Windows 7 Classic vs. New Start Menu

[iroken22]

Which Start menu do you like the best, The Classic Windows 95- 2000 or the Vista/7 Start Menu?

 

[JohnCiber]

I vote for the new.
I like it.

 

[djwayne]

At first, I had a hard time finding the "connect to" selection that I was used to, I found it in the task bar next to the speaker icon. I really like the "shut down" button being right there.

Do I like the classic one ?? No, I like the fresh new look better. The classic view looks tired and worn out.

So I vote for the new one. The more I use W7, the more I like it !!

 

[Kyle]

New:
Reasons - Search feature, cleaner, doesn't fold out, much more stylish graphically, more options in less space....

 

[loathe]

The new one is sweet, I like the search feature also. However I do find the "all programs" can get a little cluttered.
I hope they include the option to set to classic in the final release

 

[Radenight]

The new one by far! I agree with the statement that the old style looks worn out. It was time to move on and I think they did an ok job in Vista and then improved upon that and ended up with an awesome new Start Menu in Win 7!!

 

[brian_g]

I agree. In my opinion, the new menu is fresh and once used to, a lot more useful.

 

[zengrits]

I'm willing to move on to the new start menu, but wish users who prefer the classic menu could continue using that - ,maybe modernize it a bit.

 

[Kylethedarkn]

New Menu. Didn't like the way it displayed all programs with the whole scroll bar thing at first, but searching takes care of that.

 

[doublea]

the new one doesnt take over your screen, and I love the search (vista and win 7)

Also removing the "my" from everything makes it seem so much cleaner. I know i am on "MY" computer, why tell me, lol.

 

[dzuchowski]

i like the windows 3.11 toolbar on the top. and dont forget the os/2 toolbar

 

[john3347]

Give me square corners, give me high contrast, give me greys, black and blues, give me information without opinion, give me Classic all the way. I don't need or want the childish fluff and puff that has nothing to do with accomplishing what I want to accomplish with my computer. Give the aero to the children and give me a solid background that doesn't fuzz-up the writing so my "old fart" eyes can't read it. CLASSIC ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kylethedarkn]

Give me square corners, give me high contrast, give me greys, black and blues, give me information without opinion, give me Classic all the way. I don't need or want the childish fluff and puff that has nothing to do with accomplishing what I want to accomplish with my computer. Give the aero to the children and give me a solid background that doesn't fuzz-up the writing so my "old fart" eyes can't read it. CLASSIC ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Solution:Get New Eyes! or Simply change the theme to a Compatability theme.

 

[iroken22]

Ok guys everyone is entitled to their rightful opinion and i can see how the aero theme may be a little hard for people to read, but that still doesnt make the classic start menu better than the new. Were not talking about how it looks more of the buildup of it. The new one makes search a hundred times easier.

 

[john3347]

Solution:Get New Eyes! or Simply change the theme to a Compatability theme.

"Solution:Get New Eyes! or Simply change the theme to a Compatability theme."


This possibly would solve the "can't read the writing on the childish interface" problem but that would have no effect on the unnecessary waste of computer resources. I just hope that Microsoft doesn't abandon the users that just want a computer to perform certain tasks with Windows 7. They have steadily been moving that direction since Windows 2000.

The survey here shows that almost 25% prefer the "old way". I think that Microsoft should sit up and listen to that large a percentage of potential buyers - - or those who will stick to the "old way" on their old OS's becauce they have been abandoned with the new OS. I don't have problem with some, even the majority wanting something different, I just think that if they want to sell a product to the remaining 22 1/2%, they must listen and heed our words too.

 

[HeadCase]

Customize Start Menu

Always prefered the Classic Start Menu. Not because its been there for ages, or for its looks, but because I found a way to make it my own.

I simply clear out all the shortcuts Windows, Office, and other random programs want to place above the All Programs list.
Create my own categorized folders like Programming, Multimedia, 3D/CAD, Games, System Tools, and a little shortcut for Windows Explorer. Then I place all my shortcuts where I want, easy to find, and completly ignore the All Programs list. Eliminating the ever expanding menu mess.

The Vista Menu simply doesnt allow for that sort of thing (that I have found). I use far to many programs to effectively use the Recent Programs List, so I just turn Program History off.
Creating menus on the right side would be fine if I could remove/hide the left panel that is useless without histories.

