If you were used to using earlier iterations of Microsoft Windows before introduction of Windows 8, you know just how disorienting Windows 8 was. The lack of a start menu to navigate to different programs and the introduction of the new user interface named the ‘Modern UI’ was enough to confuse more people than ever before so that Microsoft had to find a solution to the problem.
A lot of the older Windows users were not able to use their updated or new computers and either had to use the services of technicians such as the ones at Taskbob’s computer repair services, to help them uninstall the new Windows version and re-install an older version that they were used to.
After a lot of outcry Microsoft tried to trace back its steps to the old start menu, but did not go all the way back to what it used to be before Windows 8. With the introduction of Windows 8.1, some compromises to make it a bit more user friendly was by reintroducing some aspects of the older start menu.
Below is a guide on what you need to know to use the new start screen and get back some of the functionality that you were used to.
With the introduction of Windows 8.1, the start button that is located where the old start menu button was (bottom left corner), toggles the Modern UI and the desktop if you left click on the button with your mouse.
If you right click on this button however, a lot more magic happens. A menu containing a lot of options appears to give you a lot more functionality as is mentioned below.
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Programs and features allows you to uninstall programs
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Power options
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Event viewer
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Systems
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Device manager
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Network connections
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Disk management
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Computer management
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Task manager
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Control Panel
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File Explorer
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Search
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Run
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A shutdown/restart button, which caused the most outcry from windows 8 users made a return.
As you can see, a lot of functionality was re-introduced through this button once again, but it again fell short of what people were used to before these drastic changes were made. By this time, third party applications to bring back the old start menu were introduced, to help new users transition into the new Windows UI or to altogether replace the new default menu.
Some of the third party applications that appeared to replace the default Windows start menu include Start8, StartIsBack, Pokki, Power8, Classic Shell and StartW8
If you still thirst for the old start menu, these third party applications can be quite helpful in bringing back some of the old functionality to this modern operating system.
If you don’t know where you can get these third party applications or you don’t know how you can install these software to bring back old functionality, go to http://taskbob.com/ and ask for some help.
Author Bio
Leila W. Perez has been a C# computer programmer for the last 13 years. She specializes in building Microsoft Windows software applications. Visit her blog for more information.