Start menu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For the keyboard button that activates the Start menu, see Windows key. The Start menu is a user interface element used in Microsoft Windows since Windows 9.
Download Vista Start Menu 3.88 - Change the classic Windows Start Menu with a modern design that lets you customize it and almost instantly access a. Welcome to Start Menu 7 - the best software to replace the standard Windows 8 Start Menu ever made. Before creating Start Menu 7 program, I've. Learn how to use the Windows Start menu to open programs and folders, search for things on your computer, adjust settings, and turn off your computer.
It provides a central launching point for computer programs and performing other tasks. It has different names in different operating systems and window managers, such as Kickoff Application Launcher in KDE, Dash in GNOME and Unity, and Start screen in Windows 8.
Traditionally, the Start menu provided a customizable nested list of programs for the user to launch, as well as a list of most recently opened documents, a way to find files and get help, and access to the system settings. Later enhancements via Windows Desktop Update included access to special folders like "My Documents" and "Favorites" (browser bookmarks). Windows XP's Start menu was expanded to encompass various My Documents folders (including My Music and My Pictures), and transplanted other items like My Computer and My Network Places from the Windows desktop. Until Windows Vista, the Start menu was constantly expanded across the screen as the user navigated through its cascading sub- menus. Microsoft Windows[edit]In Microsoft Windows, the Start menu in some form appears in Windows 9x, Windows NT 4. Windows NT family, as well as Windows CE, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone. First version[edit]The Start menu was first introduced in Windows 9.
Windows NT 4. 0 to overcome the shortcomings of Program Manager in previous operating systems. Program Manager consisted of a simple multiple document interface (MDI) which allowed users to open separate "program groups" and then execute the shortcuts to programs contained within. It lacked the ability to nest groups within other groups. Windows 9. 5 and Windows NT 4.
Vista Start Menu keeps the positions of programs the same and leaves empty space in the menu when you un-install a program. But not to worry a new program will occupy.
Start Menu 8 brings back Start Menu to Windows 8, and allows users to skip Metro start page and boot to Windows 8 desktop directly. Each detail in Vista Start Menu is well thought-out and the program will allow you to accomplish all your tasks with ease and comfort.
Program Manager with desktop and Start menu. The latter was comparable in some respects with the Apple menu in Mac OS operating systems and did not have the mentioned limitations of Program Manager: Being a menu, it allowed nested grouping while keeping only one group open at the time. Items could also be simply added to the Start menu by dragging and dropping them.
The menu also offered the ability to shutdown and log off from their computer. Later developments in Internet Explorer and subsequent Windows releases have allowed users to customize the Start menu and to access and expand Internet Explorer Favorites, My Documents and Administrative Tools (Windows 2. Start menu. Although Windows XP and Windows Server 2. Start menu, they offered the ability to switch back to this version of Start menu.
This version of the Start menu is also available in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2. However, it is absent in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2. R2. Second version[edit]The next major change in the Start menu since its inception came in Windows XP and Windows Server 2. The Start menu was expanded to two columns: the left- hand column focuses on installed programs, while the right- hand column provides access to My Documents, My Pictures, My Music and other special folders. This column also includes shortcuts for Computer and Network (Network Neighborhood in Windows 9. Windows Desktop, making it easier to access them even when the Desktop is obscured.
I have just upgraded to Vista Ultimate. I have created a local account for my wife her start menu is the new start menu and she can swith to the classic start menu.
The contents of this column can be customized. Commonly used programs are automatically displayed in the left- hand menu. Users may opt to "pin" programs to this side of the Start menu so that they are always accessible. A sub- menu item at the bottom of this column grants access to all items of Start menu. When this menu item is selected, a scrolling list of start menu programs replaces the user/recent list. Windows Vista and its successors added minor changes to the menu.
Prior to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2. Start menu consisted of a group of menus and sub- menus that cascaded and expanded, obscuring the initially visible portions of the screen beneath them. In Windows Vista, however, cascading menus were replaced by a sliding window in the left pane of the Start menu. Whenever All Programs item is clicked, the contents of the left pane slide off the left edge of the Start menu and the All Programs menu slides in from the right edge of the left column.
This menu presents a tree view of it hierarchy that expands towards the bottom, with a vertical scrollbar whenever needed. Also added in Windows Vista is a Search box that allows users to search for the Start menu shortcuts or other files and folders. The search box features incremental search: If indexing is not turned off, the search box returns results on- the- fly as users type into it. Since the found items can be immediately opened, the Start menu search box replaces the function of Run command from previous versions of Windows. The Run command can also be added separately to the right column in the Start menu. In Windows 7 and Windows Server 2. R2, the search results pane covers both columns of the Start menu.
