Windows 8 start menu has become cluttered?

watdahel

watdahel

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 8, 2010
Messages
456
I installed all my programs and now the start menu is riddled with icons that would normally be organized in their respective folders in previous OS. Why am I left to do the chore in pinning and unpinning all this stuff every time I install a new software? I hate this.
 
But windows 8 is perfect and can do no wrong....... :rolleyes:.

You're right though it is a giant PITA to organise older stuff.....

microsoft fanboys in 3...2...1
 
If you have nothing useful to contribute, then don't bother even contributing.

Yes, the way the Start Screen works is that you will have to unpin and move stuff when you install new software. The tablet (really, Windows Phone 7) origins of the interface is designed that way, and the OS has no way of distinguishing between the actual program shortcut and the uninstaller shortcut. Still, it only takes about 30 seconds to unpin the uninstaller shortcut (more if the program installs more unnecessary stuff), and drag the tile where you want it to be.
 
It would be nice if there was an option to only have the metro apps automatically pin to the start screen. It makes more sense to leave the desktop apps off the start screen IMO (and just pin your regular programs to the taskbar instead)
 
Tsumi said:
If you have nothing useful to contribute, then don't bother even contributing.

Yes, the way the Start Screen works is that you will have to unpin and move stuff when you install new software. The tablet (really, Windows Phone 7) origins of the interface is designed that way, and the OS has no way of distinguishing between the actual program shortcut and the uninstaller shortcut. Still, it only takes about 30 seconds to unpin the uninstaller shortcut (more if the program installs more unnecessary stuff), and drag the tile where you want it to be.
Click to expand...

So when you have an excavator with the shovel of a toy excavator (since that's what it was designed for) you just need to spend more time digging. I guess that's logical :)
 
Tsumi said:
Still, it only takes about 30 seconds to unpin the uninstaller shortcut (more if the program installs more unnecessary stuff), and drag the tile where you want it to be.
Click to expand...

Because that's more productive than not doing it and saves time, obviously.


I just love to see Metrovangelists making up excuses for the piss-poor design and implementation of that abomination previously known as Metro.
 
pinoy said:
I installed all my programs and now the start menu is riddled with icons that would normally be organized in their respective folders in previous OS. Why am I left to do the chore in pinning and unpinning all this stuff every time I install a new software? I hate this.
Click to expand...

Yeah, after installing a dozen or so programs it looks like Windows 8 vomited all over my start screen.

Just what we need, a dozen different "Uninstall Xxxxxx" icons.
 
You can tell who doesn't read through the prompts when installing their programs, with Windows 8.

As a few screenshots I will post will show.. I just installed DVD Shrink and DURING the install, paid a little bit of attention to some of the prompts, and I have no mess from the start menu items from the installation.

Screen_1.jpg


Screen_2.jpg


Screen_3.jpg
 
Tsumi said:
If you have nothing useful to contribute, then don't bother even contributing.

Yes, the way the Start Screen works is that you will have to unpin and move stuff when you install new software. The tablet (really, Windows Phone 7) origins of the interface is designed that way, and the OS has no way of distinguishing between the actual program shortcut and the uninstaller shortcut. Still, it only takes about 30 seconds to unpin the uninstaller shortcut (more if the program installs more unnecessary stuff), and drag the tile where you want it to be.
Click to expand...

30 seconds(# of apps) = a lot of time that didnt need to be wasted and you're still left with a cluttered start Manu and shit UI (even in desktop mode) the real start menu was introduced in Widows 95 Specifically to address desktop clutter. Now we're back to a windows 3.11 interface.
 
Yea I bet I save more time organizing my start menu one time per app vs. clicking All Programs and folder names to launch apps perpetually. Why should I have to click All Programs and Folder names? It's annoying, it strains my index finger more, etc. etc.
 
jlbenedict said:
You can tell who doesn't read through the prompts when installing their programs, with Windows 8.

As a few screenshots I will post will show.. I just installed DVD Shrink and DURING the install, paid a little bit of attention to some of the prompts, and I have no mess from the start menu items from the installation.
Click to expand...

This is so true. Most everything I have installed has given me an option to NOT create a Start Menu folder which in turn leaves no clutter.

Easy breezy...
 
Right, and I'm sure you're installing so many apps that you're wasting hours each week rearranging the tiles.

