Will 'normal' Windows users want a Start button for Windows 8?

SweetLabs joins a handful of other companies offering to bring the more familiar Start menu/Button back to Windows 8.

Readers of this blog -- other than my mom (hi, mom!) -- are not normal, regular users. Sorry, you/we are not.

"Normal" users are people who get their work (and play) done on Windows, but who are not techies or those who write about them. They are the people who are not likely to have done any real testing of Windows 8 so far. And they are the people who are either going to love or hate Windows 8 when they get to use it in retail stores for the first time next week.

They are the "regular" people like Lockergnome's Chris Pirillo's dad -- a video of whom attempting to use a test build of Windows 8 went viral. Whether you consider Pirillo's video a page-view stunt or not (I am in the "not" camp), you might want to check out another video of his created in conjunction with startup SweetLabs.

This time, Pirillo captured the reactions of various folks in the University District area of Seattle last month who got to try Windows 8 for their first time. These users were checking it out on laptops with keyboards. Their reactions run from interest, to puzzlement, to nervous laughter (in the case of one woman who identified herself as an admin who is quite conversant with Windows).

Check it out:

Read more at source:
Will 'normal' Windows users want a Start button for Windows 8? | ZDNet

 

[Tepid]

I have to say this again,,,, People are missing the cross platform compatibility that MS are trying to create here.

Think about being able to use all the same apps across all platforms. That is the goal. And if developers would get that idea in their head and develop for that, and people would get past the start screen, android/i??? status symbols, would find that Win8 is a huge leap ahead in real productivity. Especially for Office Users.

People are so negative about so many things and so anti-MS and Android/iCrap Symbol messiahs they fail to see what a good thing is/can be.

Stop the cynicism, pull ones head out of the sand or other location and wake up. Realize the capabilities and start there.
Otherwise, well, let's just leave it at that.

 

[Scramjet]

I am surprised that I do not miss the Start Button! I rarely think about it and I am in the Desktop 99% of the time. I have Rocketdock to access most of the programs I use. But I have to admit I found a link on how to pin the "Programs" to the right side of my tack bar so I have all my programs folders at my fingertips if I need them. Windows 8 pro has been running smooth for me since the release...knock on wood

cheers

 

[LittleJay]

You can use 'Windows key' + X, to get the shortcut to control panel and others

Is there a list of keyboard commands for Windows 8 somewhere? It would come in handy.

Yes, look in the tutorial section of this forum. There some very fine tutorials some having to do with the keyboard shortcuts for navigating Windows 8.

Is there a list of keyboard commands for Windows 8 somewhere? It would come in handy.

Yes, look in the tutorial section of this forum. There some very fine tutorials some having to do with the keyboard shortcuts for navigating Windows 8.

www.eightforums.com/showthread.php?t=2355

Thank you both! I missed that one in the tutorials.

 

[qui ncey33]

We forget so quickly. Sooner or later third party apps will be available to restore the start menu as we knew it in win 7. I also miss the quick launch bar. The start screen is already available as a third party program and the other apps will be coming very soon. That is, if we want them badly enough.

I don't particularly like the "metro" screen and go right to the desktop. I get's me to my work programs quickly enough.

After an hour or so and learning the keys again I'm very comfortable with Windows 8. I think over time it is a winner.

 

[Night Hawk]

The latest 3.6.3 release of Classic Shell fixes a few bugs and now adds a second Start orb when running dual monitors to what would be the UltraMon or DisplayFusion smart bar. That will solve the Start button and All Program menu situation fast enough. The options also include a Metro style which brings you right back to the Win 8 Start again.

 

[MrShowdown]

or you can make a VBS for opening Start Screen, make a shortcut of it, and pin it to taskbar.

