Official Windows 9 Preview Name Revealed

I can't wait for official confirmation on what the new start menu is going to be

From what I have read MS don't seem to learn and just go from one extreme to the other

1)Windows 8 comes out with new start page and people complain about not having a start menu as previous versions
2)Windows 9 coming out and looks like they have a start menu tied to desktop again
3)people who like the window start screen of 8 complain

Is it really that hard to give people an option instead of trying to decide what they think is best for the user

on installation

Would you like

Full Screen Start Menu as per windows 8 - tick box here
New Start Menu for Windows 9 - tick box here

Simples, choice has been given

I'm in the belief that Enterprise will be more that I need and above what I'm willing to spend.

Rickkins said:

I think that will be the key. Some will be ok with the start menu pictured above, most however will not. If they think they can sneak that metro crap in and nobody will notice, then maybe they haven't learned anything at all.

Indeed, there is no scenario whereby I would accept such a start menu. None, zero, zilch...

Superfly said:

Yeah, it's different alright...
M$ seems to think they know what their customers want.. whether they have learnt from previous experience remains tio be seen..
If this is indeed going to be "Microsoft’s Last Standalone Windows Version" it better have all the bell's and whistles...else they will have a mutiny on their hands.

It’s the potter and clay scenario. The clay can’t say to the potter > "I want to be a certain shape". No, the potter will make a shape that he or she thinks will sell.

MS knew what users didn’t want according to their data collection, which was their “previous experience” prior to W8. Users were simply using the Start Menu less and less as time went on as explained here:

As we wrote about in our post on evolving the Start menu, after studying real world usage of the Start menu through a variety of techniques, we realized that it was serving mainly as the launcher for programs you rarely use. As more and more launching takes place from the task bar, the Start menu looks like a lot of user interface for programs you don't use very frequently. And the Start menu is not well-optimized for this purpose. It affords limited customization, provides virtually no useful information, and offers only a small space for search results. We found that people “in the know” who valued efficiency were moving away from the Start menu, and pinning their frequently used programs to the taskbar so that they could access them instantly in one click. We see this quite a bit on professional workstations where there are set of tools that all fit on the taskbar and are all used regularly—machines used by engineers, designers, developers, information workers, etc.

Designing the Start screen - Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

That along with the fact at the time that Android devices, iPhones, and iPads were selling like hot cakes due to the fact of their stores and apps. What did MS have? To begin with is a WP7 with no Store apps, save Xbox games/music and Office hub, with which without WP7 basically flopped, and certainly a desktop PC OS with no Store or apps.

So, therefore, instead of passing up that multibillion dollar mobile market segment of the industry they came up with the rather ingenious idea to take the Start Menu (of which few used) and make it full screen in the form and UI of the phone Start Screen, added live tiles, and made it to scale of the human finger for ease of touch. The Start Screen with its whole array of benefits was added to the PC editions so that users could have a familiar and similar experience across all devices. This includes the public and business sectors alike.

MS admitted the mistake of introducing this concept too drastically with 8, but then corrected it quickly by releasing 8.1 so as to configure to boot to the desktop app/portal and using All Apps screen rather than the Start Screen. A rather good compromise.

Make no mistake > IMO MS will further this concept of "Devices and Services" with 9. I think we can look forward to more Modern/Metro and less of Win32. Possibly the Desktop app/portal will only be included in the Enterprise edition and possibly Pro edition also so as to phase it out all the more < With no Start Menu. Office written in the Modern/Metro. Modern/Metro File Explorer app much like the OneDrive app, which is basically the Modern/Metro version of File Explorer anyway. A few shots below.

Last, but not least > They were planning all this while creating 7 before release. That's why there was snap and touch introduced in 7.


My/This PC.


Attachment 4863


Drive C:


Attachment 4862


Reimagining the Enterprise

HippsieGypsie said:

People "In the know"

Uh-huh. I translate to read "fanboi's"
Well, they listened to their People in the know/fanbois for win8, and we all saw the results.... kind of a "frankenturd".

Perhaps they'll listen to the vast majority who rejected tifkam, and not those poor deluded souls who believe they're "in the know".....

Imho, of course....

I would like to see MS give us a choice of how we want to use Windows 9. On my desktop and laptops without touch screens I prefer to use the start menu instead of the start screen. On my laptop with a touch screen and my tablet I prefer the start screen. As far as apps go; I can count on one hand the number of apps I use.

@ Rickkins also.

Superfly said:

Fair enough, but I didn't buy their propaganda for a moment... all thay wanted was to coax users towards a touch environment where they hoped to make inroads... even an M$ systems designer admitted to this.

Well, touch is here in a big way. No faster way to navigate. So will voice be with the dawn of personal assistants.

MS made sure that along with touch-centricity, that it works just as well with keyboard and mouse. We've been over this ad nausea. No one is going to convince me different. Being more of a keyboarder, I never skipped a beat. In fact 8.1 is quicker with keyboard. If anything, I think the mouse dumbed down computing. Ask a professional pianist. You can't play a piano chords with a mouse.

Let's not forget the stylus.

If their telemetry was accurate there would not have been such a huge outcry and Windows 8 would had sold a hellava lot better than it has.

Forget 8 > A real Balmer and Sinofski boner. Their marketing skills and timing were distorted to say the least. Had they tested the "shock factor" more I'm quite sure they would've released it in 8.1 form . Too much change too quick. I apologize for the comparison, but one doesn't wean a baby off of milk with meat. No, they need mashed food first.

No, the tower desktop PC isn't going anywhere just yet. But I see the day when docking stations will be the norm as electronics continue to be miniaturized. be