Ehhh! Just got my new laptop this afternoon and have been shoving all my stuff back on it for hours now. I've been poking around with the world with no start button and I can't see a lot of good in it, so am I missing something?
I can see some usefulness of the apps panel but it's a hot mess where I can't even cluster the items in it how I like. I tried to go into the explorer and move some junk from one folder into another and it just ended up killing the links (goes to desktop and stops) until I moved it back so it's just a long stretched out hot mess.
I found that Windows10 brings it back but like 7 widens the panel for some of that metro junk. I can't even see in the value of metro when it forces you to just use MS apps and services, it won't even use email programs unless they own it so I have to boot to the app panel. I'm strongly considering ClassicShell which can go classic, xp, win 7 or win10 style. I hate to quit on it, but damn it's annoying sifting that much with a mouse with a fake start button to open up anything of use.
Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
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Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
Yes, Windows 8 is an interface disaster. That ugly square panel crap is your new 'Start'. Type to find useful shit that you know the name of when on that screen. Have fun hovering your mouse near the edges of the screen and in corners trying to find all the hidden bullshit.
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Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
I disabled it. Did some searching and it seems the fairly near unanimous suggestion was 'Classic Shell' which allows you to pick your interface from 9x, XP and Win7 style. Also has a sub set of toys to restore the classic windows explorer and IE look with some settings.
As of now if someone was casually looking at this it would look like Win7 again, at least until they noticed I didn't go looking for the old circular green win7 button.
I didn't want to do this, as I like to learn these new OS upgrades, but it's trashy. I can't even clump stuff into conjoined folders like any windows since 9X has allowed so it was spread all over the place on that apps panel for pages and pages of horizontal slow scrolling pain at the fringes of the screen.
As of now if someone was casually looking at this it would look like Win7 again, at least until they noticed I didn't go looking for the old circular green win7 button.
I didn't want to do this, as I like to learn these new OS upgrades, but it's trashy. I can't even clump stuff into conjoined folders like any windows since 9X has allowed so it was spread all over the place on that apps panel for pages and pages of horizontal slow scrolling pain at the fringes of the screen.
Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
I'd really recommend updating it to 8.1 (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/update-from-windows-8-tutorial), and then doing the 8.1 update 1.
It adds the start button back, doesn't add all the apps to the main start menu, and lets you separate stuff on there into groups. It also lets you go right to the desktop on startup if that's your thing.
It adds the start button back, doesn't add all the apps to the main start menu, and lets you separate stuff on there into groups. It also lets you go right to the desktop on startup if that's your thing.
Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
If you've got 8.0 and not 8.1, get that update first, as it has an actual icon for the Start screen instead of assuming you'll hit the Windows key or know to move the mouse to the bottom left.
Once you have that, you can right click the Taskbar and go to Navigation, and checkbox the "Show the Apps view automatically" option. That'll make it sorta like a full-screen Start menu, since you won't tend to see the Modern UI app squares. There's also an option to do to the desktop automatically when you sign in/etc. Between those things, you shouldn't really see the Modern UI unless you go looking for it.
With either 8.0 or 8.1, right click where the "Start button" is and you'll get a menu that has a lot of common destinations like Control Panel, command prompt, etc. It's a bit expanded in 8.1, and includes a Shut down section among other things.
It's still not the same as the older stuff, though like you said, Windows 10 is bringing that back anyway. I think, otherwise, it depends on workflow. Those of use that like to put shortcuts on the taskbar for stuff we regularly use don't have a lot to adapt to with 8.1.
Once you have that, you can right click the Taskbar and go to Navigation, and checkbox the "Show the Apps view automatically" option. That'll make it sorta like a full-screen Start menu, since you won't tend to see the Modern UI app squares. There's also an option to do to the desktop automatically when you sign in/etc. Between those things, you shouldn't really see the Modern UI unless you go looking for it.
With either 8.0 or 8.1, right click where the "Start button" is and you'll get a menu that has a lot of common destinations like Control Panel, command prompt, etc. It's a bit expanded in 8.1, and includes a Shut down section among other things.
It's still not the same as the older stuff, though like you said, Windows 10 is bringing that back anyway. I think, otherwise, it depends on workflow. Those of use that like to put shortcuts on the taskbar for stuff we regularly use don't have a lot to adapt to with 8.1.
Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
It is 8.1, it's not much of an improvement. The stuff the first reply said still applies.
