
  But yeah, MS must be lying through their teeth because you use the start button about once every 5 minutes... Can't even imagine why people would do such a thing unless they get paid for doing so.
  
  --
  
  Perl Programmer for hire
34. Re:stopped using it? by R3d+Jack · 2012-06-28 06:28 · Score: 2
  
  Personally, I use my pinned applications 95% of the time. However, I use the Start button a couple of times a day. They have to have something to take its place that is about as easy to access...
35. Re:stopped using it? by cpu6502 · 2012-06-28 06:30 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Pinning means creating a program "shortcut" but instead of putting the shortcut on your desktop, you drag it to your taskbar on the bottom. I'm not sure why the MS employee said it's "new" to Seven? I thought that function has existed since XP.
  
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36. Re:stopped using it? by jbengt · 2012-06-28 06:31 · Score: 2
  
  "It's like voting; you will bitch about who won even if you didn't vote."
  FTFY
37. Re:stopped using it? by mwvdlee · 2012-06-28 06:31 · Score: 2
  
  I guess I'm their focus group.
  My Windows 7 taskbar is stuffed with 100+ icons and takes up half the available screen space.
  The remaining taskbar space only allows me to open a couple of Windows. Luckily, scanning for the right meaningless miniature icon takes up half an hour, so I don't open a lot of Windows.
  
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38. Re:stopped using it? by Joce640k · 2012-06-28 06:31 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I don't think they've thought this cunning plan all the way through.
  To "pin" something you need to have access to it in the first place. Guess where most of the things you can "pin" are stored? Yup - the start menu.
  The only way pinning can work well is if they reinvent the start menu, but disguise it as something else.
  
  --
  No sig today...
39. Re:stopped using it? by i+kan+reed · 2012-06-28 06:33 · Score: 2
  
  Oh, then you missed one of the best things about windows 7. You can press the windows key, type a bit of the name of the program or document you want, press enter, and it's ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD at finding the right thing. I pin my favorite things, firefox, windows explorer, visual studio, command shell, and can very easily get the rest when I want it.
40. Re:stopped using it? by rtfa-troll · 2012-06-28 06:33 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I spend more time using the ribbon than the old menus! That's good... right?
  Yes; you have to remember that, the thing which makes Facebook superior to Google is that people go to Google, find an answer, achieve something and then go away satisfied. With Facebook they spend much longer on each page searching for something of value. In future the Ribbon will allow adverts to be mixed in between the indestinguishable wierd icons ensuring that the users click on them by accident whilst desperately searching for a function which they can't work out the proper location or representation of.
  This; is the true future of Office365 (which will soon become the one true office as companies attempt to monetize their under-deployed personnel).
  
  --
  =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
41. Re:stopped using it? by chargersfan420 · 2012-06-28 06:35 · Score: 2
  
  Undoing my mods in this thread because I have to ask - have you never used the "shutdown" or "restart" options? Do you ever turn off your computer?
42. Re:stopped using it? by WolfgangPG · 2012-06-28 06:35 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  That is still works perfectly in Windows 8.
43. Re:stopped using it? by mwvdlee · 2012-06-28 06:35 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Same here. I use pinning for about three or four icons at most; the stuff I open and close often.
  Do they have a search&enter function in the metro interface?
  
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44. Re:stopped using it? by ryanmc1 · 2012-06-28 06:38 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Actually you described using the quick launch feature. Pinning is a bit different. To pin something to the taskbar you right click it and choose "pin to taskbar" This is not the same as using quick launch because it does not create a new icon on the taskbar when the program starts. This reduces the number of icons using up space since you will only have one (with quick launch you have two or more, one for quick launch, and then another for each running instance of the program)
45. Re:stopped using it? by X0563511 · 2012-06-28 06:39 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I use that, and pinning - so does a lot of the people I know. That said, everyone that I know of uses the All Programs menu to find things they don't often use or forgot the spelling for.
  
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46. Re:stopped using it? by OakDragon · 2012-06-28 06:40 · Score: 2
  
  Exactly - Microsoft puts a few on there, the OEM / vendor quite a few more, then everything they install is " [X] Create icon on my desktop".
  
  --
  Dark Reflection
47. Re:stopped using it? by whargoul · 2012-06-28 06:40 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  That's great if you know what you're looking for, but if you're searching for a specific app you rarely use and don't remember the name of it would be highly inefficient and frustrating.
48. Re:stopped using it? by danomac · 2012-06-28 06:41 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Absolutely correct.
  I support 120+ users. One thing I've noticed during our Windows 7 migration is that our staff do not use the start menu at all. The server places shortcuts for six or seven common use tools on users' desktops, and are shown how to pin apps to the taskbar.
  The result I've noticed is that users have pinned office and internet apps used frequently to the taskbar, and use the icons on the desktop like they always have. I'd say about 5 users have seen the usefulness of the search feature on the Start menu. The other 115 don't use it.
  The only time I've seen staff use the Start button here is to log off when they're done with the machine. If there was a button on the taskbar to do that, they'd never use the Start menu at all!
49. Re:stopped using it? by Tarlus · 2012-06-28 06:42 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Yes. It is still just as easy as pressing the Windows key, then typing to start your search.
  
