The Windows start menu hardly ever works right when trying to access applications via the keyboard. Luckily my file-manager of choice is called Directory Opus. This application can be altered to have your most used applications inside its layout.
So, Directory Opus, the browser Vivaldi, the mail client ThunderBird and application LM Studio are pinned in my taskbar. After a reboot, I have my Windows system working how I like it with 4 clicks or so. So very little Start menu use. Very little working with the Windows 11 interface in general actually. Directory Opus (with my personal layout) more than meets my needs.
Too bad it costs 85 Australian dollars. For me, that is price I happily pay to get rid of the Microsoft shenanigans as much as possible. But I have no trouble imagining that this is a rather steep price for many.
Anyway, once Directory Opus is open, I have everything in "mousing distance and I can configure my own keyboard mappings to open whatever I want too. Best of both worlds.
I agree -- the built-in web search gets in the way, in my opinion. It works a bit better with Bing disabled, but a dedicated keyboard launcher might be a better experience.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I should spend more time with Directory Opus.
I pin the apps I use on a nearly regular basis to my taskbar, starting with a default entry - the Microsoft store. Next up is the VLC Media Player - my choice for watching/listening to podcasts. Then there's TuneIn which I use to listen to my favorite local radio stations. This is followed by the app I prefer for running Android games and apps, the Mumu player. I use the Windows Calculator to help monitor my bank balance and account activity. Another default entry is the File Explorer, which is self explanatory. I regularly use Thunderbird to read and manage my incoming email messages. Finally I use Mozilla Firefox as my web browser of choice.
I pin any apps I think will be useful here. I have a number of games installed, so they're pined here, and gathered together in what I think of as a Start Menu folder (I don't know what Microsoft's name is for these!), and many other installed apps, all gathered into category type folders, like Accessories, Canon (apps for my printer), Calibre (Because it includes an array of individual tools), ISO Tools (To create boot-able USB sticks and/or check that the downloaded image files have not been corrupted, or otherwise changed), LibreOffice (for direct access to all the apps it includes), Media (a small collection of links to local radio stations, etc.), Reference & Resources (a variety collection of links to websites I find useful for stuff like people search, Wikipedia, etc.), Security (my collection of tools and utilities I use for system backup, Cloud storage service management, and other security related links/tools), Terminals (another self-explanatory set of apps), Utilities (Installed system management tools, etc.), as well as a few apps I've pinned here for a variety of purposes, but which don't fit into any of the above categories.
I suppose I fall somewhere in between being a keyboard- and mouse-centric user, because I use whichever feels more natural or convenient at any given moment.
I put my most used program icons in the task bar and since I have big screens they aren't alphabetized, they're organized as the most used to the least used, going from the middle of the task bar to the left ...........
I actually like the newest version of the start menu. I just wish you could control the number of columns in which the pinned apps are displayed. I like the six-column version, and get that on one of my computers, but the rest use eight columns. This makes it impossible to get a consistent layout.
Chris, you had me in the first few paragraphs, and then you showed your age (and usage behavior) claiming Windows 8 "solved" the Start Menu. The industry has proven my point: a desktop OS is best used with a slim and fast vertical list of programs (icon + name) as the "program launcher". The latest Win11 Start Menu is slipping back into your cherished Windows 8 folly and Microsoft is confusing Windows for a mobile OS, where it thinks people want to hunt down their programs through multiple clicks in a jumbled mess of a Start Menu. THANK THE GODS Microsoft still allows customizations to the shell and one can use programs like OpenShell.
I'll be honest, that was a bit of a joke. đŸ™‚ I couldn't stand Windows 8's Start menu, but in a lot of ways, it had the basics right. So did Windows 10's Start menu with that list of applications. I don't think the weird grid-based application menu (so many of my shortcuts are buried in a nebulous "Other" list now) is an upgrade.
My thoughts exactly... the phone interface on a computer is illogical and irritating. In my thought a quick list to search through if you don't remember or know the program name you want to pull up.
I'm now beating the dead horse and this is a moot point, but the REAL turning point was the addition of the Search box in the Start Menu. From that point forward, the message was clear: don't bother to actually *know* or *remember* what's installed, just search for it instead. Remember Google Search on the desktop? It's the same with documents and other files. I'm fighting a battle I lost decades ago.
The Windows start menu hardly ever works right when trying to access applications via the keyboard. Luckily my file-manager of choice is called Directory Opus. This application can be altered to have your most used applications inside its layout.