My solution would be to have a Simple Directory that you can place shortcuts and Expandable Folders that would Always show up on the Recent Programs List on top of whatever recent programs. Because often what I open is a specific file and not simply the program itself (Media Playlists would be an example, ScreenSaver would be another).
The best compromise for me would be to at least have an option to chose what you see first.
-->The Recent Programs List or the All Programs Menu.
Because always having to select All Programs to get anything you want after hitting the efficient WinKey is less than efficient.

But even then I dont want to just Strip the All Programs menu and create my folders because it is simply a neusance to constantly backup/remove all the darn shortcuts/folders created through every installation and have them mix with my menus. Also it ruins the lives of any other user on my computer .
So an option to chose whether or not you see both User and All Users' All Programs list would be nice as well.

Now if there is a way to do any of this with the Vista Menu please share.

Currently just shrinking and hiding the Taskbar entirely.

Edit: I also disable all my indexing options (never do enough searching anyways, especially for programs).
So that search bar should be optional as well, since some might consider it tacky or just another bit of bloat (or is it just me?).

 

[iroken22]

Actually john3347 the survey was only 15% and i agree they should let people make the decision for themselves but i also agree that we need to move away from outdated things. When XP came out and drastically changed the start menu it was a 50/50 people like/dislike. People generally got used to it because when it came to vista the number who liked it increased to 70% and now from the looks of windows 7 the number is currently at 77.68% so that number has grown and this is only the beta just think of what will happen when the RTM comes out. So Microsoft has seen this trend and made a decision. We should all respect the decision they made with THEIR operating system. Everyone has opinion and does stuff there way and obliviously Microsoft's opinion was to remove the classic start menu completely.

 

[cmillens]

My solution would be to have a Simple Directory that you can place shortcuts and Expandable Folders that would Always show up on the Recent Programs List on top of whatever recent programs. Because often what I open is a specific file and not simply the program itself (Media Playlists would be an example, ScreenSaver would be another).
The best compromise for me would be to at least have an option to chose what you see first.

Sounds like you could use something like True Launch Bar - Superior replacement for standard Quick Launch.

 

[john3347]

iroken, the bar graph at the top of this thread has consistently shown 22.xx% in favor of classic menu. (22.22% shown at the moment) I realize, of course, that 36 random respondents doesn't create an accurate scientific poll and may not represent the actual percentages of potential buyers. But even at 15% of potential buyers, this is several million potential sales that will be abandoned and perhaps 15% of them will be lost forever.

I, for one, have resisted the "new" thing since Windows 2000, not because the "new" was different and required a learning process, but because every change has made the day to day use of my computer more complicated (unnecessarily) and requiring more and more user input to accomplish any given task. To me, this is NOT progress. To me, progress would be a single folder (directory) named "Saved Documents" that every file that I created and saved would go to by default. I could then create as many sub folders under Saved Documents as I desired. When I completed work on a document, photo, etc., I would click "save" and the menu would open, with Saved Documents expanded by default, and I would click whichever sub-folder I wanted the document saved to. Two mouse clicks (without confusion) would have the document saved.

I am, at the moment, away from home on my laptop (Windows XP Media Center) and I do not remember the file names on my Vista machine or my Win 7 machine, but the saved file folders on this machine - none of which I created nor have found the ability to discard (delete) are as follows: 1)Administrator, 2) All Users, 3) Default User, 4) Owner, 5) Owner.Gateway, 6) OWNER~1~GAT. These are in addition to one folder that I created named "Saved Documents". Windows will not allow me to delete any of the 6 original folders giving me a notice that "This is a system folder and cannot be deleted". Now, the biggest problem here is that if I forget to go through the process of click, click, click, click to get my document to my "Saved Documents" folder, it seems to just randomly throw the saved file into any one of the 6 useless folders.

This problem was further complicated with Vista and does not seem to be improved much, if any, with Windows 7 beta. I am screaming as loudly as I can scream hoping that they will listen to those of us who just want to do work with our computers and at least improve this situation before 7 goes mainstream. I believe that even if there is not a "silent majority" out there, that there is still a large audience who is less vocal than I, but still feels generally the same as I do.

Now understand, I have no beef with anyone who uses their computer in a different way than I do. For example, I don't play games with my computer, but I don't think poorly of those who do. I believe in the "different strokes for different folks" philosophy. I want certain things from my computer, and you (anyone else) want something slightly different. I believe that we can all be accommodated if Microsoft will listen to what we tell them we want instead of trying to decide for us.

Whew, what a rant. Thanks for listening and understanding, John

 

[HeadCase]

CMillens - You are my hero. That's almost exactly what I was looking for.
Too bad its only trial. I'm too dang cheap to buy a toolbar.
But at least now I can manage using the beta for a bit longer.