  --
  /* No Comment */
50. Re:stopped using it? by Cl1mh4224rd · 2012-06-28 06:43 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You know the little box you can tick that says "Send anonymous usage data to Microsoft"? It's that data. Not a focus group, but telemetry data from actual windows installs.
  Oh. The thing everyone and their brother is told to NEVER check!
  No wonder they got such asinine and utterly useless feedback. Because the only people giving them feedback were morons.
  What's all this hate about? The angriest people seem to be the ones who consciously refused to provide any meaningful feedback. They then spit venom when decisions are made without the input they refused to give. And on a product they're not even being forced to use.
  Holy shit, people...
  
  --
  People will pass up steak once a week, for crap every day.
51. Re:stopped using it? by Eponymous+Coward · 2012-06-28 06:43 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I pin a bunch of stuff. I love that I can then use win-1, win-2, etc... to launch the pinned apps. The Windows 7 UI is one of the most keyboard friendly UI's I've used.
52. Re:stopped using it? by Dwedit · 2012-06-28 06:45 · Score: 2
  
  I thought the start menu got a lot better when they added the little text box there. Type in a few characters to filter everything out. Makes it more like the Awesomebar in Firefox.
53. Re:stopped using it? by marcosdumay · 2012-06-28 06:52 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Nope. Win 95 start menu used all the vertical space available, and become larger and larger as you needed deeper menus.
  Win 7 start menu puts everything into a small rectangle, where you can't see everything, must click on menus to see what is inside (compounded with the classical bad arrangement of menus in Windows, that's very bad), and nested menus have even less horizontal space because of identation and share the same vertical space with everything else.
  
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54. Re:stopped using it? by DragonTHC · 2012-06-28 06:56 · Score: 2
  
  right and there's also "Pin to Start Menu"
  
  --
  They're using their grammar skills there.
55. Re:stopped using it? by cpu6502 · 2012-06-28 06:58 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The taskbar previews are pretty handy. Certainly better than flipping through a ton of screens like AmigaOS. I can minimize VLC Media Player to the taskbar and yet still pause/resume playback through the preview window.
  
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56. Re:stopped using it? by Gerzel · 2012-06-28 07:02 · Score: 2
  
  Probably not.
  They probably took data from a large sample set without differentiating different types of users or types of use.
  I'd bet that common behavior is for a user to pin the top five or six most used programs to the taskbar and then use them nearly every day w/o using the start menu that much on a regular basis. Thus automated measures would show what MS is claiming. However they only looked at what people where doing and at the numbers of how many times they were doing things not at why or how they were doing things.
  Also I'd bet there are a few in power who made the decision who are unwilling to relent because that would mean they were wrong, and such persons are never wrong.
57. Re:stopped using it? by Captoo · 2012-06-28 07:03 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Correction: This works even better in Windows 8.
58. Re:stopped using it? by DragonTHC · 2012-06-28 07:04 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  of course you use your pinned apps most of the time, that's why they're pinned.
  
  --
  They're using their grammar skills there.
59. Re:stopped using it? by strikethree · 2012-06-28 07:05 · Score: 2
  
  They partially have a point. The programs that I use most often, I pin (and before that, made shortcuts in quicklaunch).
  However, this does NOT mean I want less accessiblity to the programs that I do not use every time I log in to my computer. This is the same crap that the Gnome guys are pulling: Take something that is convenient and try to turn it into the ONLY way a thing can be done. WTF people? Where is the perspective? Why this single track mind thing? It is not MY fault that half of the planet is barely more intelligent than a smart patient who has just been injected with sodiom pentathol.
  Seriously, I want to CONTROL my computer. If controlling a computer is too hard for a vast majority, fine, put some things in to help them. DO NOT TAKE MY ABILITY TO CONTROL MY COMPUTER's BEHAVIOR. kthx.
  
  --
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60. Re:stopped using it? by mystikkman · 2012-06-28 07:21 · Score: 2
  
  I guess you haven't used the developer preview. It has a start button that activated the new start screen.
  So (Start Button vs. Just a hot corner) and (Start Menu vs. new Start Screen) are completely different arguments and decisions. We are talking about the first here in this story. They could've easily replaced the Start button with the hot corner and kept the Win 7 start menu instead of the Metro Start screen.
61. Re:stopped using it? by mitzampt · 2012-06-28 07:21 · Score: 2
  
  Got around 200 or so programs that I actually use fairly regularly.... I'm not kidding. I would not survive without the search bar. Same goes for KDE4 kicker menu and GNOME Do. They could throw navigating menus away if it weren't for the usual "I'll know what it is when I see it" hunting/searching for apps.
  
