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Windows 11 upgrade noobie question

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  • R Rick York

    Me too. Every single time. They continue to regress since Win7. I like XP the most from a UI standpoint but 7 was OK. I despise their current "flat" style and the hacks that come with it. What I wish is that they allow users to choose a GUI style with XP, 7, and what ever else as options. With those possibilities I would never choose 10 or 11.

    "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

    F Offline
    F Offline
    fgs1963
    wrote on last edited by
    #16

    I hate to say it but my fav Windows (both from a performance and UI point of view) was Windows 2000. :-O It was better, stronger, faster than NT with a cleaner look and feel. Didn't particularly like XP (Fisher Price anyone?). 7 was OK - I actually liked the glass effect. I skipped 8 (like many of us). Currently using 10. Seems as stable as any of them but the UI is half baked. Haven't looked at 11.

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    • pkfoxP pkfox

      Well I finally took the plunge and upgraded today - where has the start menu gone ? how the f*ck do you find anything ?

      In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

      G Offline
      G Offline
      Gary R Wheeler
      wrote on last edited by
      #17

      Okay. Windows 11 is here to stay, they've made some changes, and you might as well learn them. 1. The Start button is in the center of the task bar. Clicking it or pressing the Windows key on the keyboard opens the Start menu. 2. The Start menu has two sections, your pinned items and your most recently-used items. You can pin things just like in Windows 10. Pinned items can be arranged however you like, dropped into folders, etc. There's an "All apps >" button that is an alphabetized list like the old Start menu. I'll admit I don't use the "most recently-used" stuff very much, but that's me. 3. The Search field on the Start menu works like before. I know a lot of folks get pissed at changes like this. They certainly raised a fuss back when Windows 10 came out, and Windows 7 before it, and so on. I'm of the opinion you should adapt to the changes rather than work to defeat them if your customer base are so-called "normal" users. They are going to use Windows as it comes out of the box. If you don't want to look like an idiot, you should too.

      Software Zen: delete this;

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      • F fgs1963

        I hate to say it but my fav Windows (both from a performance and UI point of view) was Windows 2000. :-O It was better, stronger, faster than NT with a cleaner look and feel. Didn't particularly like XP (Fisher Price anyone?). 7 was OK - I actually liked the glass effect. I skipped 8 (like many of us). Currently using 10. Seems as stable as any of them but the UI is half baked. Haven't looked at 11.

        D Offline
        D Offline
        DerekT P
        wrote on last edited by
        #18

        Best thing about W2K was it installed from scratch in under 10 minutes. Having installed, it just worked; never had a blue screen, never had driver issues, never had compatibility issues, and ran like something very runny indeed. No flashy stuff, no hiding stuff; just a simple, consistent, functional interface. The thing that's really pissing me off with W10 recently is the lack of a border around windows and the white title bar. Sometimes there's no title in the title bar, just blank (on many Windows dialogs) and if you've a screen with a lot of white on it, it's next to impossible to drag or resize the window. And if you miss by a pixel the window you're trying to manipulate disappears as its Z-order pushes it behind what you actually clicked on. [Update: Having vented my spleen on here I finally got around to finding the setting to change this to something more useful. The dialog was horrendous, and took about 30 seconds to update on any change, but at least I now have a 1px border around windows, plus a really horrible-coloured title bar. Why can't they just use a sensible default?] [Update 2: and then MS goes and tramples over its own settings with a non-configurable title bar colour for Edge! You couldn't make it up... ]

        Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT

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        • G Gary R Wheeler

          Okay. Windows 11 is here to stay, they've made some changes, and you might as well learn them. 1. The Start button is in the center of the task bar. Clicking it or pressing the Windows key on the keyboard opens the Start menu. 2. The Start menu has two sections, your pinned items and your most recently-used items. You can pin things just like in Windows 10. Pinned items can be arranged however you like, dropped into folders, etc. There's an "All apps >" button that is an alphabetized list like the old Start menu. I'll admit I don't use the "most recently-used" stuff very much, but that's me. 3. The Search field on the Start menu works like before. I know a lot of folks get pissed at changes like this. They certainly raised a fuss back when Windows 10 came out, and Windows 7 before it, and so on. I'm of the opinion you should adapt to the changes rather than work to defeat them if your customer base are so-called "normal" users. They are going to use Windows as it comes out of the box. If you don't want to look like an idiot, you should too.

