Windows 8.1 Bringing Back Start Button

wonderfield said:
As do desktop apps, for the most part.
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While I can see why some would think that Metro apps all look the same, many are horizontal grid based, many desktop apps stick to the same window/file menu/tool bar/document area design that's been around for the last 20 years with little change other than minor cosmetics. Indeed these concepts were heralded as a great leap forward in usability as users could move from app to app and instantly have a feel for how to navigate an app as they shared a common UI. While the number of Metro apps is small and as I said the horizontal grid is very prevalent in Metro, I'd say there's quite a bit of UI diversity in Metro apps as a whole, more than we see in typical desktop apps.
 
DPI said:
According to Microsoft and some of their investors that post here, choice is bad because then you can't constantly have your nose pushed into the appstore dog crap as a reminder to buy smartphone apps for your pc
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Not seen anyone that like Windows 8 say this, I certainly haven't.
 
So it looks like the leaks about the 8.1 UI and the Start Button that have been going on for a while a pretty much all true: http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/...ng-the-windows-8-vision-with-windows-8-1.aspx

Start Button, Boot to desktop, which looks more flexible than even, etc. The most interesting thing looks to be Search. Some kind of universal web and local based search that provides some very rich results directly in the OS. On the desktop there was mention of big changes to the File Explorer by Ed Bott but he didn't elaborate.

And one of the most important elements of the desktop environment, File Explorer, is getting a significant change.
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http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-1-unveiled-will-it-change-your-mind-about-windows-8-7000016112/

This is a lot more than any Service Pack in the history of Windows it would appear. No Metro off switch, so that crowd won't be happy with this update, but it should go a good way towards dealing with some of the usability issues like discovery with the Start Button now back and customization of the hot corners which is something I'd not heard about previously.
 
Some of it is old news; some is new.

I'm fairly certain that the ability to use the desktop wallpaper as a Start Screen background was my idea. Should've patented that shit.
 
Megalith said:
It's clear why Microsoft did it, but it's unclear why MS thought it would actually work. I avoid Metro apps like the plague; THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME.
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Yeah... one would think a monolithic corporation like Microsoft wouldn't take many huge chances with one of their bread and butter products, especially when they're not in desperate straits, but *shrug*. I'm not saying they wouldn't or haven't taken chances before, or that they've never made huge blunders, but this one... this one should've been obvious.

DoggyDaddi said:
Desktop boot-up is asinine. There is a great big rectangle IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORER that sends you to desktop.

Now what I would like is a power button I don't have to hover or CTRL-F4 to get ahold of *sigh*
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I have to say, ever since I started using Windows 8, I've become a lot more familiar with keyboard shortcuts, using the physical Windows key, typing in program names, hitting Ctrl+Tab for all programs, etc. :p
 
John Vuong said:
And please bring back Aero Glass too, because Metro UI looks flat, dull and ugly.
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NO! The Windows 8 UI design is nice (not metro), except for desktop icons being large squares when selected, and the title bar for windows taking up too much space. I happen to like the flat and plain color look though, feels clean. But it does still need a little work. Regardless, don't bring back the aero look, I think it's terrible!
 
I don't care about the start Button if all it does it bring me to that horrible start screen. I want Metro, The charms Bar and the stupid corner bullshit eliminated from the desktop Version. I could give a rats ass if there is a start button or not. My bitch from the beginning has and remains Metro and the fact that it is a flat out shitty UI. The truly sad part is I easily have worse vision than most people who support this garbage and even I still hate my start screen taking up that much damn space.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I don't care about the start Button if all it does it bring me to that horrible start screen. I want Metro, The charms Bar and the stupid corner bullshit eliminated from the desktop Version. I could give a rats ass if there is a start button or not. My bitch from the beginning has and remains Metro and the fact that it is a flat out shitty UI. The truly sad part is I easily have worse vision than most people who support this garbage and even I still hate my start screen taking up that much damn space.
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Why not a choice? Why is everyone so one way or GTFO. I won't use 8 unless it has a start menu and disabled Metro, but there are those that like it and I don't see why they can't have the option to enable it if they want.
 
PornoSatan said:
NO! The Windows 8 UI design is nice (not metro), except for desktop icons being large squares when selected, and the title bar for windows taking up too much space. I happen to like the flat and plain color look though, feels clean. But it does still need a little work. Regardless, don't bring back the aero look, I think it's terrible!
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TL;DR: Another vote for "Choice is bad"
 
Metrocall said:
Why not a choice? Why is everyone so one way or GTFO. I won't use 8 unless it has a start menu and disabled Metro, but there are those that like it and I don't see why they can't have the option to enable it if they want.
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The only people that seem to be so ANTI-CHOICE are those with an agenda.
 