  --
  uhm...
62. Re:stopped using it? by danomac · 2012-06-28 07:24 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  There's a difference between knowing how to use it and not wanting to use it.
  My coworkers generally don't like to use computers as it is, they only use it because their job requires it. Most just learn just enough to get the job done and don't care to put in effort to learn any more.
63. Re:stopped using it? by Stormtrooper42 · 2012-06-28 07:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  So true. The other day I was looking for the screenshot application. (Windows 7)
  (As a side note, it isn't that useful, I usually press "Print Screen" and paste the image in a proper image editor.)
  Anyway, I started typing:
  screen, the relevant application didn't show up.
  screenshot, nothing
  cap, capture, nope
  They called it Snipping Tool...
64. Re:stopped using it? by mhajicek · 2012-06-28 07:32 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe they'll develop a single field where you can type in whatever you want the computer to do. Wouldn't that be great? Let's see, you type in a line of commands, so you could call it a "command line". You wouldn't need all those icons! That would be the ultimate evolution of Windows.
65. Re:stopped using it? by lightknight · 2012-06-28 07:36 · Score: 2
  
  So far as I can tell, we're having a 'Pharaoh tells the tide not to come in' situation here -> MS believes that because they are the most popular desktop / laptop OS, they can actually decide what the end-user will like; as opposed to the reality, which is that the end-user likes what MS has put out (on average), which is why they are the most popular desktop / laptop OS.
  You see this kind of thing everywhere, like when an actor's / actresses's ego goes to their head (good roles help them become famous, they start believing because they're famous any role they play will be good, they stop looking for good roles, their fame / fortune drops).
  Windows 8, however, will have a glorious debut. When OEMs start shipping that with new computers, instead of Windows 7, MS is bound to meet their predictions of Windows 8 being 'their biggest launch / fastest growing OS ever!" Allowing for inflation, it will also probably be their "highest grossing OS ever" as well. Accounting tricks / Hollywood math, which most of us are aware of. However, I imagine a different story will be told in several months time, with the MS marketing team going into overdrive to push the product into various corporate places. The front lines (IT) have already decided that every PC they spec for the next few years is going to get Windows XP or 7; anything that comes in with 8 will probably be wiped.
  
  --
  I am John Hurt.
66. Re:stopped using it? by DemonGenius · 2012-06-28 07:36 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Isn't that like the new feature of Ubuntu that everybody hates?
  Yes, but some of us prefer to have a choice of where this application bar is. Personally, I like having my application bars horizontal and not vertical. This is a major reason why I don't like Unity.
67. Re:stopped using it? by mhajicek · 2012-06-28 07:37 · Score: 2
  
  I just thought of an analogy to how I consider the various ways of accessing stuff. The pinned items are equipped, the start menu is my inventory, and Windows Explorer (or Free Commander) is my stash.
68. Re:stopped using it? by StuartHankins · 2012-06-28 07:43 · Score: 2
  
  I have always organized my start menu, primarily because I have so much software installed; for instance "Remote" has IP utilities, FTP clients, PuTTY, VNC, VMWare, etc etc. I can launch almost any program in 3 or fewer clicks so it's pretty simple. Quick Launch shows the most used items in a separate area for me, which I prefer greatly over pinned items (quick, how many copies of that app are open?)
  
  I could take the time to organize I suppose, but why bother when just typing the program name works fine.
  ...so what do you do when the 32-bit program you wish to run has the same name as the 64-bit version that you do not wish to run? For example, the 64-bit ODBC Administrator tool in Windows 2008 R2. What about having the same named application with multiple versions for testing, normally accessible in a hierarchical view (so you can compare behavior and output)?
  
  When my environment is customized to my preferences, I am very efficient. I can't imagine having to query instead of single-click what I want.
  
  There are many reasons why the "search for everything" approach doesn't work well for all users. Not to mention the wasted CPU cycles to run queries... as someone who codes for a living it bristles my hairs to do something so wasteful. I have at least 1 VM running all day on my laptop and sometimes as many as 3, not counting the host OS. I don't need or want my hand held for such basic things and would rather use my resources for other matters.
69. Re:stopped using it? by Joce640k · 2012-06-28 07:45 · Score: 2
  
  Sounds to me like Windows 8 will be the next Vista. Let's wait for Windows 9.
  
  --
  No sig today...
70. Re:stopped using it? by Belial6 · 2012-06-28 07:52 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  This isn't a failing of the parent. Most people in a business environment don't need a general purpose computer. The only reason the company should put them on one is that the general purpose computer can be turned from one custom computer to another without buying new hardware. Most corporate users only need a few programs. I don't use all of the inputs on my TV. I am glad they are there if I need them, but not using them when I don't need them is not a failing.
  
  If you have less than a dozen applications that you use, and you use them all of the time, pinning to the taskbar is better. The icons will already be there since the applications will generally be open. Pinning them just becomes an improvement in consistancy. The start menu's benefit is in finding applications that you don't use daily, and you might not know the name of.
71. Re:stopped using it? by Belial6 · 2012-06-28 07:58 · Score: 2
  
  And MS not understanding that obvious statement is their failing.
72. Re:stopped using it? by jez9999 · 2012-06-28 08:03 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  That sounds like something that would be used at a bris.
  
