Windows 8 Tip: Embrace Change

The new Start screen, being a full screen application launcher with live tiles, does indeed hinder our real world desktop work in the studio. Being an audio enginer in a studio, I can attest that it's a complete distraction that interupts workflow and the production pipeline on the desktop. During the course of an audio or video production many different programs, utility apps and session files are opened, closed, and used throughout the day. Too many to populate and pin to the taskbar alone. These we have pinned to the Start menu. One pinned program alone has very well organized jump lists of the various session files that one goes back and forth with throughout the day. Also within these jump lists we have pinned project and session file templates to quickly get new productions up and running. Needless to say, this type of workflow is very well organized and cannot be substituted productively by the new Start screen or the Taskbar(along with it's jumplists) alone. To use shortcuts on the desktop or even populate the taskbar with everything we use the Start menu for would be a very confusing and unorganized mess that just wouldnt fit. Furthermore, to use the new Start screen alone for this type of workflow also becomes an unorganized mess with hundreds of tiles. In our instance, the traditional Start menu application launcher is used as a well organized production tool. On a dual monitor workstation running Pro Tools and Media Composer in real-time, just doing a simple Start search for a session file while the director's watching the newest edit invokes a user experience best not repeated when that Start screen launches full screen.

In the world of professional audio, video and post production on the desktop, the new Start screen is useless and very limited when trying to use it as a production tool in the pipeline. As long as we have 3rd party application launchers such as Start8, Start is back!, Rocket Dock, Classic Shell, Rainmeter and the myriad of others, it's best to embrace those that best fit our desktop workflows and production pipelines.

Sure, the Start menu was cool back in 1995, but it also evolved since then and improved with usable enhancements right up to W7. I'm all for embracing change that enhances or speeds up our desktop production work. Unfortunately, the new Start screen slows it down for what we do in the studio.

We love your articles and podcasts up here in the Great White North Paul. Keep up the great work!

On the flip side, when it comes to the online/cloud/social media/touch world, the new Start screen suits my needs very well.

I like some change. I like Windows 7's startmenu that updates my recently used programs and gives shortcuts to common folder. Windows 7's default that groups opened programs in the taskbar... not so much, I still prefer having them expanded.
Also, I realize that swing your mouse to the corner is easy... but isn't swinging your mouse to the icon directly beside the corner going to be a pain?

Speaking as a general user I am so pleased to see the end of the start button. Sure, it was great in Windows 95 and even XP, but by the time we got to Windows 7 it was just a pain (to me anyway).

I had (and still do in Windows 8) my most used programs pinned to the taskbar, but when I wanted something I didn't use much I had to open the start screen, where I wouldn't see it. So you press search and it still doesn't find it, because the start button search in Windows 7 sucked. So then you would click show all programs and it would be hidden in a folder. Then you would find the right folder, expand it and it would be in a sub folder. Eventually you would have a giant cascading series of folders and sub menus right across the screen. I really miss all that rubbish.

As a suggestion for some of you who need to open a lot of small desktop applications you can reorganize the start screen you know. You could put all the applications you use in an easy to get column at the front left of the screen.

An additional hint. If you put your desktop tile at the top left of the start screen when you press the return key it will automatically go to the desktop. Therefore if you press windows key and return from anywhere you will go to the desktop.

Perhaps Paul could make a short video with some of the useful tips on how to use Windows 8 ?

Fantastic article Paul, but i actually use an app called Classic Shell, not as a replacement to the start screen but as an easy way to organise the win32 apps.

Traditionally, win32 apps, like for eg CCleaner, when you install it, creates its own subfolder in the start menu with 3 items, only one you need, the application shortcut. In order to keep my Start Screen all apps view uncluttered, i use the classic shell menu to drag and drop all my win32 shortcuts into the main folder which gives me easy access on the start screen and delete the unnecessary start menu subfolders.

Loving my start screen now that i can clean it up.

Just got a really cheap sony vaio 13" ultrabook for a manager with a touchscreen and 500gb traditional drive. This thing was amazing with windows 8. Ridiculously fast for a mechanical hdd due to the 32gb msata cache drive. Good performance and ok resolution screen.

Cheers and keep up the good work.

