Could this be the new Windows 10 Start Menu that lacks Live Tiles?

[midian182]

In brief: Following long-running rumors that Microsoft will be removing the Live Tiles feature from Windows 10’s Start Menu, a new image has appeared that could confirm the company’s plans.

Live Tiles, which arrived alongside the Windows Phone 7 before making their way to the Windows 8 operating system, aren’t very popular among users. According to a report from last week, Microsoft is planning to get rid of the feature and replace them with static icons.

Now, an image has been posted to Twitter that allegedly shows the Windows 10 Start Menu without Live Tiles, and it looks… as you’d expect. It certainly appears less cluttered, but it’s worth remembering that we don’t know if the image is authentic.

Live tiles ? pic.twitter.com/RzOnhOIcmw

— Aggiornamenti Lumia (@ALumia_Italia) February 29, 2020

Speculation that Microsoft would drop Live Tiles has been around since last year. They continuously pull information in real-time from the likes of Mail, Spotify, and news and weather applications, but the feature hasn’t been updated since Windows Mobile came to an end, and more third-party app makers have dropped support.

As noted by WinCentral, the Twitter account that posted the image doesn’t reveal details such as Build number, so we don’t know when Live Tiles will be killed off. They’ll still be in the Windows 10 20H1 update that’s scheduled to be pushed out later this year, and the 20H2 update is said to be a minor one, so it’s likely that the feature will be removed in Windows 10’s 2021 (21H1) update.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/84238-could-new-windows-10-start-menu-lacks-live.html

 

[GNelson]

You can turn off live tiles already - what is the big deal?

 

[Uncle Al]

I'll be glad to see them gone .... it was a useless feature and should never have been forced on the users ....

 

[psycros]

Tiles weren't popular because they were limited to the start menu which people only look at when running programs. If these had been put on a sidebar or the desktop it likely would have been a whole different story. Too bad Microsoft's top execs are more concerned with "diversity" and selling out their users to marketers than building highly usable software.

 

[Ravey]

Oh, Once I got used to the Live tiles, I liked them! I had all my favourite apps saved to tile instead of cluttering up the desktop which you never see while gaming anyway. I guess it all comes down to personal preference.

An update to the menu system is always interesting though!

 

[MaestroIT]

You can turn off live tiles already - what is the big deal?

I don't understand what to look for in the screenshot, that's the start menu of one of my computers already, simple few static tiles.

 

[Nobina]

Jokes on you, Microsoft, live tiles on my PC haven't worked for months. Seriously, only after clean install I managed to get them to work again.

I actually like tiles being live more than having a static icon and nothing else to fill up empty space. I don't see the downside. If so I'd rather they remove the whole metro style.

 

[JKnight]

I always removed the tiles from the start menu.

 

[DukeJukem]

You can turn off live tiles already - what is the big deal?

honestly. just right click everything and unpin it.

 

[TheMadcat]

Tiles weren't popular because they were limited to the start menu which people only look at when running programs. If these had been put on a sidebar or the desktop it likely would have been a whole different story. Too bad Microsoft's top execs are more concerned with "diversity" and selling out their users to marketers than building highly usable software.

I'm not sure I agree. If there were a sidebar with annoying live tiles in it, I would have closed it and never looked at it again. Let's just agree there is no good use for live tiles.

 

[arrowflash]

The Windows 10 start menu is just the Windows 8 start screen in a vertical list form factor, using the same "engine" with all its flaws and caveats.

Ditching live tiles is a step in the right direction, but I just wish Microsoft would ditch the entire start screen framework and return to the start menu from Windows 7/Vista. At least in Enterprise/Server Editions.

 

[fps4ever]

honestly. just right click everything and unpin it.

Bingo, just want the start menu, no tiles at all.

 

[Black Boy]

Honestly if it's true it looks stupid. I expect too see something more like Windows 10X Start menu, hopefully!

 

[Impudicus]

I was hoping it would almost be just like the Windows 7 start menu. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best Windows start menu.

