Click Start To Begin - Microsoft Windows XP Basics

Examples include: Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, or 7), any flavor of Linux, and Mac Double-clicking (clicking twice in rapid succession) on one of these icons will The icons that are on the desktop, the quick-launch bar, and the start-menu .
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However, much of the time you'll often open an application directly. From time to time, you'll need to adjust your computer's settings. My Dashboard Comm Assignments Basics Getting to Know the OS. Shutting down Windows 7. Shutting down Windows XP. Dragging a file to the Recycle Bin. Emptying the Recycle Bin. Dragging a file to the Trash.

Opening iTunes from the Dock. Opening the Control Panel. Choosing a category in System Preferences. Can't change a rubric once you've started using it. You've already rated students with this rubric. Any major changes could affect their assessment results. Edit criterion description Delete criterion row. It would seem Microsoft has understimated the value of expertise and the familar. Does it not seem utterly foolish that Microsoft did not develop and include these tools? Hence the perception that Microsoft is shoving this UI down our throat.

Imagine if Honda decided replacing the steering wheel with a handle bar complete with twist throttle, and brake and clutch levers. Us motorcycle drivers would adapt easily, but for most folks this would be an extreme change with little perceptable gain. I agree it makes sense to bake in apps compatibility for the touch screen user. Still, why not give the user the choice: Please consider for my customers: The XP Start Menu worked very very well! Why on earth would you mess with something that worked well?

Eesh I thought when we left DOS those days were gone forever. Anonymous — The Windows 8. When an application is installed the icons that would be created previously under the Start Menu are now in the All Apps view. The all apps view is first sorted alphabetically and then if you scroll farther by Program.

That would be just like how it would have been grouped in Windows 7. You can then Pin any one of these icons to the Start Menu and group them however you like. Office is a perfect example. Previous versions of Office would have about 10 different programs. Office document imaging, Uninstall Office…..

When all you really care about are the applications themselves and not all these other things you might use once or never. So you can pin exactly what you will use and group them however you like. I group my games as one set of tiles, News, Main Apps……If you prefer however you can have it always default to the All Apps view and you can change the sort order. Hopefully that answers your question. Neal, to be honest all of the changes are criticized before they are accepted.

Windows XP was highly criticized when it first came out, and I have had countless customers asking me whether they could make Windows 7 look like Windows because their users were used to it their Windows XP deployments also look exactly like Windows All I can tell you is that our product teams will continue to iterate to refine the Start Screen and make it the best and most productive Start our users have seen. Regarding deleting the Wifi profile, you just have to disconnect from the network to which you are connected. Warren — glad you find it helpful; I do too.

This makes it much easier. I'm a big fan of the app group customization.


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Now I just need to get a touch device for 8. Remember you can use emoji in the App Group Names. If you have a touch keyboard this is pretty easy. Otherwise, copy from wikipedia en. On an article note, I think the picture is wrong under the App Groups View section. It confused me for a second. Just need a devices and printers button now! Cory, unfortunately there is no supported way to remove the Start button from the taskbar in Windows 8. This still sux, theres application out there that do a better job with the start button, and as mentioned before I rather remove it — but cant find the option.

If anyone knows please inform me. Dan, we believe in this implementation as a long term solution that is provides scalability and usability, but third parties are designing different alternatives that may be better suited for your specific case. Is there a setup where only the start button on the desktop will take me to the all apps view, but the other start buttons will take me to the start screen. Cory use this tool: It's a great update to make Windows 8 more user friendly.

An option to switch between the classic start menu and the modern menu can be added. Andre, WinAero is one of the third party tools available, but there are many options to suit everyone's preferences. Balaji, I am not part of the team that develops the product, but I don't think you will see that option in future iterations of Windows. Like i mentioned in the post, the Start Menu was not scalable for amount of applications that are installed nowadays. Wait, wait, wait… we've been waiting for months for 8.

What was the point? Von Philips, you may have read third party speculation as Microsoft never said the Start Menu would be restored to what it was before Windows 8. We don't see this as a problem, but we understand that this implementation will not fit everyone's needs. That's why Microsoft has always been focused on helping our partners and developers implement new experiences for every possible scenario.