  --
  == Jez ==
  Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
73. Re:stopped using it? by chromas · 2012-06-28 08:05 · Score: 2
  
  Middle click it.
74. Re:stopped using it? by digitig · 2012-06-28 08:08 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Pinning only makes sense for a few commonly-used apps, because it's completely unstructured. If I were to put all of the apps I ever use onto the taskbar I'd need a taskbar the length of a football pitch. I was at a conference yesterday, and one of the presenters used the taskbar to open the product he wanted to demonstrate and it took him an age to scroll along and find the one he wanted (it was on a Mac, not MS Windows, but it seems to be essentially the same design with a bit of extra animation). I would have been there in three clicks of a menu.
  
  --
  Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
75. Re:stopped using it? by sorak · 2012-06-28 08:16 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Insightful comment from the FA. They are surveying the novice users not power users, hence they produced a Win8 interface for novices, not us:
  Windows: Made for people who don't know what the hell they're doing, by people who don't know what the hell they're doing.
76. Re:stopped using it? by Lucky_Norseman · 2012-06-28 08:27 · Score: 2
  
  Assuming you know exactly which program you want. At work I am constantly using 3 or 4 remote, virtual and local dekstops. None of which have the same set of software.
  By using the Start menu I can instantly spot if the one I am currently using has MS, Open or Libre Office. All three let me edit a document, but I don't really care which is on which desktop. I just want to edit a document.
  And if I want to edit XML then I look for XMLSpy first, then Notepad++ and if neither of them are available either eclipse or plain notepad.
  One glance at the Start Menu tells me which I have to choose from on this particurlar desktop.
77. Re:stopped using it? by Solandri · 2012-06-28 08:39 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  This whole thing reminds me of fashion - what's in is out, what's old is new. Way back when Windows 95 introduced the Start button, I saw the same arguments in reverse. In Windows 3.1, we did the equivalent of pinning by putting the app's launch icon on the desktop or in a folder. There was a huge controversy when the Start button was introduced, about how it was better, easier for people to find stuff, etc. Now we're getting comments about how pinning is better, easier for people to find stuff, etc.
  
  I worry that, like fashion, it's just change for the sake of change. UI elements should be made visible (or made available as options) or hidden based on functionality. e.g.
  
  The only time I've seen staff use the Start button here is to log off when they're done with the machine. If there was a button on the taskbar to do that, they'd never use the Start menu at all!
  No, you want the log off command buried in a secondary menu, not available on the regular desktop. Otherwise you'll get mad users complaining about how they were working on something important, accidentally clicked log off, and the computer dutifully shut down all their apps (before they could save) and kicked them off the system.
  
  Some things you want hidden under multiple clicks, some things you want available as a single click. But if you have too many of the single-click things, the desktop can get cluttered and messy to navigate. It's all a balancing act.
78. Re:stopped using it? by dissy · 2012-06-28 08:45 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  The only time I've seen staff use the Start button here is to log off when they're done with the machine. If there was a button on the taskbar to do that, they'd never use the Start menu at all!
  In case you actually wanted to provide that, it's pretty easy to do.
  Create a shortcut, and make the target:
  C:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -L
  Then you can change it's icon to a custom one, or just browse to \windows\system32\shell32.dll and pick the normal icon out of there.
  The -L flag is log off. You also have -r to reboot and -s to shutdown.
  Similarly, you can make a "lock terminal" icon too.
  Create a shortcut and make the target:
  C:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
  Ironically, the last one there is very useful on application servers if you have any programs that run as servers but are not a real service.
  I have one server scripted to auto login as administrator, and then a few shortcuts in the program menus "startup" folder, prefixed with numbers to provide an order.
  The very last icon in the startup folder is named "9999-Lock" which is the above shortcut.
  On boot up, the server auto logs in, runs the crap software, and locks the terminal. This all happens in a few seconds, so anyone local at the console would not have any chance to do much before it locked on them. You still need the password to unlock just the same as login, so its pretty secure if your servers are locked away in a server room.
79. Re:stopped using it? by Belial6 · 2012-06-28 09:14 · Score: 2
  
  Likely not. The start button is the best way to date for someone new to the system to discover the features of that system. I set my son up with his first computer just after his first birthday. I spent about 5 minutes showing him how moving the mouse would move the cursor on the screen, and how pushing buttons made letters appear. I then showed him how to load gCapris via the 'start menu' (It was Ubuntu, so technically it wasn't a 'start menu', but in practice it was the same thing).
  
  After a couple of hours, I came back and spent about 10 minutes showing him how to expand, minimize, close applications and how to properly shut down and start up the computer and left him to his own devices on that machine.
  
  Within a couple of days, he was proficient as a user. He could start the machine up, run his favorite applications, and shut the machine down. He what programs where there, and which ones he liked via discovery from the start menu. He didn't learn to read for almost another 2 years. There is no way that being able to type the name of the applications would have been usable.
  