 

[p51d007]

I just use the program "open shell" (use to be classic start). Puts everything back the way it was with
Windows 7, which is how I like it!

 

[Skjorn]

I wonder if Microsoft is working on an active UI for OLEDs.

 

[2zrfe18]

The Windows 10 start menu is just the Windows 8 start screen in a vertical list form factor, using the same "engine" with all its flaws and caveats.

Ditching live tiles is a step in the right direction, but I just wish Microsoft would ditch the entire start screen framework and return to the start menu from Windows 7/Vista. At least in Enterprise/Server Editions.

feels something changed from 8.1 to 10. the start screen in 10 has an annoying half second delay. 8.1 was near instant. they could have put in an intentional delay but I don't see the purpose. I love and use the fullscreen start as I find it more productive for my work environment. I was glad it carried over to 10 but the delay is obnoxious.

 

[Red999]

Windows 10 start menu is useless because all shortcuts are put at 1 level. it requires users to scroll down and up.
microsoft needs to accept reality that classic windows xp start menu, without windows 7 style of sh*t prediction things, is the best.

 

[Red999]

I was hoping it would almost be just like the Windows 7 start menu. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best Windows start menu.

windows xp classic start menu is even better

 

[Capaill]

Oh, Once I got used to the Live tiles, I liked them! I had all my favourite apps saved to tile instead of cluttering up the desktop which you never see while gaming anyway. I guess it all comes down to personal preference.

An update to the menu system is always interesting though!

I was expecting all of the tiles to go, not just the Live ones. So it looks like you'll still be able to keep your favourite apps in tiles, as long as it's not tiles that show live updates.

For the rest of us, getting rid of live tiles isn't enough. It still leaves a large unused area on the right (unless you manually fill it with tiles) and it forces you to scroll, as it sorts alphabetically in a space-consuming way. On my desktop I can only see to the top of C. Whereas in Windows 7, the folder tree structure let you expand to find what you wanted with only mouse clicks and minimal scrolling.

It's a shame that, in the 8 years since Windows 8 was launched, Microsoft still refuse to return to a mouse-focused UI, and that we still have to go to 3rd parties to fix something so fundamental.

 

[candle_86]

Tiles weren't popular because they were limited to the start menu which people only look at when running programs. If these had been put on a sidebar or the desktop it likely would have been a whole different story. Too bad Microsoft's top execs are more concerned with "diversity" and selling out their users to marketers than building highly usable software.

See windows gadgets sidebar. It failed and proved to a wonderful attack vector

 

[Vrmithrax]

Live tiles are just a holdover from back when Microsoft had the "Windows on all platforms" initiative going. They made their way from Windows Mobile to Windows 8, with Microsoft hoping for a unified user interface experience across platforms. Great idea in theory, but it was an unmitigated disaster with how heavy-handed they were in forcing the tile system on all users of Windows 8 (until the mods & utilities arrived to get back W7 style Start Menu, that is). Once they gave up on the multi-platform Windows domination dreams, the tiles just became more of a legacy gadget than a necessity.

I've gotten used to the tiles, they don't really bother me one way or another in day to day use. But I usually remove all but a few key tiles that I might want to quick tap on my 2-in-1 laptop. Other than that, if the tiles disappear I don't think it will even matter to me. I certainly won't pine away missing them.

 

[Teko03]

But these icons are still tiled. Office & majority of apps don't take advantage of the "live" feature anyway. All this shows is that the theme color has been removed (which in the new icons, it ignores your personalized theme anyway and defaults to blue). Windows 10 should be moving towards the start menu we see in Windows 10X, where there is no square tile at all, but just a standalone icon.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

LiveTiles were and are amazing for PHONES. I use them on my WinDroid and they're great.

https://imgur.com/UVOzLTO

They don't really make sense on a desktop though.

 

[GeforcerFX]

I like live tiles for the weather and mail app, I use to run the news app like that back in windows 8.1 but never installed it on windows 10.