 

[Enigma]

I dont particularly miss the Start button all that much, but i did find it useful enough in certain situations that i decided to dole out $5 for the Start8 product from Stardock, given that the price was right. i'm sure i'll get used to the new Metro/Modern Start screen soon enough. i did try a few free apps that emulate the Start butto, but none of them came close to Start8 in terms of being nearly identical to the original. A downside of the product though, is it it's not nearly as configurable as the Start button provided by other programs like Classic Shell. I also do believe that a good tactic for MS would be to integrate the original button back into 8, but to have it turned off by default, so that users will be encouraged to get used to Metro. They could bury the option for bringing the old button back into a menu somewhere in the Control Panel or something. while not advertising that it can be turned on and off. In the end i do believe that the old button will end up being phased out no matter what as 8 improves. people will feel less and less of a need for it.

 

[Night Hawk]

What you are seeing on 8 is not the desktop gui to begin with. Instead of developing an updated desktop version they only worked on the core elements, stripped the basics down including the removal of the Media Center and loss of dvd playback and likely video playback support for the new Windows Media Player to shrink the OS down and then lower the price.

The Modern as MS once called it was developed for Windows RT which the OS used on the new MS line of Surface Tablets. They borrowed that to make a new Windows 8 version look the same and unfortunately act like a touchscreen gui that you just happen to be able to point and click on.

Right away the manufacturers knew this wasn't going to work out very well and why they went to work on their own forms of bringing back the Startt menu! MS was "pulling a fast one" on those that can't see between the lines on this one! When they realized Vista was "Windows is getting too big" they made a great stride in seeing a success with 7 while now trying to turn a full Windows version into something else in order to make Windows not much more then an OS name alone.

When you start seeing $40 prices for Pro when the previous was $220 you know something is up!

 

[gazz9496]

I have to say this again,,,, People are missing the cross platform compatibility that MS are trying to create here.

Think about being able to use all the same apps across all platforms. That is the goal. And if developers would get that idea in their head and develop for that, and people would get past the start screen, android/i??? status symbols, would find that Win8 is a huge leap ahead in real productivity. Especially for Office Users.

People are so negative about so many things and so anti-MS and Android/iCrap Symbol messiahs they fail to see what a good thing is/can be.

Stop the cynicism, pull ones head out of the sand or other location and wake up. Realize the capabilities and start there.
Otherwise, well, let's just leave it at that.

you know this is actually what scares me about the cross platform.

i use my phone to make calls and send messages and check email, i also use it to get live feeds of formula 1 when it's on and bbc news....and lolpics, now i'm probably a little strange in this world but that's all i use my phone for.

now i'll go to an extreme of why cross platform especially from a phone is rather strange and personally a little insulting.
remember this is an extreme

angry birds on your phone seems about right to pass a few boring minutes waiting on a bus right?

so let me get this right, you want that same app on your 4 core 8 thread 16gb ram sli/crossfired 2-3k pc with water cooling and a ssd and 3tb of storage.

you don't have better games to play?
you don't have better applications to use?

now getting that extreme version of sarcasm out the way

free applications are better than most apps from the store, play better look better have better features, when comparing what can be run cross platform.

I agree with the user experiance and look and feel being shared cross platform.

but why in the world would you want to use an utterly terrible and frankly insulting app designed for a phone on a 22"+ high def monitor being run by a pc that would actually slap you if it had arms and hands.

i think metro apps are fine for what they are but they are not replacments for full on applications and untill those developers start to realise the capabilities of the pc then why should we realise the lack of usable apps for desktop purposes.

cross platform is nice in theory but pointless in practice.

some may like having a £2000 pc running a phone app...i certainly won't touch an app like that.

 

[HOODY]

Well I about got this beast windows 8 installed and running as I want, but as usual there won't be any rest. They took out the start menu. But I found a program for that, they took all the old games out, but I fond a program to replace them, they took all the gadgets out, found a program to re place them too. Now I want to find a way to restore the aero ability, this W8 looks too bland. And that start menu program also boots the thing back to the usual desktop view.