  While the benefits of discovery are exaggerated when discussing a 1 year old, they are still there for all users.
80. Re:stopped using it? by HapSlappy_2222 · 2012-06-28 09:19 · Score: 2
  
  "Fetch me pizza."
  "Deposit my paycheck."
  "Repair my credit."
  "Get me laid."
  
  If only we'd been focusing all our efforts on command line improvements instead of gui "improvements"; maybe we'd have evolved the commands above instead of given ourselves carpal tunnel.
81. Re:stopped using it? by Idbar · 2012-06-28 09:25 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Furthermore, right-clicking on pinned apps let you open recently open files, and actually pin those files as well.
  
  If you have a VS Project you work constantly, you can pin it in the VS Pinned icon. If you have a folder you have to open constantly, you can pin it to the explorer pinned button.
  
  Some other thing people don't know about those little icons, is that if you middle-click them, you create another instance of the application. Need 2 explorers to easily move files from one to other? Double middle-click on the explorer pinned icon, and boom.
82. Re:stopped using it? by high_rolla · 2012-06-28 11:00 · Score: 2
  
  Kinda similar to when FF started gaining market share. MS was very vocal in stating that people didn't want tabs, that tabs were a fad, that they were useless. Then when people didn't believe them they eventually added tabs to IE.
  Wonder if similar will happen here?
  
  --
  Ryans Tutorials - A collection of technology tutorials.
83. Re:stopped using it? by modmans2ndcoming · 2012-06-28 11:48 · Score: 2
  
  If an app is running then it has a little box around it. if there are multiple windows open for an app it has a stacked look. If it is not running then it is simply the app icon. Pretty simple and intuitive.....Just like Windows 7
84. Re:stopped using it? by mysidia · 2012-06-28 12:37 · Score: 2
  
  If you press and hold "shift" while logging in, then any auto-run items won't run.
  IgnoreShiftOverride can be enforced via a registry change from a Group Policy object, then holding shift while logging in will have no effect.
85. Re:stopped using it? by Darinbob · 2012-06-28 13:00 · Score: 2
  
  I think they're saying that because people were using it less and less that they would enforce that trend by making sure no one uses it ever again.
  I wonder if they have facility managers at Microsoft who get rid of the first aid kits because they weren't being used very much.
86. Re:stopped using it? by Darinbob · 2012-06-28 13:03 · Score: 2
  
  I pin the common stuff on the task bar, less common stuff as desktop icons. But I still use the start button for the much less frequently used stuff. Just because I haven't used it in the last year does not mean I don't want to use it ever again.
  Windows has this stupid habit by default of noticing that you havne't used an icon in awhile and asking if you want to get rid of it; that's the sort of mentality you have to have before you think getting rid of the start button is good idea. These guys are taking the dumb-it-down process too seriously.
87. Re:stopped using it? by Sosarian+Avatar · 2012-06-28 16:11 · Score: 2
  
  Funny thing is, I remember back when my Mac-using online friends would gloat over how OS 9 was advanced enough to not have a command line -- then several years later when Windows had essentially neutered its commandline and OS X showed up with one, they started trying to gloat over how OS X was advanced enough to have one. I always knew that my old archive of chats/email from the 90s would come in handy someday... >:-)
  
  --
  Apathy Sucks, Nobody for President!
88. Re:stopped using it? by Eponymous+Coward · 2012-06-29 05:18 · Score: 2
  
  bash is almost as good as powershell, but if free is important (and it is), then it might be better.
  Windows 8 Server edition can be configured to run without a GUI, only powershell. I think this is the first version of Windows that didn't force a GUI.
Frequency of use is not so relevant by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 05:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

I hardly ever use my car's emergency brake; but it had damned well better be there, and I expect it to be in the usual spot, like on the floor next to the shifter or high up on the (older American cars). It doesn't belong on the ceiling.
1. Re:Frequency of use is not so relevant by katarn · 2012-06-28 07:21 · Score: 2
  
  My understanding is that it was originally called an emergency brake. My '64 dodge pickup truck actually had a separate brake drum and brake shoes attached between the transition and the drive shaft. This was truly an emergency brake, as it was a redundant system which used a completely separate mechanism to stop the vehicle. No modern manufacture would go to this expense, and they use a mechanical linkages to the car's existing brakes. The linkage is redundant, but the brakes are not. Thus it is sufficient for "parking" but will not help in certain "emergency" failure modes. As an added curiosity, when we were out horsing around in the mud with my truck, my buddies told me that when I applied my emergency brake one wheel would spin backwards. Not sure exactly why this would be other than for the same reason the differential causes one wheel to spin backwards when you turn the wheel of a car which is jacked up (unless it has a locker or posi, of course).
2. Re:Frequency of use is not so relevant by Penguinisto · 2012-06-28 08:20 · Score: 2
  
  So Microsoft turned it into an easter egg? I honestly didn't know that clicking empty/unmarked space in the lower-left corner of the screen will bring up a start menu.
  PS: If that's the case, UI design just went down the toilet. Yay? :/
  