Metro has a very simple way of arranging the apps. They just add the shortcuts in the order that they were installed in. There's no "randomness" about it.
 
wonderfield said:
I could be mistaken, but I believe you lose the ability to launch the app via search by selecting that option.
Click to expand...

Yes.. it does appear that way.. since the app would not have the shortcuts in the "all apps" portion of the Metro start menu also..

I think this way of not selecting the "start menu" option in the installation options, are for those users that do not play to use the Metro start screen at all..
 
If you don't allow program to add items to the Start Menu, then no short cuts are installed on the Start Screen or the Start Menu Folder and the only way to launch it is with typing the program name.

Management of tiles in Windows 8 is definitely a weak spot, but it's not particularly difficult or time consuming though it is an extra step. However, the Start Screen is much better at dealing with arbitrarily long lists of short cuts than the desktop or Start Menu.
 
jlbenedict said:
You can tell who doesn't read through the prompts when installing their programs, with Windows 8.

As a few screenshots I will post will show.. I just installed DVD Shrink and DURING the install, paid a little bit of attention to some of the prompts, and I have no mess from the start menu items from the installation.
Click to expand...

Actually reading prompts during a software install?


pfft, that's too hipster for most people
 
AMD T-type said:
Actually reading prompts during a software install?


pfft, that's too hipster for most people
Click to expand...

They don't do it for any other version of Windows so why would you expect them to change now? Absolutely idiotic to change the desktop UI when a change wasn't requested or needed. Millions upon millions of wasted hours to train people how to do the simplest tasks AGAIN compared to what they've been doing for a decade...and instead of a traditional desktop with icons we get a start screen with giant square icons...yay, go innovation. :rolleyes:
 
pcjunkie said:
They don't do it for any other version of Windows so why would you expect them to change now? Absolutely idiotic to change the desktop UI when a change wasn't requested or needed. Millions upon millions of wasted hours to train people how to do the simplest tasks AGAIN compared to what they've been doing for a decade...and instead of a traditional desktop with icons we get a start screen with giant square icons...yay, go innovation. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Millions of hours could be wasted clicking All Programs and Folder names as well, perhaps more. So what's your idea of innovation, leaving it like it was? Arguing from innovation when you actually want the same thing is really silly. If you have a better idea beyond the two options typically discussed, leaving it alone and Metro, please amaze us with it.
 
Tsumi said:
Right, and I'm sure you're installing so many apps that you're wasting hours each week rearranging the tiles.

Metro has a very simple way of arranging the apps. They just add the shortcuts in the order that they were installed in. There's no "randomness" about it.
Click to expand...

Simple != good and most certainly !=organized.
 
devil22 said:
Millions of hours could be wasted clicking All Programs and Folder names as well, perhaps more. So what's your idea of innovation, leaving it like it was? Arguing from innovation when you actually want the same thing is really silly. If you have a better idea beyond the two options typically discussed, leaving it alone and Metro, please amaze us with it.
Click to expand...

LOL...I see stupidity has no boundaries! Change is alway good right? The desktop HAS icons just like the Metro screen so you don't need to click all programs/folders...wow :p

You act like its something so new and improved just like you can't multitask with Metro apps in full screen. Go innovation!!!!
 
pcjunkie said:
LOL...I see stupidity has no boundaries! Change is alway good right? The desktop HAS icons just like the Metro screen so you don't need to click all programs/folders...wow :p

You act like its something so new and improved just like you can't multitask with Metro apps in full screen. Go innovation!!!!
Click to expand...

You call me stupid and suggest that because I like Metro I like any change. That's rich. This argument about the desktop is so trivial and myopic. You want the start menu instead of the start screen, so instead of telling us the wonders of the start menu, you compare against icons on the desktop, which you could do in Windows 8 if it's so great you can't think of anything else to argue with (like oh say the start menu.) I find it interesting that people on these tech forums continually argue in favor of the start menu by comparing the start screen to anything BUT the start menu. :rolleyes: I can multitask metro apps just fine btw, if you meant something else you should've said so genius.
 
devil22 said:
Metro has to be all things? Because Windows 7's start menu certainly is no doubt..
Click to expand...