One thing I'd like to know. Are there any kind of downgrade rights for Windows 7 From Windows 8 pro? Not for a laptop I have running Windows 8 (My toddler loves finger paint) but for the hoard of outraged punters that will be throwing these into my workshop after the new year. You know, the folk that will be surprised because they don't listen to any media.

As an IT pro, it is already in resulting in more calls and explanations than what would normally be made concerning Windows 8. We have a few new laptops that came with 8 installed. It is a learning process. What I've found is that once you start showing them a couple of tricks, it makes the experience a lot better for them.

A few things I don't like though. The reliance on full screen apps and the trend towards them is not ideal if you are a multitasker. It is a boon for the casual user that only ever opens one app at a time and doesn't switch between them. But if you want to watch a cam or casual video in the browser or in a player, simply trying to play Metro games at the same time is not possible. That's certainly a home use example. When I start using it at work, I'll find many more examples of it. I understand the reasons for going with the change, and I think they are solid in the way that most people work, but they can be jarring, as well as the transitions between them.

And about those games. They didn't include any. And even when you upgrade, you no longer can use Solitaire, Free Cell, or Spider Solitaire that were previously installed without a hack. The Metro replacements for these games are horrible. I am addicted to Wordament, though.

I also dislike one aspect of search. In the past, you would get all of your search results in one list, and you'd be able to click what you want easily, but now if you are looking for a control panel applet, you need to click something else before you can click your applet.

However, as all IT people should, I'm embracing the change. The change from 3.1 to 9x was big. Trying to use OS X is big. Learning mobile operating systems is big.

I don't understand the uproar over the metro side. I have been using Windows 8 for months now and hardly ever use it, it does not get in the way when I am in the desktop for 99% of the time.

Aside from logging in and shutting down the system I hardly see it - so why is it such an issue when you don't have to see it? Searching from the Start screen is awesome now. You don't have to use any of the metro apps so where is the frustratation?

What if the start screen was full screen and transparent? i don't have a mock-up at the moment, but it would still show everything behind the grid of icons.

Did not know that Windows 8 had a taskbar function above in the desktop side. I will try to implement it if I can find out how. Taskbar will save me a lot of clicking to the Search! I still do not know how the tile side IE works since you cannot go to more then that Window and it goes to "Live" and I have to wait for the address to come back up to change the address. Try to locate where to set a default address but I guess it did not really look hard since I just go to the desktop side after booting up. I guess it just habit. I sure you are right that the title has some usefully purpose and I missing it.

"Don’t be a chump. The Start button and Start menu were cool in 1995. Today, they’re as passé as the clunky computers we used back then."

The usual automotive interface of "steering wheel, gas pedal, brake pedal" was developed ages ago after a few years of futzing around with awkward designs. Then, the interface we all know and use was developed (actually, it was mostly borrowed from the design of an older more obscure car people had forgotten about).

Interesting that every decade or so we're NOT trying to reinvent the steering wheel and shame people into conformance by branding what's already proven to work well with un-hip words like "passé". We could stand to learn a thing or two from cars.

Don't be a chump: Don't fall for shame tactics.

Hear, hear. Well said.

Nonsensical blogger noise on this topic is reminiscent of the Vista coverage, in its inaccuracy. Sensationalism leads to statements like "Windows 8 Killed the Start Menu". Naive users respond with, "OMG, I need a Start Menu, I better stick with Windows 7".

In reality, the Start Menu didn't go away. It evolved. It now takes up the entire screen and is much better organized.

But I guess that's not as exciting a headline for a blogger (or a news organization) going after page hits.

I totally agree with Paul here. Why circumvent the changes that are added to make the experience better? That's like taking one wheel off your car before driving it.

I have a Samsung Ativ and they added crap-ware to offset the changes in W8. One of the apps was a Start Menu. I used it for 30 sec and didn't like that it was leaching valuable resources. I removed it and stuck with the start screen and taskbar shortcuts for faster access on the desktop.

So reading all the posts, lots of users are using Win8... I guess I'm going to make the inevitable jump here, to much of a geek not to try the latest thing, and everyone seems to agree that it runs better than 7, which has been dead fast and rock solid for me. I'm wondering about the upgrade process. I *thought* I had heard Paul say on the podcast that in-place was the preferred way with this version, but I might be wrong about that. So, in place or clean install? I would prefer the in place if it's a workable option.