          Software Zen: delete this;

          D Offline
          D Offline
          DerekT P
          wrote on last edited by
          #19

          well, yes. But your "out of the box" experience appears to be different to Honey's experience. (Your start button is in the centre of the task bar, her's is at the left). The thing is, adapting to change is all well and good, but it does take some time and in the meantime reduces your productivity. (As you get older that adaptation tends to take longer, too!) If you can make the argument that the change is genuinely for the better (more functionality, improved productivity) then all well and good. However if, for most people, there is no discernible improvement then the change is just for change's sake and complaints about it are valid.

          Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT

          G 1 Reply Last reply
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          • D DerekT P

            well, yes. But your "out of the box" experience appears to be different to Honey's experience. (Your start button is in the centre of the task bar, her's is at the left). The thing is, adapting to change is all well and good, but it does take some time and in the meantime reduces your productivity. (As you get older that adaptation tends to take longer, too!) If you can make the argument that the change is genuinely for the better (more functionality, improved productivity) then all well and good. However if, for most people, there is no discernible improvement then the change is just for change's sake and complaints about it are valid.

            Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT

            G Offline
            G Offline
            Gary R Wheeler
            wrote on last edited by
            #20

            DerekT-P wrote:

            the change is just for change's sake and complaints about it are valid

            I heartily agree. There are some things about 11 that still annoy me after using it for more than a year. There are also things I love about it and miss when I use my Win10 box at work. My argument is that whinging about the change is counter-productive if you have to serve customers who are using Windows 11.

            Software Zen: delete this;

            S 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • L lmoelleb

              I find stuff by hitting the windows key and start typing. So the exact same way as I have done since Vista.

              S Offline
              S Offline
              Steve Crane
              wrote on last edited by
              #21

              I've been using a launcher since at least XP. Originally Launchy and now in 10 and 11, Powertoys Run. On the rare occasion that what I want doesn't come up, just hit the Windows key and start typing to find it on the Start Menu. When you don't rely on how the Start Menu looks and operates, any version of Windows works as well as any other. Since XP, I've used 8, 8.1, 10, 11 and they all behave the same for me. Even on the hated (by everyone else) 8 I had no problems.

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              • J Jeremy Falcon

                Oh, and the start menu will appear in the center by default. You can move it to the left though.

                Jeremy Falcon

                pkfoxP Offline
                pkfoxP Offline
                pkfox
                wrote on last edited by
                #22

                How ?

                In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

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                • R Ravi Bhavnani

                  I highly recommend installing these 2 free apps to restore one's sanity after upgrading to Win11:

                  • Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements[^]
                  • GitHub - dremin/RetroBar: Classic Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista taskbar for modern versions of Windows[^]

                  /ravi

                  My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  Clumpco
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #23

                  Ravi Bhavnani wrote:

                  Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements[^]

                  Note that Classic Shell is no longer under development and has been replaced by Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu: Classic Shell Reborn.[^] Highly recommendable!

                  So old that I did my first coding in octal via switches on a DEC PDP 8

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                  • R Rick York

                    Me too. Every single time. They continue to regress since Win7. I like XP the most from a UI standpoint but 7 was OK. I despise their current "flat" style and the hacks that come with it. What I wish is that they allow users to choose a GUI style with XP, 7, and what ever else as options. With those possibilities I would never choose 10 or 11.

                    "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

                    R Offline
                    R Offline
                    Rich Shealer
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #24

                    I started with Windows 1.0x. Didn't start using it regularly until Windows 2.x. These had the flat look. Windows 3.0 gave us more textured windows. XP overinflated them. I think it sucks that Microsoft has gone back to the pre-Windows 3 days in look. They feel lifeless to me.

                    1 Reply Last reply
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                    • D DerekT P

                      Best thing about W2K was it installed from scratch in under 10 minutes. Having installed, it just worked; never had a blue screen, never had driver issues, never had compatibility issues, and ran like something very runny indeed. No flashy stuff, no hiding stuff; just a simple, consistent, functional interface. The thing that's really pissing me off with W10 recently is the lack of a border around windows and the white title bar. Sometimes there's no title in the title bar, just blank (on many Windows dialogs) and if you've a screen with a lot of white on it, it's next to impossible to drag or resize the window. And if you miss by a pixel the window you're trying to manipulate disappears as its Z-order pushes it behind what you actually clicked on. [Update: Having vented my spleen on here I finally got around to finding the setting to change this to something more useful. The dialog was horrendous, and took about 30 seconds to update on any change, but at least I now have a 1px border around windows, plus a really horrible-coloured title bar. Why can't they just use a sensible default?] [Update 2: and then MS goes and tramples over its own settings with a non-configurable title bar colour for Edge! You couldn't make it up... ]

                      Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT

                      D Offline
                      D Offline
                      Dani6
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #25

                      You are sooooo right. Hard to even tell what program you're using sometimes.

