Post your Start Screen!

[Collin2012]

Very nice, Collin. :thumb:

Same background on your Desktop app?

Yes but they alternate. I have 1,252 Anime wallpapers that switch every 10 minutes.

wow that is a lot of wallpapers

And it is ever growing. You should see my Anime folder in general.

 

[ArazelEternal]

Mine. Nothing special. I dont use it at all. I use what would be the new start menu screen.

 

[ArazelEternal]

Yes but they alternate. I have 1,252 Anime wallpapers that switch every 10 minutes.

wow that is a lot of wallpapers

And it is ever growing. You should see my Anime folder in general.

You sound like me, Collin. I have probably 10 seperate folders of Anime series right now. Had more before the HDD in my desktop died.

 

[Collin2012]

wow that is a lot of wallpapers

And it is ever growing. You should see my Anime folder in general.

You sound like me, Collin. I have probably 10 seperate folders of Anime series right now. Had more before the HDD in my desktop died.

I have quite a bit of Anime

InuYasha, Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, Haganai (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai), Wolf Children (Movie)

 

[arachnaut]

Far out, mdmd! I like that. Is that Oblytile? Different font, colors, and shadows to boot.

That's nice spread across 3 monitors, Dude.

Looking good, arachaut, but what does touch have to do with the Start Screen other than being scaled to the human finger?

I just prefer a hierarchical menu layout to find my stuff. No matter how I fit them, they won't appear on the 1920x1080 start screen so I'd be constantly scrolling to find them.

I find the Classic Start Menu on the Desktop far superior for the way I work.

Touch interfaces require a rather large contact area compared to a mouse target.

I'd probably prefer Windows 'Voice', but it's not here yet.

Not the only reason they are a larger scale. It is also for live tiles, which are great for communicating at-a-glance information.

We also have this:

View attachment 40699

Yes, I know.

Here's what that looks like for me.

This is just the 'N' named entries. The whole thing scrolls forever. Totally useless and takes too long to edit.

 

[mdmd]

The whole thing scrolls forever. Totally useless and takes too long to edit.

Hello there. Your screenshot is interesting. A desktop menu would probably sort this out better, perhaps, as far as a preference goes. Could I add however, most people take a great deal of time to edit, customize and configure their desktop menu. Your referenced installation could easily be cleaned up by moving the pdfs to a documents folder with a wildcard move and out of the apps view. If some pdfs have identical filenames, then that is an installer issue from the developer.

One could pin your most used (executables) to the desktop, taskbar or start screen.

Have you tried "Ctrl -" or Ctrl Minus when in the apps screen?
Semantic zooming Ctrl - or the minus (bottom right corner), or Ctrl Scroll Wheel, can reduce scrolling to almost none or equal to or less than that necessary to access a desktop hierarchy or toolbar.



For anyone interested, you could also change the apps screen sort to by most used instead of by name.



We've been going on about this for 2 years, so whatever works best, how you prefer, just a thought.
So my point was to offer another view, and also to suggest that to easily dismiss the apps view as scrolling forever and totally useless is just a point of view.

In your screenshot, from your entire apps screen, all one need do is pin what you use everyday, forget the rest.
It is easy to have 100 installations and use only 7 or 8 programs daily.
You could also, when at the apps screen, type a few letters and a list of programs should appear.

Just to finish, I would like to counter that the Windows 8 default menu works well if you like it.
If not, well, it will never be any good.

 

[arachnaut]

...

In your screenshot, from your entire apps screen, all one need do is pin what you use everyday, forget the rest.
It is easy to have 100 installations and use only 7 or 8 programs daily.
You could also, when at the apps screen, type a few letters and a list of programs should appear.

Just to finish, I would like to counter that the Windows 8 default menu works well if you like it.
If not, well, it will never be any good.

When I set it to show Most used - in the 'Never Used' are things I use a lot. I don't know how it tracks usage, but it doesn't seem to work for the way I use programs.

Anyway, what I do is make a Desktop 'Toolbar' for my frequently used stuff - by category. I have three such toolbars.

For example, my music application toolbar menu looks like this:



I give the toolbar folder a single Unicode character so it is mnemonic and small.

No doubt, I could work something out in the Start screen, but I'm too lazy. I've been using stuff like this for ages and see no need to set up the Start screen other than for aesthetic reasons, I always 'start' on the Desktop.

 

[pparks1]

Hmmmm...this is what my start screen looks like on my computer these days.

 

[Coke Robot]

Hmmmm...this is what my start screen looks like on my computer these days.

Nice ipad! :thumb:

 

[HippsieGypsie]

...

In your screenshot, from your entire apps screen, all one need do is pin what you use everyday, forget the rest.
It is easy to have 100 installations and use only 7 or 8 programs daily.
You could also, when at the apps screen, type a few letters and a list of programs should appear.

Just to finish, I would like to counter that the Windows 8 default menu works well if you like it.
If not, well, it will never be any good.