No, Metro doesn't, but Windows 8 as a whole should. I'd have no problems with the OS or metro if the desktop mode in windows 8 wasn't castrated with no native start menu and a stale UI. The fact that you have to post here defending and providing workarounds that are actually compromises and not an actual solution is evidence enough that its a less functional DESKTOP OS than its predecessor. By in large with previous new OS releases if there was something you couldn't do it was because you simply needed to learn where the option was. In windows 8, far too often it's because the option isn't available and instead of customizing the OS to suit your needs you have to adjust your computing style to adjust to the OS. You can keep defending the OS all you want, it won't change this reality.

If you can multitask in metro just fine your idea Of multi tasking is quite limited. Don't bother arguing this because multitasking in metro is inherently limited. That's almost like me saying I can multi task on my iPad because I can listen to music and type this reply at the same time.
 
devil22 said:
You call me stupid and suggest that because I like Metro I like any change. That's rich. This argument about the desktop is so trivial and myopic. You want the start menu instead of the start screen, so instead of telling us the wonders of the start menu, you compare against icons on the desktop, which you could do in Windows 8 if it's so great you can't think of anything else to argue with (like oh say the start menu.) I find it interesting that people on these tech forums continually argue in favor of the start menu by comparing the start screen to anything BUT the start menu. :rolleyes: I can multitask in metro apps just fine btw, if you meant something else you should've said so genius.
Click to expand...

Show me how you multitask with Metro full screen apps just fine genius??? Also the normal desktop vs Metro argument is probably THE biggest argument for not using Windows 8....again, just wow! Start menu is probably second to that but just a guess. People are not always going to agree but this damn fan boy crap is just ridiculous! I'm glad you like it but I hate it...OK
 
pcjunkie said:
Absolutely idiotic to change the desktop UI when a change wasn't requested or needed.
Click to expand...

Actually the concept of making Windows more touch and tablet friendly has been ask for by Windows tablet users for many years. While Windows 8 specifically because of competition from the iPad, getting Windows to work with wed with touch and on tablets has been something in the mix for years before the iPad.
 
heatlesssun said:
Actually the concept of making Windows more touch and tablet friendly has been ask for by Windows tablet users for many years. While Windows 8 specifically because of competition from the iPad, getting Windows to work with wed with touch and on tablets has been something in the mix for years before the iPad.
Click to expand...

I specifically mentioned desktop users, not tablets...Windows 8 is a tablet/phone OS so I imagine they would like it.
 
heatlesssun said:
Actually the concept of making Windows more touch and tablet friendly has been ask for by Windows tablet users for many years. While Windows 8 specifically because of competition from the iPad, getting Windows to work with wed with touch and on tablets has been something in the mix for years before the iPad.
Click to expand...

The difference is Apple has enough sense to provide its customers with a proper desktop OS and a proper mobile OS AND get them to integrate well.
 
pcjunkie said:
Show me how you multitask with Metro full screen apps just fine genius??? Also the normal desktop vs Metro argument is probably THE biggest argument for not using Windows 8....again, just wow! Start menu is probably second to that but just a guess. People are not always going to agree but this damn fan boy crap is just ridiculous! I'm glad you like it but I hate it...OK
Click to expand...

Show you how? You want a video? Or can I just describe it in a few sentences? I start a metro App, say "Mail", then I click the lower left to go to the desktop, then when mail arrives, the mail program notifies me. Or I load the "music" app, play a song, switch to the desktop, and the music keep playing. That's one definition of multitasking, another is that I can load metro on a second monitor and user an App there, and use my desktop on the first monitor. These actions and others are technically multitasking. Metro Apps don't do much processing in the background, but that is a main feature of them, unlike desktop apps, you could load up your computer with hundreds of metro apps and when you are not directly looking at them, they use no or almost no CPU/disk/etc. Imagine you want news from a dozen plus sources, hardware monitors, email notifications, calendar notifications, and things that are yet to be imagined. Now go load your Windows 7 box with those apps, assuming none of them corrupt the system during the Admin required install (most of the time), or infect you, neither of which can happen with Metro Apps, your system will probably significantly slow down when trying to play say a high end game, or perhaps even stutter HD video, which won't happen with equivalent metro apps, since they are suspended when not directly used generally. Given that, and the fact that you can use every Win 7 desktop app on the Windows 8 desktop, why do they need to multitask beyond that? You would just end up duplicating desktop apps, with no benefit, that would be utterly pointless and unnecessary, since once again, you can just use all your regular desktop apps if you need their features.
 
