More info about it here: https://www.ghacks.net/2024/08/13/windows-11-start-menu-is-getting-a-new-layout-to-organize-your-apps/
I love how microsoft never learns their lessons.
not the home screem
if had to use windows at home i’ld screem too.
not too surprised they didn’t change that.
Looks like MacOS and various Linux distros had a deformed, illegitimate child.
how lol? i see absolutely no influence from macOS or DEs
Right? That’s nothing like those… that’s insulting to MacOS and Linux.
It looks like the little windows you’d use to organise your applications in Windows 3.1
Not my home screem!
It’s not as bad as people here are making it out to be. It actually might even be an improvement. It’s only for the all apps tab, and it organizes apps by their purpose, and you don’t have to click the folder to expand it and then click the icon, as you can just click the icon and it will launch it. I’ve been using Windows 11 since it came out, and the all apps tab is something I have barely ever used. All my important stuff is neatly organized in one single tab of my home star menu screen, and anything that is not there I’ll just look it up with search.
Linux and gnome pretty much gtfo of the way for me - as an OS should. I used to care a lot about what Microsoft did, now I couldn’t care less - F em
KDE is the best and much easier and polished to ex windows users
So is Nadella redesigning all this stuff? Because it certainly doesn’t look like someone who is familiar with UI is doing it. Reminds me of when the CEO of Yahoo decided she could create a new logo in Corel Draw one night.
tvf this is still in canary, the final implementation will be more processed
I for one dont see the fault in the design itself. Geniuenly looks like something usefull for pepole that use lots of tools.
If not for the fact that it already exist in the goddam pinned section in start menu and it replaces all items menu. Whyyy? These are not replecable by each other.
I use a lot of tools. I access them by hitting the windows key and typing the name of what I want. Or at least I used to before they incorporated a web search into the start menu that fucks it up 8 times out of 10. IDK how they ever thought that was a good idea. If I want to search the web I’ll do it in a fucking web browser.
Why do they keep changing the thing? Linux mint Cinnamon desktop has kept the same look and I appreciate that.
New manager need to prove themselves -> can’t do that by small improvements -> dreams up major changes -> gets promoted -> repeat
Is my guess
^ this guy corporates
Also, new manager would be part owner in a UX design firm of “experts” that conveniently, via their expert advice, convince management that a major redesign is needed and their firm is the only one that can do it (since everyone knows you can’t get expert advice internally)
80% of the way through the project, the manager gets promoted and moves on, leaving a new manager with no vested interest in their predecessors project to try and clean up the steaming dumpster fire that is now 300x over budget
and why do they keep making it as actively shitty as they possibly can?
like, I get it, there was room for improvement back when it was just ‘good’. they filled all that room with crap.
the good things about crap, though? nitrogen, phosphorous.
People still use the start menu?
I just use the search bar and type in the app I’m wanting to run
I can’t even tell you the number of times and apps I’ve literally typed the name of, and windows either doesn’t find it, or decides to make me wait 5-10 seconds while it searches the web instead. Super helpful…
well window’s search is almost non-functional, so there’s that
It’s the same thing. Click bottom left corner, start typin. best workflow.
This is a new layout for the “all apps” section. It is toggle able, so if you don’t like it you don’t need to use it. I will give it a try but I don’t often go into all apps anyway.
So much negativity here.
Yeah its pretty funny to see people that allegedly don’t even use windows acting like it kicked their dog when they do anything.
What the fuck is the point of the start button in the middle? Like, did they forget why the space to the right of it even exists.
It’s actually ideal with an ultra wide I have come to realise.
I actually prefer it in the middle, it’s easier to get to.
Weird, but I’m glad it works for you.
But it changes position depending on the amount of apps open
I don’t have enough apps open at any given time for that to be a noticeable inconvenience ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Makes sense on ultrawides.
Also, a start menu that opens in the centre is technically the best. It’s in the most prominent part of the screen, and your mouse typically isn’t far from there.
The start button is harder to hit than simply flinging it into the corner though, definitely.
If you’re the kind of person who opens the start menu with the Windows key, a centre start menu is only an upgrade IMO.
Makes sense on ultrawides.
In which case, the question becomes: what percentage of users are actually using ultrawides? If it isn’t >50%, then the default should be the setting most appropriate to non-ultrawides. Unless you’re going to autodetect screen resolution and set the button’s location appropriately.
This is not rocket science, but Windows has been blowing it for quite some time now.
Never thought about ultrawide screens, that makes sense. Other than that I see no improvement whatsoever. Corner space is way easier to hit with a mouse, but even when using keyboard shortcuts having it in the middle is just an additional adjustment from what it used to be.
An OS should get out of my way and let me do what I do. Changing design language forces me to relearn what I had already had a flow for. In other words it’s utterly useless.
And I just know I’m gonna hate that automatic categorisation of apps, just as I hate web searches from start menu. Alphabetical order is predictable, but this I’d have to relearn.
even when using keyboard shortcuts having it in the middle is just an additional adjustment from what it used to be.
How? It’s closer to where your mouse will be, and to where your eyes naturally gravitate.
An OS should get out of my way and let me do what I do.
Yeah. Windows moved from that path a long time ago.
It’s an easier click target when it’s in the corner. Moving cursor from the middle to the corner is negligible for me since I can reach the whole screen with relatively minor mouse movement.
In the end it’s a muscle memory thing for me. Having the button in the middle just means I have to look for it in a different location than I’ve used to over the years.
Yeah that’s why I said corner is superior if you open it with a mouse, and centre is superior for if you do it with your keyboard.
i keep forgetting it’s in the middle by default. first thing i did was change the setting to put it back on the left corner.
well they essentially copied the Mac dock for no reason. The icons will still go to the right but overall the icons will be centered.
What goes to the left of the center start button?
That’s the septic tank to store the waste from enshitification.
Enshittification is when minor UI changes break my boomer brain
In this case the person you were responding to was right. It is where they put their news and weather widget. Which only exists to push people onto Bing. It is annoying, and by default pops up on rollover, not click, so it is trivially easy to accidentally pull up, pumping those Bing engagement numbers.
I don’t see how centering it changes that. They could just as easily leave the start menu left aligned and put the widgets button next to it
I actually use it like that. I dont really see the reason pepole hate it so much. Geniuenly a better place for it (mind you im only talking about placement. The design itself is something else ). Since generaly if you use start menu you focus on it to launch something so it might as well be in tge middle of your screen.
Yeah, I moved that back the minute I upgraded to 11. It’s much better in the bottom left.
That change was absolutely idiotic. It reminds me of that time Apple changed the scroll direction. Who ever asked for any of this?
I’ve used StartAllBack to get the start menu exactly how I want it.
I dread having to upgrade at work, I set the group policy to deny the upgrade for the moment. They won’t allow me to use ASB.
Aw that sucks. My biggest issue is the thickness of the new bar. Wastes so much space
Oh god yes, you can modify it in the registry (or you used to be able to) but then the date/time gets fucked up. I hate W11 so much
I like w11, i just hate the taskbar
I couldn’t get past the Taskbar long enough to not hate it unfortunately. I also missed quicklinks, which I use a lot.
Windows 11 gets a new all apps screen in the start menu*
I disagree. Microsoft is learning its lesson. It’s just that the vast majority of people are teaching Microsoft that its actions are perfectly acceptable, or, at the very least, not totally unacceptable… so it continues.
Oh it’s good they have the “Messages” and “Calls” buttons right there for easy access since so many people message or call my desktop PC.
“The return of the Windows Phone”? 🤷♂️
