Microsoft Discusses Reasons for Dropping Start Menu in Windows 8

Since Windows 95’s release, the Start menu has become an integral part of many computing lives. Over time, it’s experienced continual improvement, with the introduction of pinned items, a search bar, quicker access to key folders and so forth. But with Windows 8, Microsoft will be shelving the Start menu as we know it, instead opting for a full-screen “Start” page.

It’s important to note that up to this point, Microsoft has alluded to the fact that it will not be implementing a way to regain the current Windows 7 Start menu, and if that remains the case at launch, the code might not even be left in the OS to be recovered with the help of a registry hack. We’re still early in the development cycle, but things are not looking that good for classic Start menu lovers.

To move from a Start menu to a full-screen Start page took a lot of planning on Microsoft’s part, thanks to its opt-in program that allows it to monitor how some people use their PCs. In its research, moving from Vista to 7, there was a major decline in certain usage of the Start menu. There was a 54% drop with the number of people using it to get to the Control Panel (I’d like to think this is because 7 was a lot more stable than Vista!), and 40% less used it to access their “Computer”.

The reason for these changes have to do with the introduction of the taskbar that allows pinned items. Because people could instead pin their favorite locations or programs to their taskbar, the need to go into the Start menu became less. However, there was only an 11% drop in the number of people that used their Start menu at all. What’s that tell us?

Well, it tells Microsoft that people still want a menu of some sort, but not for typical reasons we’ve used it for up to now. Hence the reason behind the Start page using the Metro backend. Focused more on touch, it’s meant to be a good solution for keyboard/mouse users as well – but is it?

As far as I’m concerned, no… it doesn’t even come close. To me, it feels like a total productivity killer. Rather than open up a Start menu and go where I need to quick, or look at a list of applications to find the one I need, I’ll instead need to look through a bunch of blocks and rectangles to find what I need. Yes – I could find something by typing it in, but doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a menu?

This all said, actual use might change my opinion, but with the time I spent with the beta so far, I am not so confident that I’ll be stoked once Windows 8 arrives. I’ll attest to the interface being perfect for a tablet, because it is, but for desktop use, it’s a step backwards. We might as well need to load up a website to navigate our PC, because that’s not a far stretch from what the Start page is going to be.