The Anti-Microsoft Thread

[A Black Falcon]

Heh... guess I need to explain myself better. You seem to have no clue about what my issues with the Start Menu are.

Okay. Our first comp had DOS5/Win3.0 on it, so I started on Program Manager. It's a simple windows manager... has a screen, with folders (no folders-in-folders allowed). Then, after getting Win3.1, we got TabWorks, a program that at the time was published by Xerox. I've been using it as my main windows manager ever since, which means since probably 1995. When we got Win95 in '97 I just installed the Win95 version from the floppies for that version. :) I have gotten very used to it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

So... why do I like it? Good question. And why do I dislike the Start Menu?

Yes, yes, I know the Start Menu is just a bunch of links... but I have one fundamental complaint. I prefer a windows manager that stays open. The Start Menu closes when you use it. Also, its got very small icons... I prefer ones the size of standard Windows filesystem icons. I do organize my Start Menu periodically, just so that it doesn't get all bloated and unusable (so that no page has a list that goes over the edge of the screen like my Games and Demos sections would if I didn't divide them into categories...), but I don't actually use it... I vastly prefer TabWorks. Its got 'tabs' for various categories, and you can have any number of pages (full of links to files) in each tab. Now, I know -- I could just double-click on the Program Files link and run stuff through the windows filesystem. But darnit, I don't LIKE Internet Explorer... :D

I TabWorks into 12 tabs. They vary from 2 to 6 pages (note pages can scroll down any length (also note that one of the few features I wish Tabworks had was support for the mouse wheel))

Games Tab, page 1 Windows Games, page 2 DOS Shareware, page 3 DOS Full Games, page 4 Abandonware, page 5 Setup Files, page 6 Readmes and Uninstallers... :)

I just like to be able to look at a nice window that has the images for programs I could run... the Start Menu has those miniature icons and stuff, and closes if you click on anything! That is just something I inherently dislike.

Oh... there are effects of this. The biggest one is that I almost never look at my desktop... pretty much the only time I ever do is when my computer is either booting up or turning off or when something isn't working right and I've hit the 'Show Desktop' taskbar button. :) Also, I have to move around the files every time I install something, or click and drag (thankfully Tabworks supports dragging files from any open Windows folder into the app, upon which point it'll automatically plop a shortcut for the file into that page) I have to put them where I put stuff in that category, but I don't mind, and I'd have to do something like that anyway if I used the Start Menu...