Microsoft is releasing its Windows 10 October 2020 Update to over a billion users today. Much like last year, this second Windows 10 update of 2020 is more of a Service Pack than a major release. Microsoft has, however, made some interesting tweaks, including a refreshed Start menu, some Alt Tab changes, and the bundling of the new Chromium-powered Microsoft Edge.
It’s a very minor release when it comes to user-facing features, and you really have to squint to even notice the new Start menu – it’s more of a colour change than an actually new design.
The Start menu change is so bland I hope we get the option of reverting back to the way it was. In light mode, it looks whitewashed. At least before tiles were colorful. This seems to be a poor design choice by Microsoft.
Broadly speaking, I prefer the changes to the start menu. Reducing the visual clutter – especially on the program list – is a good thing.
That said, it would be a good idea if we had more control over the colour pinned tiles, at least on a group basis if not individual tiles. This would allow us to use those visual cues to attract our attention when desired.
If I hadn’t read this I wouldn’t even know anything changed as I switched mine to black (Only thing good about Vista was the black theme) ages ago and MSFT apparently didn’t change anything if you were using anything other than default which is nice.
Finally they made it. A properly implemented transparency, wow
Nice – now please fix the conexant-driver-problems and give mit the 2004 Update…
Installed this months ago! Got a new main drive, which is always a good point for a clean install and was not going to install the older one. Though to be fair I expected them to push it out at least 2 months ago!
Using Microsoft’s Win10 start menu? Such insanity!
Install Open Shell (the successor of Classic Shell) for a good start menu replacement.
https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu
Because anyone spends so much of their time using the start (win, not been start for a fair while now) menu that is makes the slightest diffrerence or they would even want a different one?
I mean it’s the os. It sits there being mostly ignored! Do all you odd people just play start menu all day or something?
Click menu. Type. Run shit. And that is just fopr the 0.00005% of times I don’t run the things from the desktop sghortcuts for the common used stuff (or though explorere, total commander direct).
The only people that compain about the start menu probably do not know the differenfce between an OS and office.
Don’t type while you are drunk. As for me, I don’t like the default win10 start menu with all its distractions. I guess the people who are not aware of the difference between office and the OS will settle with de defaults.
For people who want a quick launcher: install Launchy or one of the newer alternatives.
https://www.launchy.net/
Note that I will not further respond to negative attention seekers.
Sorry. Not drunk (well not then 😉 ). Just ranty! You are of course free to do whatever you like/ Go for it. I was just saying. It’s the OS, well the supoporting bits. You really don’t use them enough to care. Well I don’t.
(I do tend to type faster than by brain can reasonably cope with though!)
(you would not belive the amount of pre posting editing I do and yet I still miss stuff).
I stand by all my thought though,.
XP = bad. (we all stayed on 2000 until forced off.
Vista = good. (needed a 64 bit os by that point, xp was a unsupported beta release).
Win 7 = meh. (It was Vista SP2 in everything but name. Nothing interesting).
Win 8 = Got there. (8 sucked that one needed start menu changes. I moved upon 8.1 which was fine).
ME = why? (we already used 2000).
98 = Liked it. (would have prefered a NT solution even then but gaming).
95 = fine. (as long as you were on osr2 for the massive improvements then great (mainly fat 32, no one cared about usb then!)). (and why yes I did try nt4 for a time, but again. games).
Carrot007,
You sure have a different opinion than me, haha. Windows 95 was way too buggy, win 98 got better. I wanted to like NT but it didn’t like my software. 2k and XP were both good. Vista was objectively bad for me since a lot of my hardware and software broke under vista. While not much changed in the OS, Win7 definitely got better even if it’s only because it was because vista’s code base had time to mature.. You could still set it to classic 2k themes, which I did and was happy for. Win 8, I don’t even want to go there. Win10 got better by rolling back the bad parts of 8/8.1. Honestly though if it were still supported I’d prefer 7 with good old classic UI. Everyone’s got a different preference, which is why I really don’t like microsoft’s modern approach of forcing things rather than catering to our preferences.
Watch out for control panel changes. In particular, the way to access what would normally be in the system control panel has been relocated to various areas of the Settings app. Even the shortcut key (windows+pause) will take you to the system area of Settings instead of Control Panel, as will clicking on the system icon in Control Panel itself. This means that IT procedures have changed a bit, e.g. joining a domain. The actual dialogs, once you get to them, are still the old ones. Also this update will blow out your RSAT for no reason, but we’re all used to that, right?