The rot in logic at Microsoft concerning the desktop didn't start with Windows 8. I absolutely hate this stupid and childish Mac-inspired idea that came along with Windows 7 of by default encourage wasting a large bar across the bottom of your desktop screen with useless distracting icons that are zero use to most of the tasks that you will be performing at any one time. It defies all logic for productivity and efficient use of screen space.

Therefore, I also think that a launcher menu containing favourite apps is a good idea, and have no problem with a start menu that uses more screen space (though whether it needs to use the ENTIRE screen and hide the taskbar is another thing). As others have said, I don't think the start menu is the issue with Windows 8; what is the main issue is this confusing distinction between "Metro" (or "modern" or whatever - Christ they couldn't even think of a good description of them themselves) and classic apps, as well as the confusing and distracting limited "mutli-tasking" features which interfere and confuse on the desktop yet only apply to the Metro nonsense. It also makes no sense to me to have "live tiles" on the start screen; the desktop gadgets were a better idea for this, only Microsoft never really supported them properly or let the method of downloading new gadgets take off.

It's unfortunate that the debate around Windows 8 centers around the Start Screen GUI. There's so much more to the OS than this. Like, for instance, the new Control Panel feature, "Storage Spaces." What's it have to do with the "Modern" GUI? Nothing--absolutely nothing. So much of Windows 8 Pro is like that. People will not accept a dumbing-down of their desktop interfaces simply because it superficially makes desktops resemble far less capable hardware devices. People who want desktops will buy them; people who want portable devices will buy them, too. People already know the differences--there is no confusion in the marketplace, so why Microsoft would want to create such confusion is beyond me.

For the desktop environment, it is already known that keyboards and mice represent a significant advance over desktop touch screens, because mice & keyboards are far more accurate (mice can have a pointing accuracy of thousands of dpi per inch) and gosh knows--what can be more gross than a desktop's sharpest pointing accuracy being the size of a squished human fingertip--and how about the highly unhygienic act of smearing your desktop screen with grease and other assorted kitchen detritus? This is to be "embraced"?

How about "shunned"?

I really like Windows 8 x64, and I like the corner menus just fine. I also really like Classic Shell--the best of the lot, imo. The funny thing is that I did not realize just how much I actually used the Start Menu until I lost it. So I put it back.

Apple has built up what ever general computer market it still has for the Mac by giving its customers less for more and convincing them that they got the better end of the deal. Microsoft has prospered so dramatically otoh by doing the opposite, by providing great value and giving its customers more for less. I will not embrace Microsoft emulating Apple. That's backwards thinking if I've ever heard it (and I've heard plenty of it over the last 30 years.)

Windows 8: I bought it; I love it; I loved the price, and I love the power and flexibility of it. But my relationship with Windows will be on my terms. It's my way or the highway, Microsoft. You didn't get to your present position by being stupid so I have all the confidence that again you will in the end come around to the right decisions. For the desktop, make the Metro/Modern/Whatever GUI a matter of user choice, make it an option. For portable devices with small/touch screens, it's fine; for desktops, it's strictly an option.

Frankly, I don't see what Microsoft has done, as AlexKven claimed, "to make the transition easy". While the Start Screen is a vast improvement over the clumsy and cramped Start menus introduced in Vista and continued in 7, it's a completely different visual language. Millions upon millions of people understand navigating through the Start menu, especially if they've used third party improvements (such as the vastly superior and free Classic Start Menu). While the transition may be somewhat easier for kids who haven't been using Start Menu-based Windows for more than a decade, many, many other people must now learn an entirely new visual language just because Microsoft says they must.

And the Start Screen, unlike the Start Menu, has to be frequently organized and configured in order to make the best use of it. I really don't want to spend my time configuring my computer rather than actually using it.

Just as Vista was, this version of Windows is what happens when a developer doesn't seek or outright ignores feedback from its customers. This is going to be an expensive transition just in terms of retraining to do simple things.

And "Charms"? Puhleeze.

Every one of my clients is going to get Classic Start Menu. It will cut down on phone calls, and make helping people over the phone when they do call much easier.