Brief history of the Start Menu: from Windows 95 to its more than likely return

Microsoft is preparing a new version of Windows, and if there is something that is expected from it, it is the return of the Start Menu After a couple After years of absence with Windows 8, everything seems to indicate that Redmond is preparing its return with a new format adapted to the innovations that the system has been incorporating. It will not be the first change to undergo, but one of the most important.

Throughout its history, the Start Menu has undergone several redesigns and fundamental changes to how it works. From being a mere list of accesses and programs, it became a fundamental tool for organizing all the elements of the operating system, although it ended up disappearing in favor of a start screen that was intended to replace it.But the Start Menu dies hard and is well worth taking a look at its history

The 1990s and the introduction of the Start Menu

In early versions of Windows there was no Start Menu and you used a program manager to get to them. The first version of the Menu was introduced in Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 It was accessed from a button in the lower left corner of the screen, placed on the bar and highlighted with the Windows icon and the word Start.

By then it already showed many of its main hallmarks, such as its representation as a drop-down menu and the grouping of options into categoriesThanks to it, the user was given access to all the installed programs, all the documents and the configuration of the computer.In addition, it incorporated shortcut icons for searching, helping, executing commands, and shutting down and rebooting the system.

In its appearance, in keeping with the rest of the desktop, the grey color and the left sidebar with the name of the system stood out Said format would continue to be used in the following versions of Windows during the 90s, with slight changes in height and width, but with the same general idea of ​​design and operation. The change would come with the new millennium and with Windows XP.

The Start Menu in the new millennium

The first major redesign of the Start Menu since its inception occurred at the turn of the century. At that time Microsoft was preparing Windows XP and the first builds of the system already revealed its new appearance and functions. The Menu was preparing to abandon the muted colors and its list format to be something more than a mere compilation of hits.

With Windows XP Microsoft divided the Start Menu into two columns. The left remained focused on installed programs, while the right provided shortcuts direct to the user's documents and files and to the control and configuration elements of the system. In this second column My Computer also appeared, an icon that until then used to appear on the desktop. In successive versions of Windows, Microsoft would follow that path, adding items to the Menu while presenting a cleaner desktop of icons and shortcuts.

The biggest changes to the Start Menu between Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 were in the design. Those from Redmond modified the position of some elements, such as the shutdown and logout buttons or the user's avatar, and introduced others, such as the search bar.The button itself to open the menu changed its format from Windows Vista, getting rid of the word Start (Start) and being relegated to a simple icon.

The design changes were mostly evident in the aesthetic aspect of the Menu. Mimicking the theme of each new version of Windows, the blue and green tones of Windows XP soon gave way to the darker colors and transparencies of the Aero theme of Windows Vista . Its latest version would arrive with Windows 7, simplifying the color scheme and effects and polishing its operation. Improvements that foreshadowed what was to come.

Windows 8 Downtime

The push of new devices such as tablets and the increasingly evident irruption of touch screens forced Microsoft to rethink how users work with Windows. The main one affected was the Start Menu. Those from Redmond directly opted to abandon what had been one of the identifying elements of their system in an attempt to modernize the way of presenting the system's programs and applications and the method of accessing them.

The Start Menu disappeared from Windows 8 and its place was taken by the Start Screen Its place and that of the desktop, which was left hidden under a new screen full of accesses that are more visual and full of information than a simple icon and its name. The new format, clearly designed for touch control, made the traditional Start Menu unnecessary. Or so Microsoft thought.

In the first major update to Windows 8, Microsoft rectified its steps slightly and reintroduced a start icon with the system logo on the desktop taskbar. An icon that also became visible in the lower left corner of the Home Screen and that allowed you to switch between the two environments. It was by no means the return of the Menu, but it was a first element that anticipated its return.

His expected return and renewal

After trying to get over it, it took Microsoft two years to bring the Start Menu back to the forefront of its system. At the Build 2014 conferences held in San Francisco, Terry Myerson showed for the first time the company's intention to recover the long-awaited Menu It was barely a screenshot that revealed the which could be its new appearance and the merger with the ill-fated Start Screen.

As the time to find out what the next version of Windows will bring with it approaches, numerous leaks have been revealing details of the design and operation of the new Start Menu. If these are finally fulfilled, it seems that we will see again the integration of its appearance with the system themes and the division into two columns, but with changes. The one on the left will once again be focused on the installed programs and applications, while the second will be reserved for anchoring tiles in the style of the Start Screen.

All these issues have yet to be confirmed, but, either one way or another, what seems clear is that the Start Menu is back to stay. Two decades since its appearance and up to six versions of Windows later neither Microsoft nor users have found a replacement And, despite the passage of time, it may the Start Menu is the best way to provide us with access to all the programs and elements of the operating system.

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