Does anyone know how to completely disable Start? I've uninstalled all the apps I could, but I'd like to be done with it. Start8 from Stardock gives you a 'normal' start menu also removing the new start button… and allows the Windows key to open the menu rather than the rainbow monstrosity start screen. What the hell have they done???? I want windows 7 back, agree 8 is ok for tablets but give us a decent version for desktops and laptops, it's Shite!! I'm telling you, you wouldn't even know my machine is running Win8 now.

Win8 and now 8. I like Metro so why do I have to loose that UI if I want to have a list of apps in the Microsoft interpretation of the 'new' Start menu? I may have missed a config option here, but it seems that you can get a sort of Start menu back, but in the Metro format, but then loose the tiles of the standard UI interface. Sorry Microsoft, you've missed the boat yet again. Brett Sayles, you cannot disable the Start Screen or otherwise you wouldn't have a way of starting applications.

If you install a third party application launcher like you did, it may allow you to hide the Start Screen.

David, I have personally helped several very big and high profile companies migrate from XP directly to Windows 8. At first it's strange, but then users will get used to the new Start Screen. If you prefer to use a third party application to make Windows 8. But most people manage to start using an iPad, iPhone, Android after a few days or hours of trying it, and the same happens with Windows 8.

I have had that experience with companies with literally hundreds of thousands of users. I think I'm going to be purchasing a tablet and I'll probably pick up one that runs Windows. I think it's going to be great.

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That said, I can tell you that in our health system Yeah, I'm in I. If MS doesn't provide enterprise users the ability to turn off metro is it still metro? I remember the fight to get doctors and nurses to go from paper to computers… oh the pain. I really do love change, but I love it when it has a solid reason. A reason for the change was given earlier, saying that the number of apps had grown too large for the start menu. I'm not sure how an alphabetically ordered vertical list is more cumbersome than a horizontal list with icons or tiles the size of volkswagens fixes this problem.

My start screen is a mess. I could spend a few hours grouping up the tiles I suppose or zoom out to all apps, but that is a far worse wreck than a simple vertical list. Charoit — You're welcome. Personally, this was another one of my favorite posts to write as I recognize the sizeable changes from Win7 to Win8.

That said, I do think if folks give one of the 'Views' covered here a shot, they'll be pleasantly surprised. There are some 3rd party tools out there that enable that, though. This is akin to gnome vs kde wars. Let me click a button, start, all programs if I have to! I suppose I'll have to try adding a toolbar that points to 'Start Menu'.

BOTH flavours, all and user, I suppose. Many folks are aware of this feature but I'll add it here for those who aren't. But I do like the Metro background much better. Do you by chance know where this picture is located, so that I can make all three screens share the default 8. Dawgbone — the Start screen images are in a sealed up DLL and not readily available. Unfortunately it's not as good as 3rd party apps that bring back a true start menu experience, so i'm trying to figure out how to remove the thing from hogging the bottom left corner. So if there isn't a way to do it in the windows 8.

Kind of disappointed, I didn't hate Windows 8 but I did think it needed more ways of customizing the start screen. Nice try Windows, but I kind of wish you thought more out of the box on this one. Hi Frank, thank you for the feedback. It's always difficult to find a compromise. Too few options and some users will feel disappointed, too many options and some more basic users may find the OS overwhelming and difficult to use. Hi, None of the options on the start button menu right click the start button seem to do anythiing except for the bottom ones starting with search.

Is there a config option somewhere to turn them on? I love the idea, but cant seem to get them to work. Most of them require administrative permissions; can that be the problem? You can make some changes to that menu by changing the shortcuts in C: Please note that this is not supported and you will be making changes at your own risk.

Is there a program out there that changes the way the right click menu looks on the start button? I find it kind of dull and ugly when you right click. I'm sorry but I don't see how the solution to dealing with a large number of installed applications is to remove the folder hierarchy that allowed users to keep things organized. Visual Studio installs over 20 shortcuts. As for the second part or your statement, as an IT representative of a reasonably large global financial firm I can tell you that the majority of our users aren't going to have a touch screen in the office for many years.

Windows 8 is nice for a tablet like the Surface Pro, but minus third party tools, it is a poor solution in a business desktop environment. You can group them in any way that makes sense to you. Each user can give more visibility to his most commonly used applications.

