The Long Climb

Windows Taskbar and Start Menu… the future?

Posted on 14. Jan, 2009 by Mike Halsey in windows 7

I’ve written a lot about the Windows 7 taskbar and start menu in recent days, not because they’re brilliant or horrible, but rather because they’re trapped half way between the Windows interface we’ve had for the last decade and the one we’ll be heading for in the decade ahead.  The downside of this is that for the next few years we’ll be essentially stuck with two different interfaces that we’re expected to use concurrently.

I’ve fed a lot of this back to Microsoft but they seem determined to stick with the taskbar and start menu as seen in the current beta build and not budge.  This is a crying shame, they could easily build in the ‘future’ system while leaving the old one intact for a Windows version or two, just as they did with the Windows 95 style start menu.

Anyway, it got me thinking about what this ‘future’ system could be like and how it would operate based on what we’ve already seen, and I thought I’d be as bold as to make some predictions for what will possibly be called Windows 8, with a few wishes thrown in.

The Start Menu

The start menu would be gone, resigned to the annals of history.  Instead everything would be pinned to the taskbar.  All your programs are all already pinnable but what about the system icons and all the additional icons that come with your programs?

All Programs Folder

My prediction is that we’ll see the return of the All Programs folder as reported by Raphael Rivera when he got to grips with an early build of Windows 7.  This folder will contain all the current contents of All Programs in the start menu.

WISHLIST : I’d like to see tags extended to programs in the All Programs folder.  This would enable you to tag a program as internet, games or media for example.  The different tags would then be sortable into collapsible groups, just as you can currently do with tagged photos and files in Vista.  This also helps make up for the fact that, with the old Windows 95 style start menu finally gone, also gone is the ability to add custom folders to All Programs.

System Icons

System icons would be pinnable to the taskbar but, with the sole exception of the Recycle Bin would by default appear in a special jumplist, much like the bucket in the current Apple OS X dock (see below for more on this).

Document Folders

With the introduction of libraries in Windows 7 and aggregated storage first seen in Windows Home Server, the Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos etc. folders would be consigned to the scrap heap.  With windows 7 all of your files and folders are easily accessible in Explorer through the hugely innovative Libraries view.  In my opinion, this makes your documents just as quick and easy to access.  It might currently include a secondary mouse click but if these folders manage to survive at all, it will only be with individual libraries being made pinnable to the taskbar.

System Tray

If this doesn’t already happen by the time Windows 7 ships, anti-virus vendors, who already have access to APIs that enable them to plug their software directly into the Windows Security Centre, will get the additional option to exclude their icon from the auto-hide option in the system tray.  In addition, and again if this isn’t rectified soon, the Windows alerts that still appear in the system tray will also be hidden by default.

Taskbar

Launching and managing applications will be further refined for Windows 8 with problems like managing multi-window programs sorted out.  The new taskbar will be much more configurable than the one we see in Windows 7 today.

WISHLIST : We need a “never combine, hide labels” option for the taskbar, to get around the problem I just mentioned of Windows 7′s awful handling of multiple instances of programs.

Taskbar animations will also be enhanced, if it doesn’t happen before Windows 7 launches, to allow more live feedback from and control of programs, much like the old “Windows Media Player Toolbar”.  This will be integrated into, above or to the right of the taskbar icon for the program and will further expand the animations and effects introduced with Windows 7.

The Start Button

So if we’re making all these changes and getting rid of the start menu completely, what use will the start button be?  This is one thing that won’t be disappearing any time soon, if ever.  This will still be the place you go to switch the computer off and will also probably act as an animated jumplist for the system icons and All Programs folder.  Needless to say, with Windows 8, any menu that pops up from the start button will be unrecognisable from what we’re used to today.

So bring on 2012 and we’ll see if any of my predictions come true.  In the mean time I’d like to hear your comments on these ideas.

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Tags: programs, start button, start menu, tags, taskbar, vista, windows 7, windows 8