Windows 8 Features Slick Search from Start Screen

Thats pretty neat. Makes 8 look a bit more attractive.

People need to start stepping up and criticizing this stuff. This whole concept doesn't save time. I don't want to "switch to start" with the logo key and type "calc" to bring up the calculator. Right now it is 2 clicks. Why would I want to increase that to 5?

While I am at it - stop with all the gimmicks and mac-like menus. Windows has an 85-90% market share. Rewrite the kernel, upgrade ntfs to a new file system, stop write throttling, end 32 bit, stop turning on automatic updates after I just turned it off... improve. Stop turning the round wheel into a box; Round just works better.

being able to quickly search by details of how a photo was taken is pretty cool, I would use that. One could say I am almost looking forward to being able to do that.

Being able to use the keyboard to make 5 clicks is a lot faster than moving the mouse and making it click twice, it also interrupts the flow of what you are doing on the keyboard.

You do realize you can just use the mouse then, right?

I fail to see how this is better and more useful than the Start Menu in Windows 7. In fact, this seems like a full screen Start Menu that doesn't have all the features the current Start Menu has.

If I promise never to buy or use a Windows tablet, will they include the normal Start Menu in Windows 8?

Try this in Windows 7... Ctrl+Esc and then type a file name! Amazing, right?

Yep.

Stupid, anyhow... I can't recall when was the last time I used Search. I really can't. Whether or not Win8 will have better search doesn't matter to me.

Pretty much all of this is already there in Windows 7 Start Menu search and Mac OS X Spotlight.

What are you talking about campb292? How is it 2 clicks now? Also, are you talking about 2 "mouse clicks" vs 5 "keyboard key presses"? If so, it's clear that 5 keyboard key presses is many times faster than 2 mouse clicks.

I'm all for criticizing stuff that needs criticizing, but I don't find your criticism very compelling.

He's right, I don't want to switch to Start, either... It IS two clicks - one on the Start button, another on the Calculator icon. And 2 mouse clicks ARE faster than 5 keyboard presses.

I think this is one of those cases where it is to each their own. Some people who use the start menu search will probably find this really helpful, while others will continue to use the mouse to launch programs. Why should there be only one way of doing something? It is nice to have the option either way.

I don't understand why switching to a separate touch UI is necessary to utilize existing Windows 7 search functionality.

Exactly. Problem is, most likely we won't get that choice.

Windows 7 search is broken, Vista was slightly better because you still get Advanced search by hitting Windows+F and bringing up the search pane.
Both Vista and 7 search takes a long time to complete and sometimes can't find a file, even though it exist.
Let's hope Win8 isn't broken.

I wouldn't mind a new file system, hell they had one planned for Vista, WinFS which looked to run circles around NTFS, but that was cut for now. As for rewriting the Kernal, why do it again? It was rewritten for Vista, hence why you can't really upgrade from XP to Vista, and reworked for 7. The 7 Kernal works great, why redo it if you don't have to? How many times do you think Apple has rewritten its Unix Kernal for OSX?




It wont matter because they already have the classi 7 Start menu in 8. This is the Metro UA and much like Aero, can be turned off.

Have people really been paying attention to the Windows 8 info or just missing it all together?




Unless you have Calculator pinned to the Start menu, its 4 clicks. Start> All programs> Accessories> Calculator.

I dunno, I may be wrong, but from what I've seen of the latest changes they've made to the start menu, programs will be categorized similar to being in a folder, except that they will be visible right off hand. So I would assume that any program should only be about two clicks away (may be some scrolling involved), plus you can always pin a program to the start menu (again, from what I have seen).

Please remove pile of crap called Metro. It makes sense for phone but not for desktop and laptops.

The example suggested that the person uses Calculator often. In that case, I'd expect it pinned to the Start Menu.

Have you even payed attention to any news on Win8, or just this article? It's been said by many users as well as mentioned in articles that Metro can be disabled, and that is separate from the desktop interface. Please don't post pile of crap comments if you have not researched anything about a certain topic.

Like someone already mentioned, it's not 2 mouse clicks unless you pin it to the start menu (or unless you use it often and it shows up in your recently used programs list on your start menu).

In addition, you seem to be ignoring the time it takes to move your mouse to the start menu button and then finding the calculator icon, and finally selecting it.

Since the keys on a keyboard are constant and very fast to press, 5 keyboard strokes will almost always be faster than the process above. Here, I'll time myself:
Keyboard: winkey c a l c ENTER -- 1.7 seconds

Not even trying to be fast, this includes the time taken to move my left hand to the keyboard from starting the timer. and back to stop the timer again.

