The Start Menu was removed in Windows 8 because few people actually used it

[vezycash]

Was surfing on Reddit when I found something interesting.

According to Microsoft, the Start Menu in Windows 8 was removed because relatively few people actually used it. This smelled so familiar with the recent "We're not going to update your phone because you guys voted in insider."

If few people use the start menu, then older phones really don't deserve an upgrade to Windows 10.

Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Start_menu_replacements_for_Windows_8
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57371830-75/microsoft-removes-start-button-in-windows-8/
Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button | Alphr

 

[theefman]

Guess you missed the screaming mobs that made them bring it back in the savior Windows 10, kind of negates the initial excuse given.....

 

[Zulfigar]

Both are good points, Microsoft does have a name for listening to the customer; either bad or good. Yell loud enough, and they'll do a 180.

 

[tj_moore]

Mobile has had tile based Start Menu all along with 8.1 through 10. Tile Start Menu was ideal for tablets. It just annoyed luddites who couldn't cope with change on the desktop. Turned out to be a majority. Simple solution was a compromise. Old outdated Win 95 style menu merged in with tiles. A lot of people aren't too bothered with this. The tiles they may use or not. Though use another Windows device such as phone and many like that it's a similar and familiar experience.

 

[Steve Thackery]

Frankly, though, this new compromise in W10 is an ugly mess. There is no advantage to live tiles when they are hidden from view for 98% of the time, only appearing fleetingly when the user presses Start to run a new program. From a keyboard-and-mouse user's perspective, the W10 Start menu still isn't as good as that in W7.

It's as if MS couldn't quite bring themselves to admit that tiles are a failure on keyboard-and-mouse desktop machines. I use W10 on my hybrid, and tiles are great for touch screens. But for desktop workstations? No - emphatically not.

 

[MBytes]

I don't see why this is Windows 10 Mobile section.

Many users under Windows 7, just search. They were doing Win key + typed the first few letters of the program and hit enter.
The rest is pinned on the task bar, and/or desktop. This information is backed with telemetry data being collected in Windows 7.

Windows 8 Start Screen was designed because at the time of development, the ONLY thing was selling, was tablets. Microsoft didn't want to miss the boat. Surface line showed what Microsoft has as vision: Tablet-laptop hybrid, making a tablet a productivity device, and not just a giant phone with no ability to do phone calls.

I think the biggest issue with Windows 8 Start Screen, and the reason why people didn't like it, is that:
-> It felt unfinished
-> The default layout is completely uninviting, and a mess due to 0 organization, and 0 power user tools provided
-> Horrible search system (in Windows 8.0)
-> No option to use the old Start Menu for older people not open to change.

First 3, gave horrible first impression. For a great number of year, what Microsoft mastered is how to make an OS inviting. This is also a big reason why Linux based OS, in my opinion, is not getting traction, where you can see that the GUI is all coded by devs that hate doing GUI work, and put little effort, and backed with graphic GUI designers that don't like doing free work, because they don't make much money to start with, and to top things up, only few excel at this job.

The last one, is what made old IT / Power user cry because the 'background changed', if you will. In other words, a group of people that want change, but don't like change, Criticize of lack of innovation, and when innovation comes, bashes it because it is different without using it. Remember how Windows 7 was criticized by the same group that the task bar was "identical to MacOS"? When clearly this is the last thing it is. It is like they just look at screen shots for a fraction of seconds and already made a conclusion.

Anyway, that group is what the average consumer listen to for their advice. If they are not happy, then they'll bash it, and then tell people not to get it.

All-in-all, Windows 10 approach is the best. The GUI adapts based on which mode you are with your device and preference. This is what it should have been like since day 1.