  --
  Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
3. Re:Frequency of use is not so relevant by whoever57 · 2012-06-28 11:52 · Score: 2
  
  Have you ever driven down a mountain road, or a mountain pass? Imagine a 10 mile stretch of road all down hill, and then imagine your breaks not working. In that situation your E-Brake is your only hope to live
  In what circumstance would the "E-Brake" work if the regular brakes do not? I think all parking brakes on modern cars operate using the regular pads on the rear (there may be some exceptions on supercars and the like). If the pads have overheated and won't provide any braking then operating them through the brake handle/lever instead of the pedals won't make any difference. The chance of the hydraulics failing to the point that the brakes cannot be applied is negligible -- if you think the brakes have failed, you are much better off attempting to pump the brake pedal than trying to operate the parking brake.
  
  Take a look at the manual for your car, you will find that the manufacturer thinks that it is fitted with a parking brake and not an emergency brake.
  
  --
  The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Re:Dont use it much by Sponge+Bath · 2012-06-28 05:46 · Score: 4, Funny

...OCD when it comes to having no icons on my desktop.
Optimally Clean Desktop syndrome?
Taskbar is Great for Grandma. by tazan · 2012-06-28 05:48 · Score: 4, Interesting

If you actually use your machine there's not near enough room to start everything from the taskbar. It's annoying to have to jump through hoops to get quicklaunch back. I have 35 icons in quicklaunch right now.

I don't mind windows 8 too much. I don't run any metro apps and so the only real difference I notice with 8 is the start menu is full screen and I have to hit the windows key to get there. They do need some better management tools for it. I somehow ended up with 30 extra tiles and the only way I could figure out how to get rid of them was to do them 1 at a time.

There is a real problem though if you do accidentally open a metro app. There's no obvious way to close it. I had to google it to find out how. That is completely unintuitive.
Why do users pin? by CaptainLugnuts · 2012-06-28 05:50 · Score: 5, Insightful

Users pin apps to the taskbar because the UI for launching apps sucks. Long ago (Win2K) I would make my own folders at the root level in the start menu and group apps in a way that made sense. Win 7 broke my ability to do that without pinning. If Microsoft stopped breaking things that worked well for users they might have more time to 'innovate' actual improvements.
1. Re:Why do users pin? by rrohbeck · 2012-06-28 06:02 · Score: 2
  
  This. The start menu in Win7 is borken compared to everything since Windows 3.
  
  --
  thegodmovie.com - watch it
2. Re:Why do users pin? by gregmac · 2012-06-28 06:14 · Score: 2
  
  The folders could make sense -- it even appears they attempted that at the start, with "Accessories", "Games", and "Startup". But then presumably due to a default setting of an install tool, or perhaps just adopted convention, companies started using their names for the folders. Instead of "Internet" or "Web Browsers", you get "Mozilla". Instead of "Office and Productivity" you get "Microsoft Office".
  The experience on most Linux desktops shows how much better this approach is. You don't need to remember the weird name of your favourite music player -- or worse, what company made it -- you pick "Music" and there it is.
  The Vista start menu at least recognized having "Programs" featured so prominently was useless because the structure below was useless, unfortunately they "fixed" that by searching and pinning (which themselves, are not bad ideas) instead of enforcing a more logical structure.
  
  --
  Speak before you think
3. Re:Why do users pin? by CannonballHead · 2012-06-28 07:07 · Score: 2
  
  I have found that the "start" button + typing the app name (or start of it) is way faster than traversing any menus... so I can totally see how most users (including me) rarely use the start menu.
pinning [applications] on the taskbar by cpu6502 · 2012-06-28 05:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

Kinda like the Mac's dock I suppose. Only problem is I have 200+ programs. I can't pin them all to the taskbar; the start menu is still needed. (Also do PEOPLE pin their apps, or was it the annoying install programs doing it automatically? It seems every one of them does it, not me.)
QUOTE: "Sareen also claims that people are taking advantage of keyboard shortcuts to open applications, instead of resorting to the Start menu." ----- That would be fine if my keyboard was not laying on the floor, because I wasn't using it. We still need a mouse-based method to open our programs.

--
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
We've screwed ourselves by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-28 05:52 · Score: 5, Insightful

Everyone with a hint of savvy probably turned off the reporting to the 'Consumer Experience' team at Microsoft. The ones who didn't are the morons who have 3000 icons on their desktops. We've done this to ourselves.
Re:Dont use it much by Maxx169 · 2012-06-28 05:54 · Score: 2

It's CDO thank you very much - where all the letters are in the right goddamned order!
Translation by Sloppy · 2012-06-28 05:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

"People were happy with the Apple menu through Mac OS 9 but now that they're using Mac OS X, they prefer to use the dock, and the Apple menu no longer works as an application launcher. So now we're going to have our users use the dock too. Oops, I mean the start menu and the taskbar! Forget what I said about that fruit company's name and the nautical term."

