I agree. There's no lost functionality with the new screen, except not being able to see your desktop while you're in the Start screen. Let's think about what you can do in the traditional start menu:
- search for and browse for applications and settings (you can do this in the start screen)
- have quick access to favorite programs (this is what tiles are for)
- have quick access to settings shortcuts, like "Devices and Printers" (you can search for these)
- shut down/standby/power commands (these have been moved to a charm, but will return in 8.1 Update 1)
The only thing that has been changed, that people might not like, is the design, the layout, and possibly the change in UX getting from the start screen to a given action. But as far as I can see, every action you'd want to do on the start screen is just as accessible as it was in Windows 7.
To me, pressing the Start key on my keyboard and typing the first few letters of literally anything I want to do on my system is the most important UX component of Windows 8 & 8.1. Windows Vista introduced it, Windows 7 improved it, and now 8 and 8.1 made it shinier and faster. It's amazing to me how many people I see trying to use their computers without taking advantage of this functionality.
Of course, I might have just forgotten something. But it seems like people are mostly just complaining because it's different, regardless of whether it's actually worse.
> To me, pressing the Start key on my keyboard and typing the first few letters of literally anything I want to do on my system is the most important UX component of Windows 8 & 8.1.
Agreed. It's something Spotlight has been incredibly successful at on OS X, and I'm surprised more Mac users don't hit Cmd + Space.
But then again, I'm also not surprised. It seems to me that the vast majority of users prefer a mouse or finger to typing on a keyboard, and when a search bar is not the main feature of an application, it goes unused. I know people who search for "gmail" on the Google homepage rather than clicking the header bar link, because the search bar is so prominently the focus.
Traversing the start screen menus without being able to see a webpage is a major downside for trying to figure out how to deal with their stupid settings layout, which is itself a second major downside to Windows 8.
Had they not spread settings between 2-3 different places, or left the menus being intuitive to make adjustments to the system, it might have been fine. But there's been several times I've had to resort to the internet to disable "helpful" features (like "power saving" by toggling my wifi on the desktop), and constantly toggling between the menu screen and the webbrowser because the menu ran full screen was rather annoying.
Not a good way to convince me you've made a good menu layout change.
> To me, pressing the Start key on my keyboard and typing the first few letters of literally anything I want to do on my system is the most important UX component of Windows 8 & 8.1. Windows Vista introduced it, Windows 7 improved it, and now 8 and 8.1 made it shinier and faster. It's amazing to me how many people I see trying to use their computers without taking advantage of this functionality.
This is a great feature. I think it actually was introduced by quicksilver on mac, though - and has been around for a long time in various linux environments also. Gnome 3 and Unity (much reviled in the 'nix world) suffered similar criticism to Windows 8 in part because they got rid of the traditional start menu.
- search for and browse for applications and settings (you can do this in the start screen)
- have quick access to favorite programs (this is what tiles are for)
- have quick access to settings shortcuts, like "Devices and Printers" (you can search for these)
- shut down/standby/power commands (these have been moved to a charm, but will return in 8.1 Update 1)
The only thing that has been changed, that people might not like, is the design, the layout, and possibly the change in UX getting from the start screen to a given action. But as far as I can see, every action you'd want to do on the start screen is just as accessible as it was in Windows 7.
To me, pressing the Start key on my keyboard and typing the first few letters of literally anything I want to do on my system is the most important UX component of Windows 8 & 8.1. Windows Vista introduced it, Windows 7 improved it, and now 8 and 8.1 made it shinier and faster. It's amazing to me how many people I see trying to use their computers without taking advantage of this functionality.
Of course, I might have just forgotten something. But it seems like people are mostly just complaining because it's different, regardless of whether it's actually worse.