14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most popular features in Windows 10 is without a doubt the Start menu, as it’s being used by so many users out there as the starting point for everything they do on their devices.
The Start menu itself has evolved a lot in Windows throughout the years, and now it’s believed Microsoft is once again working on an overhaul.
While the software giant itself has remained tight-lipped on this Start menu makeover, the company has occasionally teased the new design, and by the looks of things, only subtle improvements are actually prepared.
Many believe Microsoft should bring the Windows 10X Start menu to Windows 10 as well, but right now, the company doesn’t necessarily seem to be planning to do this. Instead, Microsoft wants to make the Start menu look more modern by adopting the new icon pack that has already launched on Windows 10, as well as small improvements for live tiles, eventually to achieve more seamless integration in the Start menu.
But do we really need the Start menu to get a new facelift?
I think we do. And it’s all because the Start menu itself needs to evolve together with Windows 10 as a whole, so users would thus be provided with a consistent approach from one end to another.
And as everybody learned the hard way, the Start menu is an essential part of the Windows experience.
Back in 2012, Microsoft decided to run a risky experiment, so the company pulled the Start menu and the Start button completely from Windows 8. Instead of the Start menu, Microsoft offered a Start screen that was using the full screen and which introduced users to live tiles.
It was an approach that some eventually learned to use but which others simply hated, so they eventually turned to third-party Start menu apps or abandoned Windows 8 entirely, going back to Windows 7.
Microsoft figured out that not having a Start button was a mistake, so Windows 8.1 brought it back, but the Start screen was still the preferred choice over a Start menu. In Windows 10, all of these changed, so the Start menu returned with a series of improvements, including live tiles.
Now the Start menu is here to stay, and while it received only subtle improvements in the last few years, the good news is that it’s not going anywhere for now.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean the software giant isn’t planning further improvements, and people familiar with Microsoft’s plans suggested that the company even considered giving up on the live tiles entirely. This is because the adoption figures indicated quite a low usage for Start menu live tiles, so despite so many people claiming they’re awesome, few actually use it.
This is how many ended up dreaming about the Windows 10X Start menu making its way to Windows 10, albeit as I said earlier, there’s a good chance this won’t happen anytime soon.
But at the end of the day, I think that the Start menu needs to be polished with every new Windows 10 feature update. Since it’s one of the first things that users launch after booting to the desktop, the Start menu needs to feel fresh and modern and be ready to always serve its purpose just the way it’s supposed to.
Right now, the aforementioned refinements seem to align with this approach, albeit it’s still not known when Microsoft wants to bring them to Windows 10 users. The next feature update for Windows 10 is version 20H2, and it is scheduled to go live in the fall of this year.