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      • pkfoxP pkfox

                        Well I finally took the plunge and upgraded today - where has the start menu gone ? how the f*ck do you find anything ?

                        In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

                        S Offline
                        S Offline
                        StatementTerminator
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #26

                        If you think that's annoying, wait until the notification widget starts serving you ads :mad: You really want to use OneDrive, don't you? DON'T YOU!?

                        J 1 Reply Last reply
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                        • pkfoxP pkfox

                          Well I finally took the plunge and upgraded today - where has the start menu gone ? how the f*ck do you find anything ?

                          In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

                          C Offline
                          C Offline
                          cplock
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #27

                          I installed Explorer Patcher to make it look and fell like Win 10. Home · valinet/ExplorerPatcher Wiki · GitHub[^]

                          S 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • pkfoxP pkfox

                            How ?

                            In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

                            M Offline
                            M Offline
                            Matt Bond
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #28

                            Right-click on the taskbar and select Properties. It will bring up the new Windows Settings window. Just scroll through all the options and change what you like. If you use the context menu in Windows Explorer a lot (right-clicking on a file or folder brings this up), then you can change a registry setting to make it appear like the Windows 10 context menu. Google it for details. Hope that helps.

                            Bond Keep all things as simple as possible, but no simpler. -said someone, somewhere

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • pkfoxP pkfox

                              Well I finally took the plunge and upgraded today - where has the start menu gone ? how the f*ck do you find anything ?

                              In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

                              S Offline
                              S Offline
                              sasadler
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #29

                              I use Open Shell (originally Classic Shell), it gives you a very configurable Win7ish style start menu. It's pretty much the first thing I install after installing/upgrading Windows. I've been using it for years with no problems.

                              1 Reply Last reply
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                              • G Gary R Wheeler

                                DerekT-P wrote:

                                the change is just for change's sake and complaints about it are valid

                                I heartily agree. There are some things about 11 that still annoy me after using it for more than a year. There are also things I love about it and miss when I use my Win10 box at work. My argument is that whinging about the change is counter-productive if you have to serve customers who are using Windows 11.

                                Software Zen: delete this;

                                S Offline
                                S Offline
                                sasadler
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #30

                                What do you miss when you go back to Win10? I miss more in Win 11.

                                G 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • C cplock

                                  I installed Explorer Patcher to make it look and fell like Win 10. Home · valinet/ExplorerPatcher Wiki · GitHub[^]

                                  S Offline
                                  S Offline
                                  sasadler
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #31

                                  Yep, I use it too. I'd still be on Win10 if ExplorerPatcher wasn't available.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • pkfoxP pkfox

                                    How ?

                                    In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

                                    T Offline
                                    T Offline
                                    thewazz
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #32

                                    How to Fix the Windows 11 Start Menu - YouTube[^]

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • S sasadler

                                      What do you miss when you go back to Win10? I miss more in Win 11.

                                      G Offline
                                      G Offline
                                      Gary R Wheeler
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #33

                                      I really like the new window layout choices when you hover over the maximize/normal button in the window caption. I use that a lot.

                                      Software Zen: delete this;

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • pkfoxP pkfox

                                        Well I finally took the plunge and upgraded today - where has the start menu gone ? how the f*ck do you find anything ?

                                        In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

                                        R Offline
                                        R Offline
                                        Ralf Quint
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #34

                                        Install OpenShell... ;P

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • S Steve Crane

                                          I've been using a launcher since at least XP. Originally Launchy and now in 10 and 11, Powertoys Run. On the rare occasion that what I want doesn't come up, just hit the Windows key and start typing to find it on the Start Menu. When you don't rely on how the Start Menu looks and operates, any version of Windows works as well as any other. Since XP, I've used 8, 8.1, 10, 11 and they all behave the same for me. Even on the hated (by everyone else) 8 I had no problems.

                                          D Offline
                                          D Offline
                                          Duke Carey
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #35

                                          I'm mostly in your camp. Just now, based on recommendations above, I installed Open Shell. Pretty quickly uninstalled it. It's pretty darned easy to just type what you want in the search box or to pin a few things you use a lot to the taskbar.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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