The Verge were able to get a video of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as he addressed Microsoft employees at their meeting for possibly the last time.
It’s a POWERFUL video that shows that whether or not you have had a negative opinion of Mr. Ballmer, he has been a passionate believer in Microsoft and their cause.
As I have said before, the tech community needs to be careful what they ask for. Mr. Ballmer has made his share of mistakes but has also had what must be one of the most difficult jobs in the world.
He will definitely be missed.
Thank You Steve Ballmer
All Comments
Would it be possible to bring back the start menu
No, not possible!
Funny 😉
For me, the start menu became an antique as soon as it became possible (as of Windows 7) to pin tasks to the task bar. I ran Windows 7 from a year before its release. Likewise Windows 8. In all that time, the only thing I ever used the start menu for was selecting stuff to pin to the taskbar, where typically I have 25-30 tasks.
If I had to guess why people hark back to the start menu, and I must say it is really hard to figure out, my guess would be that they do not pin tasks to the taskbar. Perhaps some other users would like to say whether they do or not. And if not, why not? I am curious.
Do you not find the start menu horribly tedious and frustrating to scroll about in? Do you not see the advantage of the start screen and the all-apps view?
But that’s an aside, because this page is about Ballmer’s departure. Much as people complain, I think he has handled a complex catch-up about as well as could be expected. Lots of pieces of a gigantic puzzle have been coming together over the past 2 years or so.
The sad part is not getting earlier into the tablet market, though it was tried, and flopped, necessitating the total re-think that was Metro, which for the first time puts Microsoft in the position of having the coolest UI around, something that no one ever expected. The proof is that everyone is trying to copy it. Just look at how it has affected the design of web sites.
Sadly some people seem unable to appreciate it, and dismiss it as Fisher-Price toys. I find that very short-sighted. Jobs himself was the obstacle to a simplification of the iOS UI, because he wanted simulated wood finishes and such like, which distract and tire, like ornate Victorian Era furnishings so devoid of function that they have to be given pointless details, whereas computers are so full of function that the last thing you want to do is overload people with it.
The Metro UI has been designed with radical scalability in mind. Jobs did not see this. His vision was separate UIs for tablets and laptops. There is no need. The Metro UI will work on screens from phone size upwards. This paves the way for future amalgamation of Microsoft’s (too many) operating systems and the design of apps that work across them all (which at the API level is a big job so it is taking precious time and the clock keeps ticking).
So Microsoft has been getting some things right, and Ballmer can share some of the credit for that.
I also pin a few to the task bar. Not many since the start icons on the Modern UI is fine. I can move the ones I use most often into groups and to the left. The ones I seldom use go further to the right. A simple move of the mouse and they are easily available. I tend to use the easy start key and start typing for some programs.
Thanks Bart. I forgot to mention that I too use the start menu, and in the same way you have, ie frequently-used stuff to the left. Having tried out Windows 8.1, I am looking forward to it, because it will let me pack stuff much more to my liking by allowing use of the new 1/4-size tiles, which also work very nicely on Windows Phone.
Apart from the desktop apps, I have a few favourite Metro apps, such as Mail, Calendar, Latermark and Kindle. I have come to the realisation that the split between desktop and Metro modes is actually useful in that the former lets me do traditional intensive stuff in ‘creation’ mode and the latter comes more into its own when I am relaxing in ‘consumption’ mode. In the latter mode I can ‘detach the saucer section’ and relax in an armchair with my tablet.
I use Windows 7 at work where the absence of the Metro mode of Windows 8 makes it feel a little tame and boring now.