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Comment by simjnd | Hacker News Reader

I also use the Windows key, but even then the WHOLE screen animating and changing to a different solid color was super jarring and tiring IMO. I much prefer a small popup like they have now

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There's also the issue of distance for a mouse cursor to travel to select something. I think the general issue is imposing one interface for every mode of input instead of options, so either select an appropriate interface depending on how the start menu was invoked (even if it's just scaling it down to a confined space) or letting people select the default however it's invoked. Yes that's going to be more work, but when we're talking about the largest corporations on the planet I struggle to believe they can't afford it.

Yes. The constant full screen color flashing made Windows 8 not just unpleasant to use, I was unable to use it since I literally got migraines after using it for too long.

Click on a pdf? The whole screen turns bright red for a second before loading. Click on a Word file, same but blue. It was hell to use for people sensitive to flashing lights.

I got special permission at work to stick with Windows 7 longer than the rest of the company for medical reasons.

The Windows 8 start menu is no different from Launchpad on macOS throwing up a grid of icons that takes over the screen. Except macOS doesn't have the benefit of live tiles to excuse it.

> The Windows 8 start menu is no different from Launchpad on macOS

Launchpad appeared for the first time in Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" in July 2011.

Windows 8.0 launched August 2012.

Personally I think both are inspired by the full-screen launchers of iOS and Android, and not by one another.

Yeah I never used or liked Launchpad. On macOS I only ever used Spotlight (and Raycast for the past few years).

The only redeeming thing I could say about Launchpad is that it did not replace Spotlight (unlike Windows 8 Start Menu which was a replacement to the previous start menu)

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