Start Menu Evolution

Translator’s note: a free retelling of the article (in a negative way) was already presented on Habré alizar , but it seems to me that the topic is worthy of translating the original in its entirety, without adding any emotions if possible.


We want to share with you a series of articles on why and how we change the Start menu. To begin, we’ll talk about the history and evolution of the Start menu, as well as about the problems and trends that we learned from you. We think that it is always important to know where everything went from before talking about where everything is moving. In the next article, we will talk about how we created the new Start screen, and then we'll see where the discussion of these publications will lead us.

We are aware that for some people, any change in Windows will be destructive, and therefore we want to have an open dialogue about these changes. For many people, Windows is an important part of life, which means that almost any change can give rise to heart-rending reactions like “how can I turn this off” or a debate about whether it has become more or less convenient.


Today's debate over touch controls is horrifyingly similar to the 1980s debate about whether the mouse is a newfangled curiosity, a productivity killer, or an innovation in user interaction. We say this, knowing that many comments emphasize the superiority of the mouse over touch controls. The mouse appeared before desktop publishing programs arose, and in addition to them and drawing programs, the mouse wasn’t specially used anywhere. And now we are surrounded everywhere with touch screens: at airports, at gas stations, in cinemas, in cash registers and, of course, in our phones. The only place where touch control has not yet become ubiquitous is in the most advanced devices that you use. Like the appearance of a mouse, innovations in the field of computer touch control will not happen without support from the operating system, new programs and new hardware. We believe that, like a mouse, touch control over time will complement, but not replace, almost every aspect of user interaction. The move to this begins with the release of Windows 8 Developer Preview. So, let's start a dialogue on how everything will evolve not only in the basic user interaction with Windows, but also in the field of programs and hardware.

If we talk about the main thing, in particular, about Start, we noticed several frequently asked questions:
- Will it be possible to close Metro-applications without having to start the Task Manager?
“Yes, it will, but we would also like to talk about why you might not need to do this.”

- Are you going to do something so that your mouse can more effectively scroll through programs on the Start screen?
- Yes, we will make improvements in this area and show you much more in the beta version.

Some of you said that they have the feeling that working with the list of programs is less effective than with the task bar (and we will talk more about this in future articles). There are other questions. The main thing is that you understand that we are in the know. Some things will be easier to discuss if we first agree on terms and their meanings. For example, the Metro style is a design language that we can apply to any element of the system. And the Start screen is a development of the Start menu (as well as the taskbar, notifications and gadgets), and not the “Metro shell” at all. Another example: we do not consider Metro to be an operating mode.with the operating system. Rather, it is a generic name for programs using WinRT. There is still much to talk about. We initially focused on the platform and tools, and probably didn’t explain enough about the changes in user interaction.

The Start menu is one of the most visible parts of Windows, and therefore we take all the changes in this area very seriously. The world surrounding Windows has changed a lot since we first introduced the Start menu, and we want to make sure that we continue to provide features that are adequate to the dynamic world in which we now live. The evolution of the Start menu is inextricably linked with the development of other related concepts, such as launching applications, switching between tasks, system notifications and gadgets. The history behind all of these concepts and the paths that they followed gave us the opportunity to create a much clearer, more powerful and consistent way of working with modern programs and computers. The new Start screen embodies these aspirations.

So, before we touch Windows 8, let's remember the past and see what we know about the Start menu.

