Just wanted to get everyones opinion on which start menu is better...BTW (if you selected it), please post your comments for the Classic start menu below. Thankz...

I've used all three as well (Classic, XP, Vista).
I love the search feature in the Vista start menu. It's like having a command prompt with %PATH% equal to every folder in the system.
With XP start menu, it can fill the screen with sub menus trying to get to the app, but Vista's just expands in the 2nd column.
It's that screen space saving feature that made me vote XP. Perhaps they could have made it look more obvious it was a submenu/subfolder by making the deeper level move over a little more (perhaps 1/2 inch or so). Then it would probably be no contest as I REALLY like the search feature in Vista start menu.
Or just perhaps I haven't played with all the options in both start menus to make them perfect. (It is possibly there are so many registry settings I've altered in my unattended discs over the years that XP is no where near it's default )

XP, probably because I'm used to it. I hate Vista's menu, it's all compressed, I hate having to scroll down to find something. Never got used to the search either lol, I'd rather just know where everything is.

definiatly classic, ive always hated how the xp one took half the screen before you even went to programs, and i thought the vista one was just weird

I like the XP one because its less scrolling I have to do to open programs.

The search bar of Vista is handy though :/

I like the XP one. Although people complain about the programs menus flowing over the screen, I like that much better than the vista method - I like to be able to see all the options available without having to scroll up and down, and I simply can't stand the way it all stays in one frame - it makes it harder to see where you came from. Then there's the shutdown button that took however many years to make. I don't like it. It's unclear what its default action is, as there's no indication of that without side-clicking on it. The classic shutdown dialog is much better.

Just my $0.02.

I like the XP one. I hate the Vista one, its just annoying that you have to scroll down and doesn't even open in a different menu, it overlaps the current one which I find annoying.

As for the classic one, its alright but looks kinda plain.

Preferring the XP bar is a cop out, yes, Vista is new and different (people hate that) but that new search bar is the best thing added to Windows in a long time. Let's be honest here people, 99% of Windows users are everyday Joes, and I'll bet you when they clicked Search in the XP or 2000 bar, they didn't realize it was about filenames and the list of questions on the left side are kind of pointless. All these users wanted to know is "where is that calculator".

No I don't think the Vista bar is perfect, actually I hate the new scrolling system of folders, but the Search Bar is the best thing since the Start bar.

Everybody knows how web search engines work, and that's how an OS search should work. I want to be able to type in "video" and get all videos on my system, not all the files/folders with the name video.

As this search matures, it will have help and such, it makes perfect sense for somebody to just type "error 1234" and expect internal help & MS knowledge base articles appear on that matter.

The fact MS is going with a SQL based file system that won't be displayed in a folder hierarchy shows even MS realizes the concept of folders in folders is as outdated UI to browse a massive storage device. Yes, the actual stored may be composed of folders, but why does John Doe care, all he knows is he has a bunch of documents, MP3s, videos, etc, and with today's CPU power, amount of ram and massive HDs makes the whole folder thing show it's age.

Same here. I like the search but I don't like to scroll through the menu.



XPize skin: Luna Royale Black compact version. Makes the menu slimmer.

but that would require me to run the themes service and i dont feel like doing that, i really need to nlite my xp install cause i dont have enough ram

So try the themes service if you can spare a couple of megs.

Otherwise you're out of luck. You're going to have to use the Classic Start if you want it slim.

Classic... I don't see the point in making it look "Pertty". Its a computer not a bedroom... But then I'v been using computer since Windows 95. (And I would not be suprised if some people here have never heard of Windows 95.) I do prefer Windows 95 over what we have now, cause it just worked. No crashing, no desktop missing for a few seconds.... But like everything else, no one is happy till they tweak it till it breaks.

XP start menu FTW. For usability and looks. Too bad it can't be put in 98/Me too.

Been using windows since 3.0 (Yeah that long) Use to use an old Commodor64 and a T-1 (Or whatever the hell the name was) And I must say I like the XP interface best of all. Now I am on Vista and with a custom theme it is pallate-able BUT the start menu sucks balls.

XP start menu anyday. Not that i ever use it, i think i know the run command for everything il ever need lol

I prefer the Start Menu in Windows Vista over the Start Menu in Windows XP because of the search functionality and the sorting order of files and folders. However, I prefer the easy of use of creating new folders in the Start Menu in Windows XP. Also, the recently used programs in Windows XP doesn't get cleared after a while like in Windows Vista. In other words, it's hard to choose between the two, but if I have to choose, based on the easy of use, I would go for the Start Menu in Windows XP. I wish they would fix the "flaws" which I mentioned above for the Start Menu in Windows Vista, which would make it the winner for me.

Hey, was wondering if any of you could help? I recently formatted (been a long time) and reinstalled with the second refresh of sp3. I decided to go with using the classic start menu again and I dropped some links (on the top part) and I would like them to expand but I don't remember what to click to make it do that, or is there? Not super important just kind of nagging at me, I have complete Object Desktop and Object Dock so I have plenty of shortcuts anyway but between all the Windows settings, Tweakui, and Stardock I can't remember how to make these folders expand!

gtrz, make a topic in the beta section about it or wait 2 weeks to post in the XP section.


