Windows 7 Start Menu

Perhaps the reason Microsoft eliminated the word ‘Start’ from the Vista and Windows 7Start Menu access button was because Steve Jobs never missed a chance to question why a Windows user had to click on Start to turn off their computer.

But be as it may, with or without the word Start on the Start Menu access button each new version of Windows always included a more useful, feature filled Start Menu.

And just as important, regardless of how significantly the landscape changed in each new release of Windows the Start Menu was always the one feature that assured version to version continuity. That once we installed our programs they would be available via the Start Menu.

However it wasn’t until the release of XP that we were allowed to begin configuring our Start Menu to display our personal preferences rather than those of Bill Gates.

For example. By default XP, Vista and Windows 7 Start Menus display the programs a user most often accesses. And if a user is so inclined, by right clicking on the Start Menu access button and selecting Properties and Customize they can increase the number of the most often accessed programs that will be displayed on their Start Menu.

But what if a user would prefer to select the programs that will permanently appear on their Start Menu? A configuration I have found to be far more useful than a list of programs I’ve recently accessed.

XP, Vista and Windows 7 all offer the option in the Start Menu Customize window to change the “Number of recent programs to display:” to “0”. This now allows a user to click on their All Programs menu and by right clicking on a program(s) of their choice select “Pin to Start menu” and have that program(s) permanently available on their Start Menu.

Windows 7 has also replaced the all encompassing “Recent Items” tab on the Vista Start Menu with individual Jump Lists.

When you place your pointer over a program e.g. Word or Windows Media Player on the Windows 7 Start Menu a Jump List of recent Word files or Media Player tunes is listed. You can click on any individual document to open it or individual tune to play it.

Note: To increase the default 10 items displayed in a Jump List, right click on Start, select Properties and in the Customize pane increase the number to the right of “Number of Recent Items to Display in the Jump List”.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.