The desktop is my thing, but the sad thing of it is, clicking 'start' just goes back to the apps/metro panel on a stock 8.1 install. Yes there is that right click for some options, but the desktop is fairly still useless unless you want to create a big old task bar down there with quicklinks. I just like to have chrome, explorer, and email on there, that's all so having the normal Win7 style start button is a must.
I tried in the Apps panel to go through explorer and cluster things I wanted together into a 'Good old Games' folder, and so on, and anything I dragged in there would then stop working on the apps panel until put back. They have it fairly well stupidly tied down to be as obnoxious as possible if you don't have a touch panel (I don't.)
Classic Shell does give me what I like, so this works for me as I was totally happy with the Win7 style of start button usage. I have to say I think MS was pretty conniving on how they setup the metro panel start page, all those stupid tiles there and they all make you use some MS program and not what you want or it's useless. I like using gmail and I like using thunderbird, and that mail button won't allow it other than hotmail and msn mail I think it was, nothing thats POP based mail which sucks.
The desktop is my thing, but the sad thing of it is, clicking 'start' just goes back to the apps/metro panel on a stock 8.1 install. Yes there is that right click for some options, but the desktop is fairly still useless unless you want to create a big old task bar down there with quicklinks. I just like to have chrome, explorer, and email on there, that's all so having the normal Win7 style start button is a must.
I tried in the Apps panel to go through explorer and cluster things I wanted together into a 'Good old Games' folder, and so on, and anything I dragged in there would then stop working on the apps panel until put back. They have it fairly well stupidly tied down to be as obnoxious as possible if you don't have a touch panel (I don't.)
Classic Shell does give me what I like, so this works for me as I was totally happy with the Win7 style of start button usage. I have to say I think MS was pretty conniving on how they setup the metro panel start page, all those stupid tiles there and they all make you use some MS program and not what you want or it's useless. I like using gmail and I like using thunderbird, and that mail button won't allow it other than hotmail and msn mail I think it was, nothing thats POP based mail which sucks.
Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
Holy shit!! It's 2012, my time machine worked!!!!
In all seriousness, I use Windows 8.1 and if you take the time to set it up, I find it just as functional as Windows 7 (more so, I prefer to overall simple design over the Aero theme). I very rarely use start (when using 7 or now when using
as I use keyboard shortcuts, so maybe that's why it does not bother me as much. The boot times in Win8 are reason alone to use it.
My Desktop
My Start menu
In all seriousness, I use Windows 8.1 and if you take the time to set it up, I find it just as functional as Windows 7 (more so, I prefer to overall simple design over the Aero theme). I very rarely use start (when using 7 or now when using
as I use keyboard shortcuts, so maybe that's why it does not bother me as much. The boot times in Win8 are reason alone to use it.My Desktop
My Start menu
Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
Now that's clean I like that in that second image. I never did much like doing what you had there in the first though.
I've only had it for a few hours so far. Maybe later I can try and figure out how to setup the panels better, but first would be wiping everything that's on there now off of it as it's all dead weight pointing me to use stuff I don't want. The way that second image is setup is nice.
At this rate I can't even figure out how to add anything to the start menu which is annoying. I know you can, that image shows it. Somehow I ended up having like 4 programs show up on there because I could never get them to show up on the apps screen because they don't have legit installers.
I've only had it for a few hours so far. Maybe later I can try and figure out how to setup the panels better, but first would be wiping everything that's on there now off of it as it's all dead weight pointing me to use stuff I don't want. The way that second image is setup is nice.
At this rate I can't even figure out how to add anything to the start menu which is annoying. I know you can, that image shows it. Somehow I ended up having like 4 programs show up on there because I could never get them to show up on the apps screen because they don't have legit installers.
Last edited by Tanooki on Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
Windows 10 is around the corner and it'll have a more desktop focused interface. Which is what everyone wants, because, let's face it, it's not like PC touchscreens were such a boon to productivity.
More like a gimmick.
More like a gimmick.
Re: Win 8 no start button, screwy app area
Booting to the win7 patched in desktop makes this a far better experience for sure. I'm meddling with that metro thing still, may just cluster a few useful tiles on that one too if I choose to use it. I did remove all the MS trash wanting to force me into a MS account, a MS owned only email, all that xbox attached game/audio/video junk and the rest. It's terrible they don't let you re-use those links for things you do have.