Discussion on:

Make the Windows 8 Start Screen work like the Start Menu

Greg's technique is just one of the ways Windows 8 and the Metro UI can be modified to reflect the way you work. What tweaks have you made to Windows 8 to mold it to your will?

Can't wait to try it out.

It appears that this still covers the entire screen and any apps that might be running rather than a menu that covers only 15% at the left.

well as I can see so far, you only did filter out and put it back again the ones you need the most
well I have news for you, you can even give 'blocks' names like: needed most etc., no need to filter out, you just push the ones you need most of the times at the most left side of the screen, like I did...;;but if wanne play around, be my quest.

I prefer search, list and filter. I can't see this working well for anyone with lots of applications, just lots of wasted time having to organise things. Google have the right model, with large amounts of files the easiest way to get to them is by search and filtering. Remember how painful it is to use windows explorer in icon mode?

I don't like bulky junk on my screen; give me a simple list view without an oversized icon. Microsoft acts like we all have bad eyesight; Icons only need to be 1/2 tall!

I thought Access 2010 was bad with it's HORRIBLE and inefficient interface but "8" has topped it in stupidity.

Most businesses will not use Windows 8 for one good reason - the Metro interface is too much of a radical change. Administrators must be able to give their users the Start button and hide the Metro interface if needed.
This is clearly an operating system aimed at tablets for consumers with little or no regard to the millions of business users who don't want such a radical design change.
This strikes me as the Windows Millennium Edition debacle, trying to integrate two disparate OSes and failing badly on all counts.
I am constantly accidentally opening IE when on the desktop due to looking for a non-existent Start button!!!
C'mon Microsoft give users what they need - flexibility. If a user wants Metro let them have it, if not, give them back the Start button. Windows 8 might then have a chance.

Now we are dumbed-down to a computer game platform. I use a computer for work, not games and I am intelligent enough to open what I need without big game style icons.

Microsoft's marketing is about 60 years out of date. Anyone remember the "New and improved Tide"?, the New and improved Joy dish washing liquid"? Nothing was really "new and improved" except the packaging.

I do not understand what you mean by Windows being USA based. Can you be more specific? What changes would you like to see that would make Windows more international?

Holw do you define US based drivers? Because they are in English? WEll, there are other countrires that use English. On top of that, it is not Microsoft's responsibility to provide drivers but the manufacturer. If HP doesn't want to provide drivers in Japanese or Hindu, it is their decision - not Microsoft.
MIcrosoft provides Windows in dozens of languages [although English will be one of the first batches to be released, followed by the next set of popular languages].
If you are in Israel, you buy a copy of windows, it will most likely be available in Hebrew. Another language other than Hebrew will require a special order. Similarly, if you want English but you are in Germany.
Microsoft provides more languages for the OS [as well as Office] than any other OS.
I think you are probably just anti-US.

All fine and dandy. Seems like a lot of extra work just to get something back that should never have been removed. Can you access this new fancy schmancy Start menu with Ctrl+Escape? I doubt it.

Greg, you've helped me with this tip. I've been fighting the Metro UI since the Developer Preview, first trying to use it as-is, and then using Stardock's app to return to something approaching the traditional Start menu. I continue to feel that the default organization of the Start screen is much more attuned to a tablet interface, and is less than helpful for us desktop or laptop users. Live tiles are fine if that's what you're going to be looking at for the most part; if you're trying to use windowed applications, though, they're largely worthless because you're not going to be in the Metro UI. Windows Gadgets are far more useful to me on the desktop, since I can arrange my open windows to show them.

I still like the traditional Start menu. I don't see that changing when Windows 8 is released. This modification of the Start screen, however, helps me to use Windows 8 more productively. Thanks.

Why is it that you need to make such cumbersome changes to get a Start Menu. I don't pay Microsoft all this money for me to be doing their job for them. I want the Start Menu there as it has been in the past. I don't want the hassle of having to customise it - PC's were supposed to make my life easier NOT harder remember ! This is a design based on producing a process that is way too complex so you can pay a pile of other useless 'experts' to unravel a mystery that should not be there in the first place. The whole thing is a pox and I am off to Apple - thanks for NOTHING Microsoft !

Ken

Your screen is very similar to what I did. It like how it works. I did create a couple of new short cuts for Restart and Shutdown and put them on my first grouping.

I haven't been following Windows 8 very much, so have a question. Is there any compelling reason to update to Windows 8 if you are very happy with Windows 7, use a desktop/keyboard/mouse/non-touch monitor, and use the computer for only a few things that are handled well by Window 7 apps?

with the way your computer performs, there is no reason to upgrade anything. Not hardware, not OS, not apps. Just keep the security apps (anti-virus, firewall, etc.) up to date and apply the recommended periodic patches.

Windows 7 will eventually become old enough that new hardware and new applications will not work. I suspect that that time will be longer than MS planned just as XP has lived much longer than anyone would have expected. Vista was never accepted and thus many refused to leave XP until Win 7. I suspect Win 8 will make Win 7 live longer than expected. Maybe Win8 should be renamed to Windows Vista-Me. Of course Win 8 left SilverLight and WPF in less than a good position and many of us invested in these since last year they were the future. This is sad in that the desktop base OS seems to be stable and works well.

