Showing tag results for Other

Jun 21, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

How does the Windows XP Start menu decide that a program is newly-installed?

Raymond Chen

Actually, I discussed this topic already, but I'm mentioning it again here since it's thematically related to the other Start menu articles. I'm told that there have been a few tweaks to the rules for Windows Vista. Some installers set the time stamps on the program to match the time stamp of the install media. This makes for pretty director...

Other
Jun 20, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

More Start menu fine-tuning: Choosing a better representative for a frequently-run program

Raymond Chen

If you paid really close attention to the way a representative shortcut is selected for a program, you may have noticed a problem with it. Here's the rule again: If there are multiple shortcuts to the same program, then the most-frequently-used shortcut is selected as the one to appear on the front page of the Start menu. Suppose there are two...

Other
Jun 19, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

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

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 and ...

Other
Jun 18, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

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

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-looking....

Other
Jun 15, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

"Super" watch, episode 2

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.

Other
Jun 15, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

What other programs are filtered from the Start menu's list of frequently-used programs?

Raymond Chen

We already saw that programs in the pin list are pruned from the most-frequently-used programs list because they would be redundant. Another fine-tuning rule was introduced after the initial explorations with the new Windows XP Start menu: Programs with specific "noise" names are removed from consideration. Many "noise" programs were showing...

Other
Jun 14, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count0

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

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 the d...

Other
Jun 13, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

The program doesn't have to be run from the Start menu to earn Start menu points

Raymond Chen

There's a second subtlety to 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. Since programs earn points and not shortcuts, a program can earn points even if you don't use the Start menu to run i...

Other
Jun 12, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

Points are earned by programs, not by shortcuts

Raymond Chen

The first subtlety of the basic principle that determines which programs show up in the Start menu is something you may not have noticed when I stated it: Each time you launch a program, it "earns a point", and the longer you don't launch a program, the more points it loses. Notice that the rule talks about programs, not shortcuts. The "points...

Other
Jun 11, 2007
Post comments count0
Post likes count1

What determines which programs show up on the front page of the Windows XP Start menu?

Raymond Chen

The principle is that programs you've run most often recently are the ones that show up on the front page of the Start menu. At least, that's what we started with, but it turns out that some fine-tuning was needed in order to get the experience to be more "natural". The basic rule is that each time you launch a program, it "earns a point", and the...

Other