Metrocall said:
Why not a choice? Why is everyone so one way or GTFO. I won't use 8 unless it has a start menu and disabled Metro, but there are those that like it and I don't see why they can't have the option to enable it if they want.
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Choice is fine, I have advocated the ability to choose from the beginning. The die hard supporters around here are the ones who have been adamantly against choice since the beginning.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Choice is fine, I have advocated the ability to choose from the beginning. The die hard supporters around here are the ones who have been adamantly against choice since the beginning.
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I don't think I've seen anyone that likes Windows 8 be against the idea of a Metro off switch. I don't have a problem with the idea in theory but the bottom line is that traditional PC market is not only slowing down, it's currently experience negative growth and the traditional PC market was contracting even with Windows 7.

So for me it's not a matter of being against choice, I just don't see what a 20 UI old can do to sustain any kind of growth. Yes, it'll make some people feel more comfortable but the future of computing isn't going to come from a 20 UI designed not designed for the devices more and more people are using everyday for more and more things.
 
heatlesssun said:
I don't think I've seen anyone that likes Windows 8 be against the idea of a Metro off switch. I don't have a problem with the idea in theory but the bottom line is that traditional PC market is not only slowing down, it's currently experience negative growth and the traditional PC market was contracting even with Windows 7.

So for me it's not a matter of being against choice, I just don't see what a 20 UI old can do to sustain any kind of growth. Yes, it'll make some people feel more comfortable but the future of computing isn't going to come from a 20 UI designed not designed for the devices more and more people are using everyday for more and more things.
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Don't make me dig up the lengthy posts where you yourself fought me on this very same topic before Win 8 released.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Don't make me dig up the lengthy posts where you yourself fought me on this very same topic before Win 8 released.
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You can dig if you want, I know what I've said about the subject because I've been very consistent on the matter and it is exactly what I said in my last post. A 20 year old UI simply isn't going to do much for Windows in the long run as touch and tablets become increasingly more prevalent and capable. It's not a matter of being against choice, its a matter of believing that this particular choice has run its course and is in a state of market decline.
 
I don't really want a start button on the taskbar when I'm on desktop. I was enjoying the cleaner look without it.
 
That start button is worthless without a start menu. All its going to do is open metro.
 
I've never seen anyone correlate the presence of a button to the state of an entire industry.

Remarkable.
 
Lucky we have start8 and modernmix, two great programs. I just dislike the start screen cause it has no folder structure. So when you have 60 programs and pages of tiles its a bit too much.

Also I don't like how it uses a full screen. Sorry if people think using a full screen is a good use of diskspace.

And also the desktop has such limited options for customization. Which is covered by third party.
Perfect example is you can't use darkthemes cause the title text for windows is in black and you can't change it.
 
it's really sad when adding a previously removed feature is considered a selling point... they really are trying to be apple
 
Galvin said:
Lucky we have start8 and modernmix, two great programs. I just dislike the start screen cause it has no folder structure. So when you have 60 programs and pages of tiles its a bit too much.

Also I don't like how it uses a full screen. Sorry if people think using a full screen is a good use of screen space.
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Tried ModenMix for a while and I can see why people like having good old floating Windows but I didn't think it added much simply because when I use Metro apps, like desktop apps, I actually tend to use them full screen and switch between apps. I think that's pretty much the way most people use most apps most of the time, even desktop apps. When I do have apps not full screen I use Aero side by side snap, which is now supported in 8.1.

As for the full screen Start Screen, I was concerned about that at first but honestly it really doesn't make that much difference to me personally. I get that people think that it's jarring and disrupts workflow but it's not like one can do anything but look at something else while the Start Menu is up. I've not really come across anything where I could think of that really have an impact on productivity, at least for the average human. Looking at something else while also using the Start Menu is beyond the ability of most.

Galvin said:
And also the desktop has such limited options for customization. Which is covered by third party.
Perfect example is you can't use darkthemes cause the title text for windows is in black and you can't change it.
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I agree for the need for more customization options.
 
What I would really hope Microsoft would have figured out was that the irritation (at least for me) was not so much the Start Screen but rather the fact that opening anything from the Desktop would often take you to a Metro app... bad but not the worst part. Then... you CLOSE the Metro app and you are taken to the Start Screen. There are a ton of use cases where this is very bad, very confusing and very annoying, not the least of which would be ANY time you're viewing media (music, photos, videos) in a Folder in Desktop mode, and the default Metro app would open that media. Of course you'd want to return to your Folder when you're done with the app, but that isn't what happened. I set ALL my default media openers to be desktop applications to get around this. (That's all images, videos, music, PDFs...)

Hopefully if you "boot to desktop" you also get "returned to desktop" when you close a Metro app...
 
PornoSatan said:
NO! The Windows 8 UI design is nice (not metro), except for desktop icons being large squares when selected, and the title bar for windows taking up too much space. I happen to like the flat and plain color look though, feels clean. But it does still need a little work. Regardless, don't bring back the aero look, I think it's terrible!
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your username says everything I need to know. everybody thinks that metro is ugly, that's why they are changing it back.
 
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