I could live with this solution.
How does it work if you have even more programs installed, more than what can fit on 1 screen?
Can you make it so it just brings forward the programs that you commonly use? (like the start menu does?)


Can we just convince MS to not dump Aero?

One thing I really dislike about the Metro UI is that you lose your wallpaper. Yeah, you can see it when you go to the desktop, but then the desktop is fairly useless since it is more difficult to put shortcuts on etc. It's become just a place to run your programs instead of a launching point.

I'm starting to shift over to the camp that says Metro is a fail. I think it would be great on a tablet or phone but as a desktop UI I think it fails.

I prtefer something a little cleaner. I tried Start8 in the CP edition and it seemred to do the job [ http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/ ]. Yes. you are adding an application but it is better than the others I've seen.
Tried something like Vista Start Menu and it was a pirce of garbage. It installed stuff that i didn't ask for. All of a sudden you had applications you didn't request. There was even a possible trojan file added [added to the Run key in HKLM\Software].

So the first thing someone needs to do is go in and completely redo what comes with the OS and this is good? Sounds like MS got it all wrong to me...

This work around might work for a home user, but can you imagine the manhours necessary for the IT department in a large company for the initial setup and the constant mods. Jump lists was one of the big improvements in the Windows 7 start menu, ten or more recently used lists for each program that the user saw on his start menu that was automatically created by just using the programs he needed. What a step back?

It maybe OK on a screen driven tablet but on a desktop is just plain silly....download and install classic start menu. ahhh, back to normal

I think you can do most of this via GPO, pretty sure you can remove the apps at least.

..so, I really don`t see any difference beetwen old Start Button, and a new Start Metro Menu....it`s all the same, what are the people complaining about...?? Isn`t this new one better, much better...???

Thanks for your suggestions. Too many people are whining about Windows 8 Metro Interface. Get over it. I am 68 and have used Apple since 1980 and Microsoft since 1985. The only awkward task is shutdown. I wish it was like Kindle Fire - just push the same button to go on and off.

The flexibility of Windows 8 is really cool. I have installed and tested it on a number of netbooks, desktops and laptops. I am happiest using it on a 5 year old Toshiba Satellite laptop. I plan on buying several copies of it.

winkey+I then click power icon or tab or arrow key to it and enter. Super quick. I like you am an old geezer and love the flexibility. It is amazing how many people are willing to learn such complex tasks as writing papers and computer programs and not willing to simply learn a few new ways of doing things. And all the other useful stuff suchas Alt+Tab are still there.

The start menu is the least user friendly thing in Windows and I have been using windows since 3.1. Ever wonder why people have scores of icons on their desktop? Once you configure the start screen like you want it with only the apps you want to use and in groups that you want it is much easier to use. The first thing I ever do with windows is go search out the apps in the start menu that I use a lot and pin them to the taskbar. You can do that exactly the same in Windows 8 so that when you go to the Desktop, (windows Key+D)is an easy way, you have all your apps nicely pinned to the traditional taskbar.You can even use WinKey+1 to open the first app on your taskbar. Boot up in 10 seeconds, winkey+2 and go directly to the second app/file you have on you desktop taskbar. Pretty darn easy. But you can also pin files and anything else to the start screen so say you are working on a word doc or an Access database application, you can simply pin to start screen and go immediately to it. And to say the metro apps are irrelevent might be true now, but will not be in the future and live tiles can save a lot of time by getting info without having to open the app.

This a poor work around to regain the functionality lost in the new user interface. The thing that I've always valued in the Windows environment has been that while it had an interface that was easy enough for novices to figure out, it didn't restrict experts. It allowed me to setup my desktop and applications in such a way that I was able to be productive. I wasn't constantly being forced to reach for a mouse. The new interface not only requires me to reach for a mouse but it has forced desktop/notebook users to use a user interface designed for a smart phone. I'd even prefer the current desktop to the new interface on my XOOM tablet. The Metro interface is a big disappointment if it's what's required to be used on a device other than a smart phone.

Instead of modifying the system to look like it used to why not learn new things? If you start using the search you won't need to navigate through every thing to do what you want. Need to add a program? Search for Program and select the program and features (or whatever it's now called). Want to run word (search for word), though this should likely be on your start page if you use it a lot.

This is just one way to use the new system. As always with windows I'm sure there will be 3 ways to do most things.

Since MS knows that Business/Enterprise is not going to accept Win 8, and they have a perfectly good alternative in Windows 7 which is very popular and will sell millions, this is the perfect time for MS make a consumer play. And move to the future which is touch and integrated systems. Huge gamble for MS, but if they do not make a play, they will be dead in a decade. They have decided that they are, in this edition, not going to try to make Business happy. I ,however, am a small business and I really like its integration with all kinds of social networking and skydrive and Office 365. Which is the future of my business. I use a Windows phone and when Windows 8 phones come out, will upgrade, I will buy a tablet/hybrid when Lenova comes out with one with a trackpoint, and probably a windows reader tablet if they make one. A trackpoint is really the way to quickly navigate win 8. I really like the total integrationg that Window 8 will allow. Same basic interface across all platforms including xbox which I might also think about getting. In win 8 I can, like on my phone simply look at the live tiles and see if anything I need to act on without opening the app. Let some really good designers and programmers together and there will in future be some really awesome Metro Apps. And the desktop is still there and actually works faster for me than existing Win 7 desktop.