So, Directory Opus, the browser Vivaldi, the mail client ThunderBird and application LM Studio are pinned in my taskbar. After a reboot, I have my Windows system working how I like it with 4 clicks or so. So very little Start menu use. Very little working with the Windows 11 interface in general actually. Directory Opus (with my personal layout) more than meets my needs.
Too bad it costs 85 Australian dollars. For me, that is price I happily pay to get rid of the Microsoft shenanigans as much as possible. But I have no trouble imagining that this is a rather steep price for many.
Anyway, once Directory Opus is open, I have everything in "mousing distance and I can configure my own keyboard mappings to open whatever I want too. Best of both worlds.
I agree -- the built-in web search gets in the way, in my opinion. It works a bit better with Bing disabled, but a dedicated keyboard launcher might be a better experience.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I should spend more time with Directory Opus.
I recently started using Raycast as a Start menu, but PowerToys options are great too.
Interesting, thanks -- I keep seeing Raycast pop up. Perhaps I should give it a try! (I've had my hands full with Start11 and the PowerToys.)
I pin the apps I use on a nearly regular basis to my taskbar, starting with a default entry - the Microsoft store. Next up is the VLC Media Player - my choice for watching/listening to podcasts. Then there's TuneIn which I use to listen to my favorite local radio stations. This is followed by the app I prefer for running Android games and apps, the Mumu player. I use the Windows Calculator to help monitor my bank balance and account activity. Another default entry is the File Explorer, which is self explanatory. I regularly use Thunderbird to read and manage my incoming email messages. Finally I use Mozilla Firefox as my web browser of choice.
I pin any apps I think will be useful here. I have a number of games installed, so they're pined here, and gathered together in what I think of as a Start Menu folder (I don't know what Microsoft's name is for these!), and many other installed apps, all gathered into category type folders, like Accessories, Canon (apps for my printer), Calibre (Because it includes an array of individual tools), ISO Tools (To create boot-able USB sticks and/or check that the downloaded image files have not been corrupted, or otherwise changed), LibreOffice (for direct access to all the apps it includes), Media (a small collection of links to local radio stations, etc.), Reference & Resources (a variety collection of links to websites I find useful for stuff like people search, Wikipedia, etc.), Security (my collection of tools and utilities I use for system backup, Cloud storage service management, and other security related links/tools), Terminals (another self-explanatory set of apps), Utilities (Installed system management tools, etc.), as well as a few apps I've pinned here for a variety of purposes, but which don't fit into any of the above categories.
I suppose I fall somewhere in between being a keyboard- and mouse-centric user, because I use whichever feels more natural or convenient at any given moment.
Ernie
That's fair! I've gone back and forth with pinning applications to my Start menu -- I suppose I just have a very keyboard-centric workflow these days.
The poll results are pretty evenly mixed!
I put my most used program icons in the task bar and since I have big screens they aren't alphabetized, they're organized as the most used to the least used, going from the middle of the task bar to the left ...........
I actually like the newest version of the start menu. I just wish you could control the number of columns in which the pinned apps are displayed. I like the six-column version, and get that on one of my computers, but the rest use eight columns. This makes it impossible to get a consistent layout.
The Start menu is badly in need of more customization options, that's for sure!
Chris, you had me in the first few paragraphs, and then you showed your age (and usage behavior) claiming Windows 8 "solved" the Start Menu. The industry has proven my point: a desktop OS is best used with a slim and fast vertical list of programs (icon + name) as the "program launcher". The latest Win11 Start Menu is slipping back into your cherished Windows 8 folly and Microsoft is confusing Windows for a mobile OS, where it thinks people want to hunt down their programs through multiple clicks in a jumbled mess of a Start Menu. THANK THE GODS Microsoft still allows customizations to the shell and one can use programs like OpenShell.
I'll be honest, that was a bit of a joke. đŸ™‚ I couldn't stand Windows 8's Start menu, but in a lot of ways, it had the basics right. So did Windows 10's Start menu with that list of applications. I don't think the weird grid-based application menu (so many of my shortcuts are buried in a nebulous "Other" list now) is an upgrade.
My thoughts exactly... the phone interface on a computer is illogical and irritating. In my thought a quick list to search through if you don't remember or know the program name you want to pull up.
I'm now beating the dead horse and this is a moot point, but the REAL turning point was the addition of the Search box in the Start Menu. From that point forward, the message was clear: don't bother to actually *know* or *remember* what's installed, just search for it instead. Remember Google Search on the desktop? It's the same with documents and other files. I'm fighting a battle I lost decades ago.
I know the futility and the inability to give it up. lol.
I think it's good to have both as options! A nice scrollable list and a search box would be ideal.