I did the upgrade only because I went from 7 home premium to 8 pro for $15 and the media center was thrown in the deal. It took since Oct 26th to get a graphics driver that works with this switchable graphics mess.

Yes I'm sure as time goes on most people will "be used" to the metro thing, since W8 is the only OS option now on new PC's, but MS could have made it a bit easier to transition for users of the other OS's, like have a duel GUI selection available, so people could use what they are used to when working, but also try out the metro thing when ready.

This is what I settled with works well for me

Start Menu X


btw: to show how far behind the times I am, I don't own a cell phone, and just this weekend ordered my DSL, have used dialup for 10 years. But so it goes, you do what it takes.

 

[Fredledingue]

I have to say this again,,,, People are missing the cross platform compatibility that MS are trying to create here. Think about being able to use all the same apps across all platforms.

To complete what Gazz said above.... why would you want the same apps on every devices?

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The adantage and fun of having different devices is that you can use different apps according to the device you are using. If you are using the same app on every device it defeats the advantage of having different devices.

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Leaving your tablet to go on your pc and using the exact same UI is silly. Why leaving the tablet at all? No. You use different apps on different screen sizes. period.

 

[Night Hawk]

"Screen res too high? Can't find the right button to press on Tablet? Don't worry any! We here at MS have come up with a .... solution!" ??? Oh really?

HOODY just reflected on what I had originally pondered on about why MS came out with this new fangled Tablet gui on a desktop platform without at least having an option seen during the installation for a standard interface or options once Win 8 was on. None found except by way of "3RD PARTY SOURCES"!

Even the chief gui designer at SUN Microsystems was baffled at the MS move which many would simply call a large blonder of trying to run a Tablet gui on the desktop platform which does defeat the purpose in many aspects. Then you see they also stripped the guts out of the OS as an additive to that.

 

[gazz9496]

i think part of the problem is some people just don't use apps on their phones.

i'm one of those, i have a sony experia with andriod but i pretty much don't use it for anything else apart from phone stuff.

for me phone apps for the most part are crap, there are a few i use but guess what i use those for work related tasks, a wifi analyser for when i'm at a clients house to scan wifi channels.

so when i come across this phone apps on my pc it makes little to no sence.

 

[Night Hawk]

Neither does a smart phone or Tablet gui make sense on the desktop platform. While many may not mind no longer seeing a Start button the RT gui is clumbersome for general application on a Windows desktop to start with.

As for program quick launch bars like RocketDock, CircleDock, or simply creating a jump list from the main task bar will tend to see more use overall. With a task bar tweaker app that came out for Win 7 you can shrink the icons for items pinned on the taskbar as well as grow the depth of the taskbar as a few have done on 8 to avoid the Start screen entirely.

The main thing that urked me the most with 8 is seeing the Windows OS itself being stripped down and then RT on 8 being the Metro or Modern gui not even designed for any desktop release but much more to replace the limited capabilities seen with the Windows CE line up for use on Surface.

The two innovations you would have otherwise seen with an updated desktop version being the new Lock screen and redesigned look for the task manager are shuffed out by the lesser in Windows concept MS has worked out for 8. The new task manager and Lock screen would be a plus if applied to 7! At least the Lock screen allows you to change what you see when first starting 8 up when the desktop is locked by password, pin code, or image file over just remembering a password each time.

 

[Fredledingue]

i think part of the problem is some people just don't use apps on their phones.

Another part of the problem is that the industry thinks everybody is crazy about them.

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Praising to have 40.000 apps already, or 700.000 apps for another, ...whatever astronomical number which doesn't make any sens. Who's going to scout through 700.000 apps? The mere existance of such number shows how ludicrous the industry has become.

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Quantity versus Quality!

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Such way of thinking is making MS but also Apple lose millions. (The fact that they still make profits doesn't mean they are not loosing millions in useless or failed things)

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A photo retouching app for your phone? Oh yeah, ...sure!