On topic: I use the classic menu with small icons as it’s direct and faster than any other menu style. I use my taskbar to the left by the way, so I can place more tasks on the taskbar .

Sorry didn't mean to put it off topic. My question was about a function/non function of the classic start menu, since I just started using it again and since the start menu was being discussed however me using xp sp3 was just background, as far as I know the classic start menu isn't changed in xp sp3, no? I'm not asking any beta related question so why would I need to wait to pose this little question? No hostility or tension intended.

SP3 is still beta (public yes), that´s why .

So, if you have question about function/non function of SP3 and the start menu, it´s better to post there as not much people will answer it in this topic.
What you do here is called "hi-jacking a topic".

Well in any case I think the classic menu is laid out better for all I need it for, more streamlined.

Too bad the Windows 2000 start menu isn't an option... I liked having the classic menu with a my computer shortcut

Why don’t you make a shortcut and place it there?

Classic! Dont need any of the extra "junk". Minimalist!

The classic one for me, always. Usability.

Defo the XP one, everthings there in one place.

Definitely XP's Start Menu. Familiarity, plus usability, plus looks.

Why they brought back that horrible scrolling menu for Vista I'll never know.

Well Said!

Oh so they are now returning to using the keyboard and that's a good thing? After remotes and media centers/HTPCs took some ground?

GL



Ah, I didn't see this at first. So the CPU power/RAM/HDDs should be used for searching/indexing documents, MP3s, videos instead of playing/editing them?

GL

fwiw, I prefer Classic. Not that I'm adverse to change or something new, but when it comes to the desktop/menu I don't need a lot of eye candy. I just need it to work. If I was not in IT it would probably be different, but then again I'm one of those 4 bit color guys. There is no such color as teal, it's green people.

As for the folder UI being a thing of the past, again it depends on the needs of the user. There is no good or bad when it comes to UI design, just what works for a specific application. I would hate to not be able to organize my stuff and just crossed my fingers hoping the search feature actually found what I needed. imho, the Vista menu, and to some extent XP menu, caters to a group of users that want a good balance of color and style that provide the functionality to meet their needs. I'm not like that, so Classic suits me jsut fine even though it will probably be killed off in the next iteration.

I prefer the new Vista Startmenu.

The new search is fantastic and the way the other programs are listed is 100 times better than the classic startmenu or the XP one

Been using Vista for about 3 weeks now and I haven't touched the start search once until I saw this topic. You know what it did when I typed "cal" into it? Nothing. It said no results. That's really, really useful - it won't even look right in front of it. Not that I would ever find any use for it...
(edit: I was looking for calculator - right there on my recent programs list - by the way)

I DON'T want to search for my stuff! Plain and simple. I know where it is, I know what folder it's in, I want menus to fly out and meet my demands. I can get to VFD by Start->Documents->Tools->VFD->vfdwin.exe. Keyfinder the same. Any tool I need, the same. Anything that's stuck in my user profile folder in Vista? Harder to get to than XP, but still the same. Search is just more bloatware eating up thousands of megs of hard drive space to do nothing.

In fact, I actually noticed that the search in Vista has gotten noticeably worse. There used to be a marginally useful "find in files" section of Search, where you could search for text or data within a file or files. That's gone. I now have to use UltraEdit to search in files. It comes in handy for restoring a one-off nLitened-out driver back to another XP install, and searching for a device ID in a crapload of INFs. Yeah, that's gone. Thanks, Vista.

Totally prefer the XP start menu. Clicking "Shut down" doesn't require an actual click to bring up a menu to actually tell it "how" to shut down... jeez. Vista is just too dumbed-down.

You had that menu in XP too, just that it appeared at the center of the screen. In Vista you have that little red button on the start menu which you can configure so you can shut down with a single click.

However i still don't like the rest of the start menu. Only thing i like is that they FINALLY fixed the scrambling programs menu, so you don't have to click "sort by name" every time you install a new piece of software.

Classic until Royale was released. If Luna was an art 101 assignment it would get an F.

Funny thing, i don't like Royale.

I chose the classic, nothin wrong with the oldies.

Patched UXTheme on Server 2003. Because it's fun.

The XP menu , I'dont' like the classic menu.

DJPro

Although I like the search feature built-in to the Vista start menu, I prefer the XP start menu because it expands menus out. I can always organize them from there. Vista's way of bottling up all the items from the programs menu really bugs me. I use a 1280x1024 screen so I hate being trapped in a tiny menu. To serve the purpose of the Vista search feature on the start menu, I use Launchy.

Windows 95 still had to load explorer before you had a desktop, so it did take a few seconds to show, crashing /con/con was nasty when that became known only took them like 5 years to patch it.

I'm guessing if your a 95 fan you still use seperate windows for opening folders, god that use to s*** me before i figured out how to change it.

I believe in always trying the new (or close enough), because one day backwards compatability will be missed, and then you'll be stuffed.

Anyone started learning Office 2007/2008? Now thats a jump into telli-tubby land if i ever saw something.

I don't know, I love the Vista start menu. Its not the same old thing I seen for years Its cool to me, hehe