--
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
1. Re:Translation by gnasher719 · 2012-06-28 06:25 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The worst part: Apple users don't like to admit that it's a real pain in the ass to launch an app on Mac OSX that is not docked, but the dock has limited space so you can't put everything there. Spotlight works if you can remember the name, but otherwise you're scouring the applications directory (which is usually a terrible mess) looking for that icon.
  You just put the applications folder into the dock. Click on it, and all the apps are there. Well, that's the old fashioned method. The new one is to click on Launchpad. The folder method has the advantage that you can make a folder, put aliases to all the second-most-useful apps in there, and put that folder into the Dock.
  
  But what you really do is to use Spotlight.
Common use by Todd+Knarr · 2012-06-28 05:55 · Score: 2

Well, duh. I pin the (relatively) small selection of programs I use regularly. I pin the most common couple to the taskbar, because space there is really limited. The majority of the ones I pin get pinned to the more spacious start menu, or get put as icons on the desktop. The start menu itself, the full one, is for the programs that're installed but that I don't use constantly. I want them accessible because I do use them, just not every day. Take away the start menu and now I have to find somewhere to hold the icons for the hundred-plus programs I need access to that I'm not using every day (or even every month for that matter). So, Microsoft, if you're going to remove the start menu, what are you replacing it with that serves the same purpose? And if you aren't, why should I bother upgrading to something that makes life harder for me until I have software I have to use that absolutely won't run on what I've got working now?
i use the start button constantly by james_van · 2012-06-28 06:01 · Score: 2

but rarely ever to browse through the "folder structure" in there. i type the name of what i want and hit enter. 9 times out of 10 its faster than clicking through the folders. for programs i use regularly i have object dock (an identical dock on each screen) as a quicklaunch. i never liked the way things looked pinned to the taskbar and the windows quicklaunch bar just seemed ugly to me. any suggestions on something that i can replace the start menu search with so that when im forced (kicking and screaming, clutching 7 for dear life) into using 8 ill be able to keep my workflow the same? or maybe ill just use a shell replacement..... any suggestions there?
Turns signals 'never' used.... by BenJeremy · 2012-06-28 06:02 · Score: 3, Funny

...by my focus group, those drivers I observe leaving parking lots or changing lanes.
Let's get rid of them for ALL drivers!
Microsoft R&D has gone full retard. Seldom-used feature does not equate to NEVER used feature, nor does it equate to NOT NEEDED feature.
1. Re:Turns signals 'never' used.... by BenJeremy · 2012-06-28 06:08 · Score: 2
  
  I feel I should add to this with something more substantive - Windows 7 and Vista "removed" the QukcStart bar; it still exists, but you have to use some magic incantations to get it back. I use that for 80% of my "most used apps" - 20% of my most used apps are pinned. The remainder are easily accessible through my Start Menu, organized into program groups. Of COURSE I rarely use my Start Menu, but the fact remains that I DO USE IT.
  Likewise, I don't keep all of my summer and winter clothes scattered across my bed year-round... I put non-seasonal clothes away, and keep most of seasonal clothes in my dresser, and maybe hang a few ready-to-use things out.
  Metro is all about forcing you to have everything up, and being able to find nothing else without using keyboard commands - a VERY BAD PRACTICE for a UI, yet, judging by the Microsoft employees trying to inject the "use a simple keyboard shortcut" answer into every discussion from here to Fark, they seem to have all been hit (repeatedly) on the head with a blunt object when it comes to proper UI design.
  WTF?
I use the Start Button all the time by Cro+Magnon · 2012-06-28 06:14 · Score: 2

Among other things, I use it when I shutdown at the end of the day.

--
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Why pinning sucks by gumpish · 2012-06-28 06:16 · Score: 3, Interesting

With quicklaunch items the icons stay in the same position until you make a change. This allows you to quickly find the icon since you know exactly where it will be.
When something is pinned to the taskbar, if it isn't the first icon and you have a variable number of intervening programs running, each of which has a variable number of windows open, then the icon could be anywhere and you have to look for it.
Then again, this analysis is premised on having the taskbar configured to show a button for each window that's open... because I'm not an asshole that has 50 windows open at a time AND I like being able to access a particular window without having a magical mystery list pop up...
Ugh... I'm just glad I know enough about computers to use an operating system where I have real meaningful choices when it comes to my desktop environment.
Grandma using Windows 8 for the first time
User pin apps launched by start button! by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2012-06-28 06:28 · Score: 5, Funny

People launched apps from start button once, and once it is launched they pin it to the task bar. The telemetry data captured launches from start button 1, launches from pinned task bar item N. So start button lost the battle N to 1. So it should be removed.
I think it is a great idea and we should use it in other situations too. Like the dinner table. The pasta spoon was used 4 times to serve pasta from the bowl to your plate. But the dinner fork was dipped into the plate 104 times. Pasta lost it 26 to 1. Let us eliminate pasta spoon from the table to improve efficiency.
The function int main(int argc, char **argv) was called just once. But the function int getc() was called 2.5 billion times. So to improve efficiency let us remove the main() program.