The search box is extended to support searching Control Panel items.[citation needed] The right column in Windows 7 links to Libraries instead of ordinary folders. Most importantly, however, items on the Start menu support Jump lists through cascade buttons on their right. Unlike prior versions, the ability to revert to the "Classic" Start menu design is no longer available. Third version[edit]On Windows 8 and Windows Server 2. Start menu known as the "Start screen" was introduced. It covers the entire screen and no longer features the right column.
It shows much larger tiles for programs and, whenever possible, displays dynamic content supplied by the program directly on the tile itself (known as a "live tile"), behaving similarly to a widget.[1] For instance, the live tile for an email client may display the number of unread emails. The Start screen allows users to uninstall their programs by right- clicking on them and selecting "Uninstall". Pinned apps can be placed in groups. The search box is initially hidden but can be viewed by clicking the search button on the charms bar and can also be brought up as it receives a keyboard input. True to its name, the Start screen is the first screen that a user sees upon login. The idea of a full- screen Start can be traced back to Windows Neptune, when Microsoft originally considered a "Start page" that integrated with Windows desktop through Active Desktop.[2] This menu has its roots in Windows Mobile and Windows Phone: In Windows Mobile Standard, which runs on smartphones, the Start menu produces a separate screen of icons.
Windows Phone was the original host of the design principles of the third generation Start menu. The Start screen no longer supports several previously available features. A list of recently launched program or shortcuts to special folders no longer appears on the Start screen. It no longer supports more than one level of nesting for groups in All Programs view. Drag and drop support for adding new items to the menu as well as reorganizing the contents of All Programs view is no longer available.
In addition, for the first time in the history of Windows, the Start menu in a stock installation of Windows 8, Windows Server 2. Windows 8. 1 or Windows Server 2. R2 does not provide any facility for shutting down, restarting or activating sleep mode or hibernation, forcing users to use the settings button in the charms bar to perform these actions. An April 2. 01. 4 update for Windows 8. Windows Server 2. R2 restores the latter.
Fourth version[edit]Windows 1. Start menu in a revised form. It uses a two column design similar to Windows 7's version, except that the right side is populated by tiles, similarly to Windows 8's Start screen. Applications can be pinned to the right half, and their respective tiles can be resized and grouped into user- specified categories.
The left column displays a vertical list, containing freqently- used applications, and links to the "All apps" menu, File Explorer, Settings, and power options. Some of these links, and additional links to folders such as Downloads, Pictures, and Music, can be added through Settings' "Choose which folders appear on Start" page. The Start menu can be resized, or be placed in a full- screen display resembling the Windows 8/8. Start screen (although scrolling vertically instead of horizontally).[3][4] The Start menu also enters this state when "Tablet mode" is enabled.[5][6][7][8]As of build 1.
Start menu advertises "suggested" Windows Store apps; users can opt out of these suggestions.[9]Windows RT 8. KB3. 03. 30. 55[1.
Windows 1. 0 Start menu that is visually closer to the design used in early beta builds of Windows 1. It allows applications to be pinned to the top of the left column, with recently used apps listed below (much like 7), and as with 1. Start button[edit]The Start menu may be launched either by pressing вЉћ Win (the Windows key) on a keyboard or its equivalent on a tablet device, pressing CTRL+ESC on a keyboard, or by clicking on the visual Start button. With the exception of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2. Start button can be found on the taskbar.
On versions before Windows Vista, the Start Button consisted of the word "Start" and the Windows Logo (the word "Start" was localized for each different language version of the system, for instance, reading Avvio in Italian[citation needed]). On the Windows Vista and Windows 7 desktop, the word "Start" has been replaced by a blue Windows "orb" logo.[1. However, the user can revert to displaying the word "Start" and the Windows Logo by setting the theme to Windows Classic. The Start button on Windows Server 2.
Windows 8 is initially moved from the traditional taskbar to "charms", a hidden secondary taskbar located to the right of the screen (accessed by swiping in from the right on multitouch devices, or positioning the mouse in one of the right corners of the screen and sliding up or down). The Start screen is accessed either by that button or by clicking the lower left corner of the screen. Windows 8. 1 and Windows Server 2.
Start Menu 7 for Windows 8. Welcome to Start Menu 7 - the best software to replace the standard Windows. Start Menu ever made. Before creating Start Menu 7 program, I've spent a lot of time to understand how a human brain works with visual information. That's why Start Menu 7 is so easy and natural to use for everybody. The list of menu items is alphabetically sorted, so you can easily find any program or command by its name.∙ Open any location on your PC with a single click. You can create, modify, and reorder items in Start Menu 7.
So it's easy to. create a list of the most used locations, popular directories, and virtual. There is a special Run button to. Start Menu 7 has a customizable Power Buttons panel. With Power Timer feature you can delay any of power management operations.