The Start button has been one of the best known images in Windows for over sixteen years now. Now on the latest Windows 8, when I look in the corner of my screen and just see an icon for Outlook, it’s still a little jarring. And I’ve been using Windows 8 for months now. So where did the Start button go?
The short answer: it’s still there, it’s just on the right, and it looks a little different now. Also, you can still use the Windows logo key if you’re using your keyboard.
There's been a bit of a debate surrounding the absence of the traditional Start menu and the Start button in the Windows 8.
Exactly the same thing happened with the early Windows 7 beta's. No "Start Button", everyone panicked! But, by the time Windows 7 was released, everything, including the "Start Button" was back as normal.
I lost a bit of faith when I first saw Windows 8 and all the UI changes but mainly this is what bothered me. But then I thought about it for a while and I thought “when do I really use the start menu?”.. I found I mainly use application shortcuts from the taskbar and very rarely the start menu, now which could just be moved to the desktop on Windows 8.
The new Start menu in Windows 8 also has a list of charms, including Search which by default is set to show all of the Windows 8 apps you have installed. Once you type in something the apps filter out until you find the one that best matches your search term. Windows 8 users can also use the Search charm while inside an app.
The Settings charm also changes when you are in the app such as showing the control panel in the desktop or accounts while using email. The new app bar also come into play when you use a Windows 8 Metro app. Each app has its own specific commands in the app bar, such as opening a new window in Internet Explorer 10.
There's also a new list of Windows 8 keyboard commands that you can check out for some shortcuts to doing tasks.
Problem lies in the absence of start menu rather than the start button.....and Microsoft refuses to address that.
There is also another way you can work it out. Just click in the bottom left corner and it opens the Start Screen. I find that faster than using the charm bar. But this is different even though both take you to the same place.
Another easy way is, Just press the windows key and type in the application you want. It's faster and has better search than the start menu ever did.
At this point I can honestly see Microsoft putting back the release date so that they can work on both the OS itself and getting the new ways of doing things out into the media.
Here is the thing. By now we've all had some time playing with Windows 8. People love it or hate it. We've read stories on how good it is and how bad it is. But here is the thing, this OS was clearly designed for a touch environment and neglected the desktop environment. It seems like Microsoft is trying to get their foot in the tablet market.