--
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Hey, Microsoft! Listen up! by Peter+Simpson · 2012-06-28 06:32 · Score: 3, Insightful

Yes, I pin most of my commonly used apps to the quick launch bar. BUT -- those are not the only apps I use. Only the ones I use most frequently go on the quick launch bar. The rest, and there are many of them, need to be accessed somehow, and the START button is a very convenient way to get to them.

You know what would be great? If you designed your UI so that we had a CHOICE about whether to adopt your latest "great idea", or just keep using the system we've grown used to. You know...the way we're most productive?
Re:I did by MrNiceguy_KS · 2012-06-28 06:33 · Score: 2

Agreed. I've been using Launchy long before I ever started using Win7. Years ago, I would occasionally try to organize my Start menu, organizing things into coherent categories, rather than the God-awful way that programs organize themselves. Once I found Launchy, I let the Start Menu do whatever it wants - I didn't care anymore. And once I moved to Win7 with the searchable launcher, I tried it for awhile, then installed Launchy.
I blame program developers for allowing the Start Menu to become such a mess. Why create a folder named after the software developer? If I want to play Grand Theft Auto 4, I don't want to browse to "Rockstar Games" first. Ideally, they would create a single icon under "Games". Why put a shortcut to the uninstaller on the Start Menu? If I want to uninstall your program, I'll go to Add/Remove Programs. I really don't need a shortcut to your website on my Start Menu. If I want to look at your website, I'll freakin' Google it.

--
Redundancy is good And also good.
Start button usage by wolfguru · 2012-06-28 06:35 · Score: 2

90% of what I do often is on the taskbar. 90% of what I do is on the start menu, as there is simply not room nor reason to pin everything I use once a week, or even perhaps once a day for 5 minutes, to the taskbar. Dropping the start menu simply make Windows 8's desktop harder to use and forces cluttering the screen with tiles, as badly as the people who covered their screens with shortcuts anc could not find anything that wasn't on their desktop for them to click. It is a poor and very limiting design, and will significantly slow the adoption of Windows 8 in complex business environments where there are multiple applications that simply don't fit, or belong, on the taskbar. Big indicator of the difficulty inherent in managing by numbers vs common sense.
Why Microsoft really killed the Start Button by neminem · 2012-06-28 06:41 · Score: 2

The first rule of looking like you're actually doing something still, rather than just treading water badly until you drown: "If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is".
My copy of Windows 7 has a -great- UI... cause I ripped out most of the native UI, and replaced it all with various 3rd party applications that don't suck as badly...
Welcome to OS X ca. 2001 by stewbacca · 2012-06-28 06:43 · Score: 3, Insightful

"When we evolved the taskbar we saw awesome adoption of pinning [applications] on the taskbar.
Windows 7 is the first MS OS I like for this exact reason. Too bad it took 10 years to copy OS X.
Telemetry show turn signal stalk is used less by Green+Salad · 2012-06-28 06:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

Dear Valued Customer,
On-Star telemetry shows you rarely use your turn signals when changing lanes and we're striving to "do something about it." We've also noticed you use your audio system menu controls frequently. Because of the audio controls' popularity in our usage statistics from participating customers, future models will eliminate the turn signal stalk in favor of a user-configurable option, allowing you to scroll a tiny screen and search through audio options while making lane changes. Note that you can now change the audio feedback from the traditional clicking relay sound of a turn signal to one of several pre-loaded "ringtones" just like your cell phone. Furthermore, for an additional fee, Microsoft now offers a "plus" package with many more audio themes for your turn-signal.
Thank you for participating in our telemetry feedback programs as we strive to constantly improve our products!
Try using Windows 8 in a Virtual Machine. by Eldragon · 2012-06-28 06:50 · Score: 5, Interesting

Try using Windows 8 in a Virtual Machine. Moving the mouse into the lower left corner is impossible when doing so moves the mouse out of the vm window. Added bonus: My keyboard lacks a Windows Button.
Lets just say it's more than a minor annoyance.
Bastards by stevegee58 · 2012-06-28 06:51 · Score: 2

First they took away the Reset button my my PC. Now this. When will it every end?
How about completely overhauling the desktop? by GodfatherofSoul · 2012-06-28 07:00 · Score: 2

Instead of making it a canvas for your cute puppy pics, it should be a giant frequency display. If 95% of my time is spend on Visual Studio or the browser, shouldn't there be proportionally-sized startup icons for those apps. Shouldn't utility information like time, date, calendar, and performance metrics be front-and-center?
Instead, when I start up my machine I'm staring at a bunch of tiny icons and a background I see for split seconds at a time since I'm going to be hopping straight into an app anyway.

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I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Could work better... by Junta · 2012-06-28 07:42 · Score: 4, Informative

In Windows 8, if I search for 'update', it prominently says "no results". Intuitively I think "oh it must not be there" not "oh I should look over at the right column and see there is a category that has more than '0' to find the results.
IIRC, Win7 will display all the results rather than forcing you to switch categories.

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XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.