You can let the user customize it, or create a view that you distribute to each department or your entire company as demonstrated in the first link of this blog post. In servers you would arguably ever open the Start Menu — actually the biggest trend is using Server Core, although this is the topic for another conversation. We understand that change is difficult for many users, but we feel it's necessary to embrace the future. For those that absolutely need a more familiar screen, Windows 7 will still be supported for a few more years, and there are also several third party applications that make Windows 8.

Jao — your fervent defense of the cluttered unintuitive UI of Win8 and is appreciated, however, you are not winning or converting any hearts and minds. The verdict is in — no one likes it. Our end users would be lost. Our developers would be lost. I know it is difficult to comprehend that, but that is the truth.

PS — Poor UI design decisions don't necessarily equate to a brighter future. Why did Sinofsky leave? Perhaps steering wheels in cars should be made square instead of round. Square steering wheels are the future, embrace it. Porkie, I understand what you are saying and was just explaining how we arrived at this design. Our Windows Product Group is listening to the comments and concerns expressed here. Thank you for the reply. I agree that for the those people who want to spend a bunch of time customizing the start screen it is possible to create a workable user experience.

On the other hand, most people aren't going to spend the time doing it, so it will be up to the IT staff to do extra work to manage it for everyone else. I am more tempted to use Windows 8 at home than at the office because at home I only use a dozen or so applications on a regular basis and it will not be too difficult to customize the UI. I don't have a problem with change — when it makes sense. I appreciated Vista for its improvements over XP and credit Vista for finally pushing vendors to provide x64 drivers. Aside from some flaky file copy problems, I had very few complaints with the changes Vista brought.

However, using a tablet OS on desktops not to mention servers just does not make sense. I would consider using Server Core if the remote administration tools didn't require Windows 8. I actually want to get RID of the new start button! I was functioning fine without it and now have to re-learn that the bottom left of my toolbar isn't Chrome, it's a stupid button I already have a key for. Joao Sousa Botto, what a contradiction: So another words, even you prefer the "traditional Start Menu" except you don't mind the extra un-intuitive step of memorizing a lame keyboard shortcut.

That's state of the Art dude! Keyboard shortcuts, the Future I tell Ya!!! Is it possible to set a fixed background image on the start menu and have a different background on desktop?? Jonathan, I use shortcuts to get things done faster. I use them in Windows 8. But I know most users don't use shortcuts that often and I like to provide them with alternatives.

I also spend most of my work time on the desktop — like many of you — but when I login to my computer I truly prefer seeing live tiles showing me my calendar, e-mails, news highlights and friends updates than to log in to my static desktop. In any of the cases my favorite application in the desktop?

That's why I never boot directly to the desktop. But if you do want to boot to the desktop that can be achieved with a single setting or Group Policy. Armandt Burger, you can set the background of the Start Screen to any color, accent and any of the default Windows Start Screen backgrounds while keeping your custom image in the desktop. The Group Policies for that are:. At this time we don't have an option to have a custom image on the Start Screen and another one in the Desktop. I've been looking for the option to hide the Start button on the desktop view.

We now have hardware to display a Start button on the screen bezel, in addition to the start button on the keyboard, and there's the start button on the right edge swipe menu too — there's just no need for the additional start button on the task bar. Any clue where I can find the option to remove the Start button?


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Nitin, some third party tools allow you to remove the Start Button from the taskbar. There are many options that have additional functionality, so I would recommend that you try a few and choose the one that suits you best. Viraj, open the Charms swipe from the right or bring your mouse to the upper or lower right corners , click Settings, then choose Personalize.

You just don't get it. Most of us don't care how it looks. We just want to organize the apps our way, something Windows 8 doesn't let us do. I don't want to use their categories. I want to use my own. The categories in Apps view strike me as dumb. Why can't I make my own that make sense to me? I already discovered that there are only 5 categories in the Tiles screen. If you want more, you're out of luck. Now, we all know it is easy to change these things. It's just an interface, after all. It's not the guts of anything. So, why is Microsoft being so controlling?

