Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button

By Barry Collins in Amsterdam
Posted on 28 Jun 2012 at 09:00


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. It had been widely assumed that Microsoft removed the Start button to force people to familiarise themselves with the new Metro Start screen, which is the centrepiece of the Windows 8 overhaul. However, speaking to PC Pro at TechEd in Amsterdam, a senior Microsoft executive told us that the old Start menu had already fallen out of favour with users of Windows 7

"We’d seen the trend in Windows 7," said Chaitanya Sareen, principal program manager at Microsoft, referring to the telemetry gathered by the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program. "When we evolved the taskbar we saw awesome adoption of pinning [applications] on the taskbar. 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?'"
"So I’m a desktop user, I pin the browser, Explorer, whatever my apps are. I don’t go the Start menu as often. If you’re going to the Start screen now, we’re going to unlock a whole new set of scenarios, or you can choose not to go there, stay in the desktop, and it’s still fast. You can’t beat the taskbar."
Sareen also claims that people are taking advantage of keyboard shortcuts to open applications, instead of resorting to the Start menu. "Press the Windows key and 1 and you’re already in IE [if IE is the first item pinned to your taskbar]. It’s so fast."

Metro for desktops
Sareen was also quick to dismiss criticism that the Metro interface is better suited to touchscreen devices than laptops and desktops.
Demonstrations during the day had seen two Microsoft presenters struggle to make gesture controls work on laptop trackpads, with the Start screen intermittently failing to scroll when the presenters swiped two fingers across the trackpad, for instance. Sareen insisted that the touchpad drivers were still "very, very early" and were "still being refined".
He also claimed that the Metro interface "really works well with the mouse and keyboard", highlighting features such as the option to search for applications simply by starting to type its name on the Metro Start screen.

Read more at:
Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button | News | PC Pro
 
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So - why are so many people asking for it back?

Clearly - there is a massive demand for it.

It was also clear from the win 8 Developer Preview a very large proportion used start menu and not the start screen.

Since the advent of the taskbar - it is blindingly obvious people would pin their most used programs there - by definition they go to the start menu a little less.

They still use it a lot . They still really want it.

MS knows that.

The real reason is clear - it is to try and force the start screen on users.


 

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Microsoft claims it took the controversial decision to remove the Start button from the traditional Windows desktop because people had stopped using it.

WTF! :roflmao:

This is probably correct.

Think about it, most of the people who have downloaded W8 so far are people who know about and are fanatical about computers. The majority of those users IMO would probably not tick the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program check box when they installed windows 7. But the vast population of people who have windows installed for them by OEM would have the check box ticked.

This overwhelming proportion of people probably don't use the Start menu that often therefore making the decision for the Start screen an easy and obvious one for Microsoft

PS.. I believe that we (early adopters) are in the minority.
 

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"So I’m a desktop user, I pin the browser, Explorer, whatever my apps are. I don’t go the Start menu as often. If you’re going to the Start screen now, we’re going to unlock a whole new set of scenarios, or you can choose not to go there, stay in the desktop, and it’s still fast. You can’t beat the taskbar."

Power users who use the Start menu are a minority then? Is that what she is stating?

Clearly these people are well trained to deceive the flock of sheep and lead them in the wrong direction!

Also, how does one
you can choose not to go there, stay in the desktop
when it keeps coming back while navigating???!!!!
 

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Power users who use the Start menu are a minority then? Is that what she is stating?

I don't know the numbers but it's probably a fair guess that the ratio of Power users to internet/office users is rather heavy on the latter side.
 

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I agree, constantG, but wouldn't an office user be categorized as a power user? I'm in construction so I don't sit behind a machine all day, although I do carry a Droid with me. Will the business sector fly with 8?

Survey says....................
 

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While the super bar removed the need to /constantly/ use the start button., The problem is, when you DO need it, YOU REALLY NEED IT.