A Brief History of the Start Menu

Designing the Start menu began in 1992. The menu first appeared in Windows 95. The menu was invented in a world where upright computers and 15-inch CRT monitors dominated the workplace. The World Wide Web was still an experiment, and people were forced to drive to the store to buy software. Everything was completely different from what it is now. The fundamental purpose of the menu was to make it clear to people where they started work. The menu replaced the ancient Program Manager, the concept from Windows 3.x, which was a floating window with shortcuts, and this window got in the way on the desktop and was lost under the windows of other programs. Being securely attached to the taskbar, the Start menu was distinguished by the constancy of its position and was a single portal to programs and system functions. In fact,


Start Menu in Windows 95

Looking at the Start menu in Windows 95, you can immediately notice areas that have been gradually improved in future versions of Windows. For example, we heard reviews that the location of programs in the alphabetical list in a pop-up window led to slower navigation. In response to this, a section of recently used programs appeared in Windows XP. This change led to new problems, since in reality there was no way to configure this section. Some people struggled to understand by what principle the programs were selected for this section? A complex heuristic algorithm determined which programs you use most often. In order to solve the problem of customizing the Start menu for yourself, in Windows XP (and later in Windows Vista and Windows 7), a section was added to which you could pin the most important programs for you, so that they are always at hand. However, this functionality was still insufficient. You could pin programs and change their order, but there was still no way to group programs, which is important if there are many programs.

View the list of all installed programs was also not very convenient. Often the menu was minimized due to incorrect movement and had to start all over again. Particularly difficult were the owners of laptops with their trackpads and those who are not very smart. It was still difficult to display everything on low-resolution monitors. To solve these problems in Windows Vista, a tree menu appeared, completely located in one window. Such a menu required less acrobatic mouse exercises. However, the list of all installed programs still seemed crowded, as the menu required a scroll bar. The Start menu has already begun to seem full.


List of all installed programs in Windows 7

Another important evolutionary change to the Start menu was the advent of instant search. In Vista and Windows 7, it became very easy to open a menu and just start typing a request. We know that many of you liked this powerful way of working, as it reduces the time required to open programs and documents. Adding advanced commands also reduced the need to launch the Run dialog. Nevertheless, we knew that there was still something to improve. Sometimes there were too many search results and displaying data of different types (letters, files, control panel settings, etc.) was not always convenient in a fixed-size column. Some of you have asked if the Start screen in Windows 8 will support search. He already supports. Just start typing and instantly see the search results that you can filter by type (programs, files or settings). And, just like in Windows 7, all the power of search is available in Explorer.

Based on known problems and your feedback, we continued to hone our interaction with the Start menu over the years. However, we believe that even Start in Windows 7 still contains the following problems:

• When you try to view a list of installed programs, the menu seems crowded. Especially looking at the amount of available screen space.
• The search is allotted undeservedly little space to display additional information in the search results. This is especially noticeable on large screens.
• The menu is difficult to customize.
• Icons and shortcuts are static and do not use the increased number of pixels.

Of course, the above list is not a complete set of what we are improving. We also aim to unify Start with the rest of the system and add new work scenarios. An important part of the design is that sometimes you need to step back and look at everything from the side. This will help to fundamentally rethink the problems and bring something more than cosmetic changes to the product. This is especially true for something like the Start menu, which was born at a completely different time when we used computers quite differently than we do now.

It is important to recognize the depth of the problem. The Start menu is used almost exclusively to open programs and documents (except for the search function). Working with Windows 7 also includes switching programs and pinning them to the taskbar, receiving notifications, and working with gadgets on the desktop. In the course of our dialogue, we will talk about how Windows 8 harmoniously brings it all together.

How is the start menu used?

Now that we’ve briefly discussed the history of the Start menu, let's explore how people actually use the Start menu. We think that you will be interested to see how the use of the menu has changed over time. The following figure shows the changes in menu usage in two versions of Windows.


Changes to using the Start menu in Windows Vista and Windows 7

It is amazing how differently the Start menu is used in Windows Vista compared to Windows 7. The frequency of use of some special folders (the so-called objects in the upper right part of the menu) has decreased by more than 50%. Similarly, in Windows 7, people began to use pinned objects in the Start menu two times less than in Vista. Also, people are much less likely to use a list of all installed programs and a list of recently used ones. And finally, we see that people generally began to open the Start menu less often (11% less). At first glance, 11% seems a small amount, but if you take into account that hundreds of millions of our users are less likely to use the universally recognizable element of the Windows interface, then everything looks much more serious. We are not talking about some hidden setting, which is used by a minority. We are talking about the fundamental element of Windows that people use less and less.