Why so few choices? Is it that Microsoft somehow makes money from all the bloatware? Of are they such control freaks that we can't even have our own categories of apps. That's the real issue with Windows 8. It's not your computer any longer. The Start Screen was initially designed to always be customized by the end user, and for Windows 8. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the 5 category limitation. You don't have such a limit when configuring your own Start Screen. If you tell me more about your limitation maybe we can help you solve this problem. You can choose multiple options for sorting your App View.

If you don't use Internet Explorer it won't appear at the top of the list in most of the view. Matthias, the policies we talk about are exclusive to Windows 8. You won't see them unless your domain controllers are R2. I highly recommend Mark's fantastic blog post on how to use the Central Store: NeednewGone, the blue "New" tag that you see for newly installed applications in the All App view will go away when you run that application.

For some reason when I right click my taskbar then hit Properties I do not get the "Navigation" tab, which I would need to make the start screen change you mention. I will start by saying that I do see how much of an improvement Windows 8.

However that still doesn't mean you've succeeded in supporting non touch user's needs. I can tell you honestly I do not know a single IT professional that loves a Windows 8 product with the exception of that 1 director you come across every now and then who only uses a computer for reading emails which will be of course the latest and greatest technology and have touch ability. I realize this could mean I am just a script kiddy to you who only knows a few weekend warrior coders, but I am in fact an IT professional that is so saturated in the stench of other IT professionals day in day out, so much so that no amount of fabric softener will remove the odor of them from my clothes.

The Windows 8 OS is perfect for the non business individual who has it running on a tablet PC and only installs apps from the market place, and its probably half decent for the home user family that only has a few things installed on it and has a touch screen. However when I did the upgrade I now go cross eyed with not only all the app tiles I have to sift through, but the 'junk' that has been loaded in alongside the key applications.

This argument that it is better suited for installations with a larger amount of applications installed is bollox and laughable because now I have to deal with problems that were never problems before. You can argue with "facts" from a mysterious research department that say they foresaw the demise of the start menu because people are installing too many apps these days, but to this I say that the start menu has been thrashed by myself and my colleagues over time and there is no issue here other than a department at Microsoft who all want their own company tablet pc and are willing to manipulate the market to score one for free via bogus research reports.

Lastly I'd just like to remind you of your own history… Do you even remember why you called the product "Windows" way back when…? This full screen metro app view is stupidly awkward to work with and less productive. Anyone that says otherwise is just trying to defend their retarded creation, it's suited only for handheld devices and that's it. This is exactly what happens when a nerdy, intelligent, productive and useful product throws away who it is and what it does well in an attempt to become "cool".

Xavier, we appreciate your feedback.

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If you want to look at the research I mentioned earlier, I highly recommend the following blog post from the Windows team: The link above contains all the numbers and details on the research done. It was published when launching Windows 8 to give interested parties more information than just the one on blogs. You may also find this one interesting: I don't expect this information to change your mind, but I found the data quite interesting myself and it helped opening my mind to this big switch. Ravi, some of the functionalities descried are brand new, for Windows 8.

Also, personalization is disabled until you activate Windows. What do I need to do to see the other menu? Rich K, some third party tools replace the default Windows shortcuts. Balaji and Joao, read this please: Great post with useful advices. I was skeptical about Windows 8. Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I click on the option and nothing happens. If I am on the start screen, clicking on, for instance' "event viewer" gets me back to the desktop, but does not open the event viewer.

I am administrator and if I go to in C: Why does Microsoft insist on trying to shove touchy tablet paradigms on to desktop users? Isn't it obvious with all the blow-back that 8 and 8. Frankly Microsoft simply doesn't have the market clout it once thought it had to set trends and usage patterns. Useless is useless and the market speaks. And no — I don't believe a word of the spin and hype. John Clayton and Jim Flyboy, I honestly don't know why it's not working for you. If you are comfortable using procmon, that is probably the best way to identify the root cause. Have you tried adding a new link to the menu?

That working or not would at least show you whether the problem is in the menu or in the shortcuts. Rockney, I don't believe Microsoft is trying to launch a "trend". Like any other company we cannot stop innovating, and this is simply the path we're taking. We are very open about our vision for the future, and the path we choose to get there. We don't expect everyone to love these changes, some will love them some will hate them.

