Microsoft Justifies Killing the Start Button in Windows 8 | Hacker News Reader

Microsoft Justifies Killing the Start Button in Windows 8

legitreviews.com

13 pointsseminatore14 comments

I think this is going to go over like a lead balloon for the significant population of Windows users who are UI-blind.

They do not know how to pin apps to the taskbar, they do not know any keyboard combos, they do not press the Start key on the keyboard, they do not realize they can search for apps, and they have certainly never pressed the mouse pointer against the screen's edge to make UI appear.

The one inviolate, signature, fundamental interaction with Windows since 1995 has been clicking on the Start button, and now it's being replaced with a giant, whirling explosion of colored panels and secret UI.

Their explanations don't pass the smell test, and I think this is a product-breaking change. I'd like to know the real reason why.

> I'd like to know the real reason why.

My guess is their plan is to try to leverage their desktop dominance into mobile. By forcing existing desktop users into their mobile experience. And hope that'll be familiar enough to buy old windows users into their mobile ecosystem, but not different enough to scare them away to a different desktop. The start menu is just one of the many pieces that doesn't work well on mobile. So they'll also get rid of it on the desktop, hoping that'll get desktop users familiar with WP.

Yea, a bad plan, but I guess that's their vision.

"We took away this thing you know and replaced it with five things you don't on the theory that you'll be so delighted with the changes that you'll be more willing to purchase a less essential product from us in the future."

That is a gamble.

That's strange, I never used it til Vista/Win7 when they made it actually useful. Now I don't need to clutter my desktop with links to all my programs, I just hit the windows key and start typing away.

Remember seeing the Start Menu in Windows Vista for the first time?

It should be obvious to anyone that Microsoft has been trying to kill the program list for a long time. Instead of being presented with the basics of what the system can do, everyone is now getting a curated experience.

Things are supposed to be easy to use. But do you really want to keep your users stupid forever? There has to be avenues of exploration to lead to further complexity. Otherwise why bother with anything more than a web browser OS?

This bothers me a lot. I use the Start Menu all the time for searching and common programs, and then use the taskbar as a way to manage open applications. Granted, I don't miss it on my Macbook, but that is already very limited by not having a mouse, smaller screen, etc.

Fits my usage perfectly. I have the 4 programs that I use 95% of the time pinned to the taskbar, everything else I use search to run.

I always felt that the start button was the only thing keeping some windows users from switching to other operating systems. Now that there's not going to be a start button, I hope that more people will be open to Linux/Mac since the "clutch" of the Start button will no longer be an issue.

OS X manages just fine without a formal "Start" button. Who needs Start buttons when you can pin, search from the desktop, or use Launchpad? So goodbye, old Start Button, we've had a good run. You will be remembered.

This is true, I agree. But naive/novice users are stranded without it when they switch.

Dock pinning doesn't come to them if they don't understand Windows Taskbar pinning, finding /Applications is not a sure thing, and adding items to the Dock is mysterious - they come and go if they're not pinned.

So I've seen people Spotlight apps each time, work out of .DMGs on the desktop, rely on auto-mounted .DMGs from installers (Skype), or keep apps they want around minimized. It's also not rare for them to consider an application "missing" if it's not running and not pinned.

Launchpad + App Store is the answer for this class of user.

OSX has the Apple menu (for System Preferences, Shut Down, etc.) and the Applications dock menu.

So OS X does have a Start button for all intents and purposes, it's just divided into two halves (which basically correspond to the original columns of the XP start menu). I personally feel it would be really annoying to go without either of them.

Anything to the right of the divide on the dock is considered a stack, which is just a pinned folder.

Once the user accidentally drags it off the dock, it poofs away and they are lost.

I thought the Applications folder on the dock thing was the start menu equivalent?

That's what I've always used it for. I launch almost every application that way.

It's not there by default in Lion, though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com