Change for the sake of change is bush league and is only unworthy of Microsoft.

Usually we would expect changes in the basic design of any software package to bring something MORE valuable to the table, instead of change for changes sake. Microsoft is moving people into its version of computing, disregarding the last 20 years of practical usage of its users. Since Windows 3.1, regardless of the interface, we were able to recreate a similar user experience so after the upgrades or replacement PCs, the user could get back up and operational quickly without too much of a learning curve. To me, the Metro interface is too dissimilar to the previous decades of interfaces we have come to understand and use efficiently. It seems similar in effect as changing the "Add or Remove Programs" to "Program and Features" in WIN7. WHY? That brought nothing to the table but confusion. It was less intuitive, and just one more consideration in providing support (which OS are you using, oh that is not called ... it is now called .....). The failure of Microsoft to allow the end-user the ability to get back to work simply is going to do two things: sully their reputation more (Win98, Millennium, VISTA, Metro) as well as extend the lifecycle of WIN7 until they learn that change should always bring MORE to the table, not just change the tablecloth!

But the W7 Start menu offers a lot more than just programs. I've got one-click access to all my libraries, Computer and Network, Control Panel, Devices and Printers, Administrative tools, and the Run... command.

I still can't configure Metro to offer all that in such a convenient way and compact space.

Even so, I still think this is a really good tip.

But what a PITA that anyone has to go through this!

Thanks for documenting the process, though.

Like most older folks, I've been using Windows in some form or another since its inception. Like most experienced users, with each successive iteration, I've always looked for worthwhile, functional improvements that allowed for an easier, better experience. Unfortunately and far too frequently, the Microsoft folks always appear to have their own agenda along those lines. How many of us have wished to have been present at one of those round-table discussions when the decisions were being made as to what was going to be put in and what was going to be left out? I'd like to literally grab the ultimate 'decision-maker' by the shoulders and ask him/her, "what the hell are you thinking?" Why, oh why do they keep making the same old stupid blunders with each new Windows launch? You can't keep removing functions that millions upon millions of folks have gotten used to and rely on. One such example is their bone-headed tampering with Folder Views in Windows 7; basically rendering it useless. As well as the removal of the delete "X" on the Windows Explorer Toolbar (to mention a few). Now, the Start Menu... The sad part? Those ultimate "decision-makers" over at Redmond never appear to listen to their legions of unhappy and greatly annoyed customers. Each year they paternalistically and with bull-headed abandon, rush forward without nary a thought about the millions of users they continue to tick off year after year...

I don't want to get into the "I hate Metro" discussion because those views have already been endlessly aired. I decided I'd simply knuckle down and get used to the new interface, as I've done so many times with generations of operating systems. And enjoy the new facilities, super stability and speed that W8 brings.

I had arrived at the same conclusion as Greg. The Metro Start Screen is just a Windows 7 start menu on steroids. With Windows 7, I'm forced to navigate through levels of a start menu that's stuffed into the bottom left of the screen, at the expense of a nice, hi res screen background that has no useful function and is pure eye candy unless you've installed a few gadgets. And if I slip off the side of that W7 start menu I have to start over... No, I must be one of the few that can see where Metro is going, and I like it. Not perfect yet though - I'm still (not yet?) as fast.

But -

With Windows 7 I could easily open the folder "Start Menu", either "All users" or my own, in Explorer, and tidy/rationalise the messy start menu that installing a bunch of programs leaves it in. I create folders like "Utilities" and "Hardware" and move stuff around. I've searched everywhere in W8 for a similar method that will allow me to move stuff around and also name groups, instead of having to laboriously right-click each item individually and "Pin to start screen" or "Delete". I wish that was easier in W8, just as it is in W7.

I took my carefully tidied W7 install and upgraded to W8. I also wish that upgrading to W8 would preserve my start menu folders and copy the to named groups with separators whilst adding a couple of new groups on the left that showcased all the Metro apps as now. Those can be (individually nd laboriously!) deleted, as Greg describes, but that would also be easier if I could get a folder view

Anyone any suggestions where the Metro start screen layout is stored? Registry? An XML file somewhere?

Richard

With "kindergarten" mode (win 8 tiles) and "advanced mode" (for normal users, the start button, your own toolbars, a nice looking desktop background, etc.)
BUT NO... we're all reduced to Kindergarten mode. Linux, here I come!

What about that registry trick? It was only about changing a "1" for a "0" value... Doesn't it work in the latest versions of W8?

Windows 7 looked nice. It was easy to access search. I find Windows 8 hard to get around, it's very ugly, blocky. It drags me back to program manager days. Icons every where. What a mess that was.
I'll use Windows 8, but I am customizing it heavily. I just wish a choice of interfaces could of been given. Practical VS Bells and Whistles.