And we listen to feedback. Thank you for sharing your feelings. Utter crap I don't want cut down apps I want to access the full programs I install its a computer not a dammed tablet 8. As a Field Engineer who is out in the field like many of you, I can appreciate both sides of this conversation. Like everything, there has been alot of change throughout the Windows client and server OS releases over the years. Show your age here a little bit and reminisce with joy or pain about 3. As with any change, there are thoughts, feelings and opinions in favor of and against the change. Thank you all for taking the time to share your comments 99 so far.

Certainly this was the case with the Windows 7 style cramped Start Menu, but was not an issue with the Windows XP style menu with sub-menus jutting out to the side. I notice the Windows 8. I tried a Windows 8 start screen for a few months, but gave up in frustration and made my own start menu using a toolbar. IMHO the Windows 8. There are two things Microsoft need to do to fix it:.

Thank God, a few more updates and maybe this will actually go back to being Windows instead of… whatever the hell touchscreen MESS it is right now. Just give me the traditional start button with a traditional program list in it. Would this be controlled by a domain policy? If not, are you a local administrator of your machine? How can I create a shortcut on the start screen during software deployment?

If it isn't possible, please give me something written, where Microsoft explains this. Is it really necessary to install third party tools to get Windows 8. I expect from manufacturers to embed or deliver useful things. And also please give me the freedom of decision whether I will use Apps or not. This refers to Workstations and Notebooks in business environments. SB, if you want a shortcut to appear on the Start Screen you can either do that by deploying a custom Start Screen layout discussed in detail in technet.

If you don't like to use Windows 8 Store Apps you can disable the Store via Group Policy, and you can deprovision the out of box apps using Windows Powershell. Please note that Apps are installed on a per user basis, so if you uninstall they will only be uninstalled for that specific user — you need to deprovision them so that they don't get installed for new users signing in to that machines.

Here is additional information support. How can i do this during software deployment? I have to do this specific for each software and different installations. In Windows 8 the shortcuts of the main Applications where pinned automaticly to the start screen. If I buy a new PC, the most annyoing thing is to uninstall the "goodies" from the manufacturers.

I think Microsoft is of the track. I have been using Windows 8. The fact that that the MS apps go full screen and I do not need them to or want them to. I have two 24" monitors so windows 8. SB, you cannot remove the Store, and the PC Settings App as they are apps but are required for the system to work properly and for administrators to bring the system back to its original state if they decide to.

The immersive version of IE will disappear if you set another browser as default. The behavior of pinning the applications as they are installed was changed from Windows 8 to Windows 8.

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I'm sorry if this is not the scenario you were expecting. The current behavior is actually closer to Windows 7 put in all apps, but not in the shortcut list that you see immediately when you opened the start menu , but we understand some people were expecting something different. Brian Davis, you don't always need to go fullscreen. On some occasions it will make sense to use Windows 8 Store Apps, on others you will get work done better and faster if you use your traditional desktop apps. During deployment I can sort the shortcuts per script, or Msi shortcut table in Win 7.

The change from Win 8 to 8. That looks like a workaround. It might have been better if you let decide administrators how they want to handle shortcuts. Microsoft maybe heard the customers but didn't understand what they really want. The Store App may be meaningful for consumers. In business environments you restore computers with Softwaredeployment e. Also, users must not install software or apps. I think it is one reason why we use client management systems. Microsoft has to differentiate between consumer and business.

There are completely different requirements. Where can I get an official statement where Microsoft describe that in Windows 8. I have to justify this to my customer. Actual this one isn't happy with this decision. Why do you keep boring us with such crap? Why is it so complicated to you to give users what users want?

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THING on windows 8. Believe me, if i had the cash i'd get a mac in a new york minute. Clearly the wonks are running the shop and they know only how to completely enrage a formerly very loyal group. SB, in Windows 7 the icons would not be pinned by default — you wouldn't see them as soon as you open the Start menu and you would have to drill down into the applications list. This is the same behavior you see in Windows 8. Exactly what I was looking for.

Why couldn't they just leave the start in……. It's really making the best of the appalling decision to merge the tablet UI which I will never use and the desktop UI which I will always use. I would strongly urge MS to look at this: It's not too late to get this into 8. Many thanks for these tips on controlling and customising what happens when I start Windows 8. You've explained things simply and the screen shots helped.