When I set it to show Most used - in the 'Never Used' are things I use a lot. I don't know how it tracks usage, but it doesn't seem to work for the way I use programs.

Anyway, what I do is make a Desktop 'Toolbar' for my frequently used stuff - by category. I have three such toolbars.

For example, my music application toolbar menu looks like this:

View attachment 40744

I give the toolbar folder a single Unicode character so it is mnemonic and small.

No doubt, I could work something out in the Start screen, but I'm too lazy. I've been using stuff like this for ages and see no need to set up the Start screen other than for aesthetic reasons, I always 'start' on the Desktop.

Jim, I think you to be an above average user within the fact that you have so many programs and files. With looking at your personal website and your Google+ page you are also above average within the fact of multiple interests. You also have 6 HDs with a total of 12TBs listed in your specs. Yeow! As mdmd pointed out of what we can see in your screenshot, until your pdfs are moved to a documents folder, 8 “More Documentation” folders I see are placed in a parent, and heaven knows what else, of course your All Apps will scroll forever.

I would think you would have to organize your computer(s) much like a business with a server and databases. Unless one has a photographic memory there’s no way in the world anyone could remember all that. Perhaps you have one.

By no means am I trying to be rude or mock you, but you are being sly in showing your small folder toolbar in comparison to your All Apps screen. Where are all your PDFs and other folders? You must have to cascade a menu off your screen at times to find items unless you’re using File Explorer search to find things. Even then you would have to remember what is on each drive, otherwise a search in This PC would take 2 light years.

 

[Wenda]

'Kay. Since I haven't posted mine for some time, and considering they've all changed many times since I did, I thought I'd pop some fresh ones up... Hope you like.

OS is 8.1 Pro w/WMC 64-bit.


Wenda.

Start Screen... you can see how much use it gets, by the massive amount of tiles and customisations.


All Apps... Here's where the heavy lifting is done, Start menu-wise. Still needs a lot of tidying up, but will wait til 8.1.1 is installed. Works best when set to sort by 'category'.


Desktop... clean and uncluttered, with few icons, and nothing pinned to the taskbar (I hate it, and it's not what the taskbar is for, IMO). Note Quick-Launch toolbar but no 3rd-party Start menu.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Very nice, Wenda! Very clean. Nice action locomotive scene. :thumb:

You have 8.1. Why is there 15 updates on your Store tile? Do you have that set to manual update?

 

[Wenda]

Very nice, Wenda! Very clean. Nice action locomotive scene. :thumb:

You have 8.1. Why is there 15 updates on your Store tile? Do you have that set to manual update?

Yes, I do manual updates. Mainly due to a very low monthly allowance (15 gigs).

Shows you how often I see the Start screen, tho.

But all good, updated now.


Cheers!

Wenda.

 

[Jarminx]

So far, I don't have to scroll but I know that'll change as time goes by lol I'm a pack rat of programs and shortcuts usually










If you happen to like the wallpaper, this is where you can download it.. Not an advertisement, just so I don't have to repost it later.. Enigma by AdamMBurleighPhoto on deviantART

EDIT: ^^Uhh.. I was going for a short link but it decided to go the extra mile automatically..

EDIT 2: Hmmm why do I have Food & Drink in my apps?? Uninstalling that right now lol

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Welcome to Windows EightForums, Jarminx. Very nice! :thumb:

That’s ok. Save as many as you like! Most of us collected icons galore on the desktop. That’s one of the reasons MS changed to Start Screen. Hardly anyone used the Start Menu. Now some scream bloody murder that it’s gone.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Very nice, Wenda! Very clean. Nice action locomotive scene. :thumb:

You have 8.1. Why is there 15 updates on your Store tile? Do you have that set to manual update?

Yes, I do manual updates. Mainly due to a very low monthly allowance (15 gigs).

Shows you how often I see the Start screen, tho.

But all good, updated now.


Cheers!

Wenda.

Yes, I know you have to watch your data intake. Don't you wish we could cuss like an Aussie over it here!

I see then if the machine is offline they collect. Thanks for answering.

 

[AlanMcJ]

Hello, i m new here, nice to meet you

This is how i customized my win 8.1. Hope you ll like it I really love it.



"waves" = my docs
"orcas" = my downloads
The photo of my wife with our cat changes every 30 min as well as the big one on the right.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Hello, AlanMcJ. Welcome to Windows EightForums.

Wow! That's a real peace of art! You must have a lot of time in that.

 

[Jarminx]

Hello, i m new here, nice to meet you

This is how i customized my win 8.1. Hope you ll like it I really love it.

What app you using to get the photo bars?

 

[A Guy]

Welcome to Eight Forums AlanMcJ. Very nice

Just a question for you 8 users. Does anyone use docks? Do they work on 8, are they needed? I don't have icons on my desktop any more. I use a dock in 7.

A Guy