Start menu creator talks about the Windows 10 version

Aug 1, 2015 07:03 GMT  ·  By

Now that Windows 10 is finally here, everyone can give a try to the company's new Start menu, which mixes traditional elements with modern ones for a fresh approach that's supposed to better match the new operating system's approach.

But as far as the original creator of the Start menu is concerned, this isn't at all very impressive, as Microsoft has changed only small parts from the original design.

In an interview with BI, Danny Oran, a former Microsoft employee who designed the Windows 95 Start menu (which was actually the first Start menu ever released by the Redmond-based technology giant), says that the company should have done better for Windows 10 if it really wanted to offer users a fresh approach.

“In some ways, it's a little disappointing the same stuff is in there,” Oran was quoted as saying.

Surprisingly, Oran says he didn't even try Windows 10, but he admits that he's proud that so many people are using his own feature 22 years after he first rolled it out.

The Windows 10 Start menu

Indeed, Oran is right, as Microsoft hasn't changed too much in the Windows 10 Start menu, except for the layout and the introduction of live tiles.

But that's not at all a bad thing and Microsoft itself admitted that it wanted the Windows 10 Start menu “to be familiar” because users need to feel like home when working with a mouse and keyboard on the desktop.

As a result, the Start menu bundles Windows 7 and Windows 8 features in a single cocktail that's not only familiar but also offers features to work on your computer more easily than before.

In Oran's opinion, however, the Start screen was a much better approach, as Microsoft “tries something new,” so it was pretty much the company's first important attempt to step away from the original design introduced in 1995.

And yet, the new Start menu is already here and people seem to like it, as more than 67 million PCs have already been upgraded to Windows 10 and figures are very likely to grow as the new OS becomes available to more users.

This is the Windows 10 “modern” Start menu
This is the Windows 10 “modern” Start menu

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The original Windows 95 Start menu
This is the Windows 10 “modern” Start menu
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