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News Windows 11 Preview Hands-On: Much Ado About Menus

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You do realize you don't need to click in a search box to search, right? Just press the Windows key and start typing - like it's always been since they introduced the functionality in Vista.
 
Will MS force users to use Windows Toxic with DirectX 13? I wonder if it's just better to wait for Windows 12 Back to Normal Edition.
update: so apparently DirectStorage is win11 exclusive?
If they keep Pro version with normal functionality, and Home version "dumbed down+", I'm ok with it.
 
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"In Windows 11, you must first click the search magnifying glass or hit Win + S and start typing. "

Can you not just start typing after pressing only the Windows key? That one change alone would make me avoid the OS like the plague because its how I open apps and files 90% of the time. I don't want to have to add that extra key 100 times a day.

"Functionality-wise, it’s not really any different than Windows 10 search as it combines results from your own computer with web search (from Bing) as needed."

Can the web search be disabled? That's the first thing I do in Windows 10 (well, second after privacy ) because the bing results slow down the search by a LOT and they block me from my files/apps.

Even when the first screenshots came out, I called this as being a slower OS. More clicks, more bloat, more animations, less information. Form over function. So far, it seems like I was right. The worst parts of Windows 10, except moreso.

This is a team who has been trying to get rid of the control panel for 5 years, but still can't figure out how to design a functional settings menu to replace it. Its hopeless; a major step backwards.
The only thing that they've learned since Windows 8 is that the start menu shouldn't hide the taskbar. But.. They still thought that was a good idea in the first place.
 
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Matt_ogu812 said:
I'm happy my pc will not be able to run Windows 11 because of no TPM.
The thing to watch for is if Win10 more vulnerable to future attacks to poke and prod you to upgrade to Windows 11.
There are no such things as ethics when it comes to $.
Click to expand...

I'm probably going to disable my TPM. I don't want to wake up to find my computer installing windows 11 as an automatic update, which they almost certainly are going to do at some point.
 
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This change feels just like a skin. Literally everything is still just as dysfunctional as before, it just looks different. Not even better, just different. It feels like downloading a different android launcher for android phones but this time, for a desktop OS.
 
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I hate the fact that every Windows UI change in every Version of Windows is done by some idiot PM who skews whatever Focus Group results he needs to get to justify his BS UI change.

My god, if it "Ain't Broke, don't fix it!".

It's not hard to get the Start Menu implemented correctly or design a useful UI.

And stop trying to dumb <Mod Edit> down and make things harder for Power Users.
 
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well looks like microsoft can't stop it's every other version of windows being completely trash cadence. Not that win10 was a masterpeice, mostly a sidegrade from win7... but compared to vista and win8 both of those are excellent (to say nothing for the me vs xp comparison).

this looks like a tablet OS forced onto the desktop. and they are further integrating bing and teams into this monstrosity? no thank you. they're going to force me back to linux at this pace.
 
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Please all remember that... IT'S FREE!! It's FREE. No-one is FORCING anyone to install the OS.

P.s. Remove the ticks from animations in the ye-olde Performance options:
-Animate Controls and elements inside windows
-Animate Windows when...
-Animations in the taskbar
-Fade x3
-Slide open combo boxes

Let's hope that the person installing Windows 11 gave it enough time to index and mess with dotnet libraries. Or whatever it does. After that, it should be nice and fast.
 
It is a typical cubicle monkey thing.
To speak to your dept committee you have to come up with change to justify your job, whether it is for the better or not.
The fat heads in Redmond seem to forget that the users will decide what they want.

Also, nothing is free, MS makes these choices and wants you to run it for someone's benefit that is not the end user of Win11.
 
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Crapware Installs on Click, With No Confirmation
...
For some that may be a convenience and for Microsoft it certainly helps with install numbers, but it’s also rude.
Click to expand...
That's not just rude. That's criminal UI design in my book.

And it's the second crime. The first crime was not indicating with the original text and/or icon that the program is not yet installed, or even if it is a free trial or not.
 
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- depending on which program do you have installed, the right click can take a while to appear... when you right-click on some files with special format. And we didn't have any way to know what was causing this.

- what about the Image-viewer (previous "Photos") ? does it support the webp? does it support "next previous" while viewing images files of a list, which is the result of a search? I think the Windows-10 "Photos" is one of the most buggy/worse software, and I prefer the previous one. And, no way to remove the animation by changing image..just take time when you preview/search for a photo.

- Does it have the option to completely remove any animation?
 
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Every new iteration of most ui I have to deal in life seems to be made to hide information/functions, make you do more clicks to get to the same place, and in the way try to point you to some "preferred" app that the developer wants you to use instead.

And we have to deal with it, if we want to use this new iteration. It has been the same since Windows 95, and we will get used to it, we always do.

Don't get me wrong, it does not change the fact that is annoying, very annoying to have to dig more and more everytime to get to the same place, its what it is if we want to use Windows.
 
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Oh, come on... Microsoft seems to be pushing Windows into tablet designs again, after all the fail that Windows 8 start screen was. Don't they know who their userbase is? Don't they care for the millions of professionals and businesses that use it daily? How many people want Windows on a tablet? Can't you adjust things when in tablet mode, leaving desktop into "productive mode"? It feels like such a basic mistake from such a big and old company it's revolting. I know it's early, but now they have to fix stuff that didn't need breaking.
 
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Not so long ago...

"Windows 7's UI is great! Let's F it up with Windows 8's brand new UI!"

Massive public backlash

"Here's Windows 8.1's much better UI!"

So what this preview says to me is...plan on using Windows 10 through 2025 or whenever Microsoft realizes the new UI is counterproductive and abandons it, especially since there isn't likely to be any major driving force to jump from 10 to 11 except end of updates.
 
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I've used QuickLaunch since XP - I still don't see a faster way that uses less screen space to have your key apps on. Icons always in the same spot, don't need to hunt for them, on the taskbar so visible most of the time, one click and launched... I hope 11 will continue to support it.
 
One huge and unwelcome change in the crapware is that, when you click the icon of an uninstalled app, Windows 11 doesn’t take you to the Microsoft Store page for it and give you a description with the option to install. Instead, you see a status bar below the icon as it downloads and then you get a notification telling you the app has been installed and giving you a button to launch it. For some that may be a convenience and for Microsoft it certainly helps with install numbers, but it’s also rude.
Click to expand...

I agree with this but I feel like this isn't a new thing with 11. I just did a clean install of 10 and feel like I did the same thing. There was an icon that I was trying to remember if was some Windows messenger thing but it was really Facebook messenger and there it was installed and in my list of apps I own in the store without asking me. Uninstall immediately!
 
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salgado18 said:
Oh, come on... Microsoft seems to be pushing Windows into tablet designs again, after all the fail that Windows 8 start screen was. Don't they know who their userbase is? Don't they care for the millions of professionals and businesses that use it daily? How many people want Windows on a tablet? Can't you adjust things when in tablet mode, leaving desktop into "productive mode"? It feels like such a basic mistake from such a big and old company it's revolting. I know it's early, but now they have to fix stuff that didn't need breaking.
Click to expand...

the amounth of touch Screen devices using windows has increased a lot! Most users use laptops and Big deal of them now has touch screen…
 
hannibal said:
the amounth of touch Screen devices using windows has increased a lot! Most users use laptops and Big deal of them now has touch screen…
Click to expand...
I get that, but why did Windows 8 received so much criticism? Do people use touch screens that much? And my main point is: why benefit touch users in spite of non-touch ones?

I still hope they get it more right, like Windows 8.1 tried to, but the first move is a bad one IMO.
 
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