Even if it's only used once or twice a day, it has a TON of functionality that you NEED once or twice a day. Now the charms bar replaces some of it (but not all) but it's implementation is so klunky compared to the start menu it's just a joke. I HATE the way the charms bar comes up when I don't want it too just because I'm aiming to close an app that is full screen . ARG.

No... they changed it just to change it at best, and they did it to force Metro on us at worst. Or... they were smoking crack. There is no logical explanation.
 

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Exactly

The real reason is clear - it is to try and force the start screen on users.

Agreed.

Even that god awful Unity is better than the Start Screen (and it's the first thing I stripped out of my Ubuntu 12 VM). :sick:
 

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The real reason is clear - it is to try and force the start screen on users.

Agreed.

Even that god awful Unity is better than the Start Screen (and it's the first thing I stripped out of my Ubuntu 12 VM). :sick:

Hahaha... well I might not go THAT far :D

But this is a BAD time for people that are computer power users with Apple, Microsoft and the leading desktop Linux distro /all/ trying to turn their OSes into grade school playthings :(
 

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Microsoft claims it took the controversial decision to remove the Start button from the traditional Windows desktop because people had stopped using it.

WTF! :roflmao:
I couldn't have said it better myself. If people stopped using it, then why would so many people want it back?

As I've said before, the only people who are "asking for it back" are people who have installed the RP. Wait until it gets the full release and the OEM's get hold of it and the mass market get their say.
 

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So because *some* people don't use it they remove it for everybody? *Some* people don't use the calculator, the Command prompt and Regedit - why don't they take those out as well? :rolleyes: :sarc:
 

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So because *some* people don't use it they remove it for everybody? *Some* people don't use the calculator, the Command prompt and Regedit - why don't they take those out as well? :rolleyes: :sarc:
Exactly. If they removed things that not everybody used, there wouldn't be a whole lot left.
 

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None of the functionality has been removed afaik, the Start button has just become the Start screen.
 

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Not exactly.

The start menu and all of it's functionality was removed from it's previous location.

SOME of that functionality was moved to the metro start screen. Some of it was moved to the charms bar and some even moved to the odd and ugly tacked on looking admin menu and the rest was not replicated anywhere requiring you to go to Explorer and dredge things up from there (Like a list of your installed but rarely used programs which was nicely hidden till you needed it unlike the way everything is plastered everywhere on the start screen in one giant mess).

It used to all be in one spot, a nice neat little package. Now it's just everywhere, largely hidden, available only through magic mouse movements or blind typing in just the right location. They took a simple, functional interface and made it ungodly complicated. That's really quite a stunning achievement.

So yes, I think it would be proper to say that they "Removed the start menu". :)
 

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So because *some* people don't use it they remove it for everybody? *Some* people don't use the calculator, the Command prompt and Regedit - why don't they take those out as well? :rolleyes: :sarc:

Be careful, there may be someone from MS lurking round these parts and they will remove those as well. Based of course upon consumer experience!!! :sarc:
 

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Surely anyone over the age of 5 can see that forcing users to the start screen constantly forces the MS online services at the users.

How can people not see that?

Even Mike ( used to be head of Apple Platform - no stranger to forceful marketing ) says he has never seen anything so aggressive.

MS got telemetry from the DP telling them a lot were choosing the start menu instead of the start screen.

That is why they ripped the code out.

They deliberately and cynically removed the choice.


( BTW - I don't think I have ever used calculator )
 

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Hehe, yeah I use calculator, and the command prompt every day. I never used Media Center but I DID use the mp4 playback every day. As Microsoft saw that not many people used Media Center they pulled it AND mp4 playback out at the same time. So I'm getting hit tangentially on that one :( And at work, it was super nice that you could /finally/ create mpeg 4 video files and expect the customer to be able to view them without having to tell them to go download extra software... It was a short period of bliss there since were back to XP with video capabilities out of the box again :(

At least there is the option to put that back in from the app store. (For $$$ though...)
 

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Windows should be completely modular, buy what parts a person wants. Sell windows 8 for like $39.99 and make every else for sale as apps or modular plug-ins. :thumbsup:
 

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