Now, for the mouse: I pinned the calculator, I've identified exactly where it is on the screen before I run this, so I'm removing the times needed to figure out exactly where on the screen it is. I'm even putting the mouse in the lower left quadrant of the screen to minimize the amount of time it takes to get to the start menu.
Mouse: 2.0 seconds.
Now, this has the additional advantage of my left hand staying on the timer so I can stop it immediately when I reach my goal.

Now, feel free to actually repeat this yourself. I would be surprised if your results differed significantly from mine.

It really shouldn't surprise you that keyboard commands are faster than using the mouse.

That all said, Windows 7 has the same thing as Windows 8 (just not taken full screen). Some people above said ctrl+esc, but all you have to do is press and release the Windows key like the video said. I think the take away from this video is that the new Start was designed for power users.

Just saying, Windows 7 can do that too.
1. Windows key
2. Type Calc.
3. Enter button, or mouse click.

The problem for me is not whether you can use the keyboard or the mouse, rather it's that the entire desktop with all open windows (on my three 1080p screens) will go away while I'm trying to open the calculator or notepad or whatever. If you could have the current search limited to a portion of the screen, with all the open windows remaining visible, then I'd be cool with it.

That's a good point, depending on the task. Visibility being obscured by this giant Start screen could get irritating.

It's nice that windows is catching up with a decent search. I've had the same functionality for about a year and a half on Gnome Shell. The difference is when I click the hot corner or Super Key my desktop doesn't disappear it goes to more of an equivalent to OSX's Expo with a row of quick link along the edge. Which in my opinion is much less jarring and detrimental to work flow. Everyone is working on new desktop styles and merging touch format with desktop, but MS seems to have made one that is more detrimental to desktop usage than the others. Time will tell though.

Linux/tablet fanboy detected

"Breaking up the work flow" is bull$h!t... it's a common myth, just like Macs/iPhone being "easier" to work with than Windows/Android.

I'm fast with both mouse and keyboard, but mouse was still faster for me (didn't time myself, but it was obviously 2x as fast)

Here's a funny thought: how many average users will actually take time to figure out these keyboard combos? So far all the Windows users I met don't know ANY keyboard shortcuts and are very amazed if you show Alt-Tab (Win-Tab on Win7 simply causes them to faint, they didn't even know it's possible on a PC), Win+E or any other shortcuts.

So actually MS is doing the same BS they did with Vista: it's too complex to deal with for an average consumer (analogy: Vista had many problems that an enthusiast could easily fix but the common user was overwhelmed with) and it's useless for a power user (analogy: power user didn't need Vista as it offered nothing new), since we already have same functionality in Win7 - Start, type something, Enter.

And you don't even have to "switch to Start mode"

P.S. What retard suggested MS to have the Start Menu, or whatever this green BS is, on the right? Probably the same idiot who convinced Canonical to force reversed buttons layout (all windows control buttons - Maximize, Minimize, Close - on the top left instead of top right). Just in case of Ubuntu I can fix it in one minute and in case of Win8 I probably won't be.

frankly, this tablet oriented approach Win8 is taking seems ludicrous to
me...and kb control codes were around back in the days of MSDOS, before
windows, so i am completely unimpressed...it's all a nod to the trendy
tablet thing where you don't have a mouse. i typically upgrade with each
new Windows release, but this is one i definitly will be skipping, Win7
is just fine...i'll be waiting for an upgrade that actually has features
i want, not window dressing backsliding...incidentally, i frequently use
calc, and it's ONE click as i have it pinned to the taskbar.

on a desktop, that is completely un acceptable, but he is on a laptop/netbook (my hand takes up 3/4 the size of a standard keyboard, he has small hands, cant tell which) with a nipple, possibly no touch pad, in this case, typing is less of an ordeal than using either nipple or touch pad.

i 100% agree with just rewrite the kernal, and stop screwing with the rest of the os, add features but let us turn them off if we don't like them. and dont completely redo how everything is stored and sorted from one os to another, 95-xp and 7 control panel for example at least by default.




not if they take the start menu away, the dev build alread did didnt it? not saying it will stay gone, but it seams like they are pushing for the end of the mouse.




i use search all the time, in xp, i know the vague file name, and need to search through 50000+ files.

The only time I have ever used search was to find a file I didn't know the location of. Very rare that this happens.