RamonGTP said:
The difference is Apple has enough sense to provide its customers with a proper desktop OS and a proper mobile OS AND get them to integrate well.
Click to expand...

Obviously it would make no sense to use the same OS with a UI that worked well on both device forms.
 
RamonGTP said:
The difference is Apple has enough sense to provide its customers with a proper desktop OS and a proper mobile OS AND get them to integrate well.
Click to expand...

Microsoft had the good sense to create one OS that works across multiple form factors and input devices and don't require the purchase of separate devices if one wants a desktop/laptop and tablet.

I understand that a lot of people don't like the new UI but I don't think that means it can't work and is a bad idea and it does give users another unique option.
 
Most people do not like change.. Windows 8 introduces major changes.
We've been exposed to the "Start Menu" since Windows 95....

It would be interesting to go back in time, when we changed from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95 and reminisce over the conversations, bitching, complaining and moaning about that change.
 
Right-click items -> Unpin from Start on Bottom Toolbar = 1-2 seconds

Now stop yapping.
 
mavrocket said:
Right-click items -> Unpin from Start on Bottom Toolbar = 1-2 seconds

Now stop yapping.
Click to expand...

Yea they'll complain for pages, and end up wasting 10x more time than they would actually organizing the start screen over the course of a year probably. :)
 
devil22 said:
Obviously it would make no sense to use the same OS with a UI that worked well on both device forms.
Click to expand...

If it worked as well as you think it does, this thread and countless others like it would not exist and we would not be having this conversation. In case you haven't figured it out yet, many of us don't think it works very well as a desktop OS. These complains aren't limited to a small subset of people either. In fact, ill bet there's more people complaining than there is blindly defending. Then again, you're someone who has managed to do the impossible. Multitask just fine in Metro.... /sarcasm
 
Last edited:
mavrocket said:
Right-click items -> Unpin from Start on Bottom Toolbar = 1-2 seconds

Now stop yapping.
Click to expand...

Or have a functional start menu where you don't need to make that compromise. You have a clutter free desktop AND a place where you can easily view and access all your programs without having to remember every single program you've installed on your machine. That's the issue with Windows 8, Microsofts mobile ambitions have made it one big compromise when used in a non-mobile non-touch environment.
 
devil22 said:
Show you how? You want a video? Or can I just describe it in a few sentences? I start a metro App, say "Mail", then I click the lower left to go to the desktop, then when mail arrives, the mail program notifies me. Or I load the "music" app, play a song, switch to the desktop, and the music keep playing. That's one definition of multitasking, another is that I can load metro on a second monitor and user an App there, and use my desktop on the first monitor. These actions and others are technically multitasking. Metro Apps don't do much processing in the background, but that is a main feature of them, unlike desktop apps, you could load up your computer with hundreds of metro apps and when you are not directly looking at them, they use no or almost no CPU/disk/etc. Imagine you want news from a dozen plus sources, hardware monitors, email notifications, calendar notifications, and things that are yet to be imagined. Now go load your Windows 7 box with those apps, assuming none of them corrupt the system during the Admin required install (most of the time), or infect you, neither of which can happen with Metro Apps, your system will probably significantly slow down when trying to play say a high end game, or perhaps even stutter HD video, which won't happen with equivalent metro apps, since they are suspended when not directly used generally. Given that, and the fact that you can use every Win 7 desktop app on the Windows 8 desktop, why do they need to multitask beyond that? You would just end up duplicating desktop apps, with no benefit, that would be utterly pointless and unnecessary, since once again, you can just use all your regular desktop apps if you need their features.
Click to expand...

LOL so your using tricks to make it act like Windows 7, i.e., a desktop OS...good to know you can just click on media player and play songs on window 7 without changing to desktop mode while your doing spreadsheets, etc...I guess you couldn't use multiple monitors for Windows 7 as well? Man u fan boys never give up do you?
 
devil22 said:
Yea they'll complain for pages, and end up wasting 10x more time than they would actually organizing the start screen over the course of a year probably. :)
Click to expand...

Yup and u fan boys will defend it for multiple pages and waste even more time. To each their own I guess? :rolleyes:
 
Well someone has to clean up all the FUD that's spread around :rolleyes:

Liking or disliking the interface is a subjective thing. Let's just agree to disagree. What I don't like is when people exaggerate or make things seem worse/better than they really are.
 
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