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Is the Windows start menu dead?

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Darwin:
Tinjaw's thread about an organized start menu prompted justice to ask if organizing your start menu is really that important given that even Microsoft seems to have abandoned it. I thought it would be interesting to start a thread to get users' opinions about whether or not the start menu has a future. If you think it does, how do you see it evolving? If you think it doesn't, what alternatives do you envision for it, or do you already use an alternative?

justice:
Darwin I couldn't help but smile! I cannot understand why there I am unable to find any trace of discussion on this elsewhere (after a quick google)?!?

In a way the start menu is already dead, with most users I think either clicking on the few icons on their desktop, and on the other end of the spectrum launchers like FARR. Right click on your start menu and click Explore.. With Vista's/DS livesearches and a fullscreen view of your folders, there's not really any use for the start menu.However, it's one of the major symbolic items in Windows and doing away with it would probably kick up a lot of dust.

Anyone who has over 50 applications installed will soon realise it's impossible to have them all efficiently on the screen. For those who don't want to remember names to use with FARR, and as long as the icons are not as distinguished as OsX, I think it will never be a lot better than the present situation.

The existence of hundreds of application launchers proves that the situation is far from ideal. Quicksilver and FARR show the ingenius possibilities, but I don't see a great solution for the casual user?

Curt:
I think I would be using the normal start meny much more, if I could alter it to meet my needs a lot more than it does for now. Instead of the most left column being "recently used apps", first, and then some "Favorite Apps", I would like it to be something like this:

1) Programs
2) Accessories
3) Photocenter
4) Entertainment
5) Communication
6) Systemtools
7) Registry & Backup tools
8] Microsoft
9) Specials

- or whatever. The point being that the present shortcut we have today: Start > Programs > Access. > Systemtools > SomeApp - is just TOO far away to navigate to. Let me customize my Start Menu as I like!

cthorpe:
I use a combination of FARR and Truelaunch Bar to start most of my programs.  Occasionally I will venture into the start menu, which I have organized like this:

Games - games
Internet - browsers, email, ftp, etc
Multimedia - audio, video, graphics design
Productivity - Office, note-taking, home inventory
Security - firewall, av, anti-spyware
Startup - startup apps
System Tools - utilities and rarely used programs

Carl

Eóin:
I possibly posted a screenshot of this before but it's nice to show it again it properly. I simply use the Quick Launch toolbar organised into folders.

Is the Windows start menu dead?
It's nice because you can have it expand Drives or say the Control Panel as menus.

Is the Windows start menu dead?
My only wish it to some day be able to add the Quick Launch toolbar to right-click context menus. Have seen no easy way of doing so yet.

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