The Old New Thing

What is the impact on the Start menu of long-running programs?

June 19, 2007 Jun 19, 2007 06/19/07
Raymond Chen
Let's take another look at the basic principle that determines which programs show up in the Start menu: Each time you launch a program, it "earns a point", and the longer you don't launch a program, the more points it loses. If you stare at this long enough, you might see a hole in this principle: What about a program that you launch once...

Project Update 3: Voyage to Our Hollow Earth

June 18, 2007 Jun 18, 2007 06/18/07
Raymond Chen
Alas, the original plan for the trip to the hole in the Arctic Ocean had to be scrapped due to the passing of organizer Steven Currey. But hollow earthers, don't give up hope! U.S. scientist Brooks Agnew has announced his plans to take the place of Mr. Currey, chartering the same ship and taking the same itinerary with the same goal. ...

Why does a new user get stuff on their Start menu right off the bat?

June 18, 2007 Jun 18, 2007 06/18/07
Raymond Chen
In the initial designs for the Start menu, the list of most-frequently-used programs on the Start menu would be completely empty the first time you opened it. This was perfectly logical, since you hadn't run any programs at all yet, so nothing was frequently-used because nothing had been used at all! Perfectly logical and completely stupid-...

"Super" watch, episode 2

June 15, 2007 Jun 15, 2007 06/15/07
Raymond Chen
Not just "super exciting" but "super-super-exciting". (But at least he's not super super super excited.) I don't consider this super encouraging. Episode 1...

The Thing? Mystery of the desert

June 14, 2007 Jun 14, 2007 06/14/07
Raymond Chen
NPR reported on The Thing?, a surreal yet kitchy roadside attraction on Interstate 10 in Arizona which has cryptic (and therefore intriguing) advertising signs for hundreds of miles. Listen as Rene Gutel of member station KJZZ in Phoenix gets to the bottom of the enduring mystery: What is The Thing...

If you pin a program, it doesn't show up in the frequently-used programs list

June 14, 2007 Jun 14, 2007 06/14/07
Raymond Chen
After the initial explorations with the Windows XP Start menu, we had to add a rule that fine-tuned the results: If a program is pinned, then it is removed from consideration as a frequently-used program. For example, if you right-click Lotus Notes and select "Pin to Start menu", then it goes into the pin list and will never show up in ...