So why has the way people use the Start menu changed? Here's a tip: this is due to the panel at the bottom of the screen that appeared in Windows 7.

Start Panel

The evolution of the taskbar directly affected the Start menu. What was once hidden in the menu suddenly became closer to you. The most obvious improvements were the appearance of the Quick Launch bar (after installing the update from Internet Explorer 4.0) in 1997 and the addition of the ability to pin shortcuts to the taskbar in Windows 7.

An interesting fact: did you know that the quick launch bar in the original version of Windows XP was turned off by default due to the fact that some people believed that the list of recently used programs and the ability to pin shortcuts to the Start menu would be enough? We got enough evidence to the contrary and changed our minds. We are somewhat justified by the fact that the data on the basis of which we made the initial decision were insufficient, and by and large we did not know what our customers were doing. We learned the following lesson from this story: it’s important for you to be able to highlight the programs that are important to you, see them all in one place, and get to them in one click. And you do not need someone to guess what is important to you or to mix the important and the unimportant.

Well, to bring it all together, let's see where people fix the programs. The following graphs show that 85% of people have three or four programs pinned to the taskbar, while only 23% of people have the same number of programs pinned to the Start menu. Although the taskbar and the Start menu by default contain different pinned programs, people still tweak both of them if they wish. It’s obvious to us that most people want to see their programs on the taskbar, rather than diving after them on the Start menu.


The number of assigned tasks in the Start menu (upper graph) and in the taskbar (lower graph).

We also know that advanced users use the taskbar in Windows 7 even more often than the Start menu. Hot keys like Win + (where n is the serial number of the application icon on the taskbar) allow you to launch and switch applications even faster (these hot keys will work in Windows 8 as well). When we meet with IT professionals, we often see a taskbar filled with various icons. We even saw people pin the Control Panel and similar things to the taskbar. This is to once again not start running. People are increasingly pinning something to the taskbar, especially after it became possible to pin sites with IE 9. Fortunately, there is enough space on the taskbar. Even with a resolution of 1024x768, 22 small icons fit into it. And if you use Jump lists, then in theory you can easily get to 220 files, folders and sites at the mentioned screen resolution. This means that for those who just want to use desktop applications, the taskbar provides enough space to consolidate and use everything that you constantly need without having to look at the Start menu.

By the way, since we’ve started talking about Transition Lists: we saw people pin Explorer to the taskbar and fill it with the Transition List with frequently used folders. This allows you to quickly get to folders such as Documents. Not surprisingly, the frequency of using the Documents shortcut in the Start menu has also decreased.

Summarizing, we can say that the taskbar has evolved and replaced many of the features of the Start menu. You could even say that the taskbar showed flaws in the Start menu, and also that this menu is no longer as important as before. Searching and accessing the list of all installed programs are still unique advantages of the Start menu, but the taskbar provides one-click access to the applications that you use every day. You, and many like you, over the years have been pushing us with your reviews to make the taskbar a powerful tool for launching and switching desktop applications. In fact, we sometimes called the taskbar in Windows 7 the “Start bar,” because it’s obvious to us that many people now start with the bar, not the menu.

New Startup Features

Due to the fact that the taskbar has become the main tool for launching and switching desktop applications, and also because it has become clear that the Start menu is not a good tool for this, we have the opportunity to rethink Start and make it more useful. Since we know that many of you can use the taskbar to access what you often use, we decided that we can redesign the Start without looking back at the past so as to develop its strengths and add new features. Improved search, more space for your programs, tiles animated by animations, more options for customizing everything for yourself - all this suddenly became possible after the venerable but outdated Start menu was transformed into the Start screen. Do not miss the next postin which we talk about the Start screen and how it reflects modern ways of working with a computer.