Windows 11 has some interesting new features, but its UI is polarizing. If you're like me, you downloaded a Windows 11 ISO and did a clean install on a test machine, but don't like the new version of the Start menu because it takes up more screen real estate and makes you click a button to see a complete, alphabetical list of all your apps.
Best Windows 8 Start Screen Modifiers And Start Menu Apps
11. Hide the search box (optional). Since the search box doesn't actually work, your best bet is to hide it by using Regedit to navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search and setting SearchTaskbarMode to 0 and then restarting Windows. The good news is that the Start menu replacements have their own search boxes built in.
If you don't have a gaming keyboard, it's still possible that the Windows key can be disabled with a third-party app. If you are using someone else's computer, or you recently inherited this PC without resetting the PC and starting with a fresh hard drive, check your computer to see if there is any software running which might interfere with or disable the Windows key. Some of the most common apps to look for include WinKill and WKey Disabler.
Windows 11 brings a new look to PCs, including a brand-new Start menu and a redesigned Taskbar. New, however, isn't always better. If you dislike the look of Windows 11, there are plenty of apps that make it easy to customize your PC. From bringing back the classic Start menu to having an animated background, these are the best apps to customize the look of your Windows 11 PC.
For now, Start11 is a great place to, well, start. It lets you customize the look of the Windows 11 Start menu. You can also use it to bring back classic Start menu designs, such as those seen on Windows 10 and Windows 7. It also supports restoring the Taskbar context menu, adding folders and pages to the Start menu, and creating shortcut links. You can even use it to move the Taskbar to the top of your display, which was an option on Windows 10.
If you have multiple screens, a workspace will be created on each screen atstartup. If you open a new workspace, it will be bound to the screen youcreated it on. When you switch to a workspace on another screen, i3 will setfocus to that screen.
The building blocks of our tree are so-called Containers. A Container canhost a window (meaning an X11 window, one that you can actually see and use,like a browser). Alternatively, it could contain one or more Containers. Asimple example is the workspace: When you start i3 with a single monitor, asingle workspace and you open two terminal windows, you will end up with a treelike this:
For example, you can configure bindings to jump to specific windows,you can set specific applications to start on specific workspaces, you canautomatically start applications, you can change the colors of i3, and youcan bind your keys to do useful things.
This option determines which border style new windows will have. The default isnormal. Note that default_floating_border applies only to windows which are starting out asfloating windows, e.g., dialog windows, but not windows that are floated later on.
If you assign clients to workspaces, it might be handy to put theworkspaces on specific screens. Also, the assignment of workspaces to screenswill determine which workspace i3 uses for a new screen when adding screensor when starting (e.g., by default it will use 1 for the first screen, 2 forthe second screen and so on).
If activated, marks (see [vim_like_marks]) on windows are drawn in their windowdecoration. However, any mark starting with an underscore in its name (_) willnot be drawn even if this option is activated.
You can specify which workspace should be put on which screen. This allows you to have a different set of workspaces when starting than just 1 for the first monitor, 2 for the second and so on. See [workspace_screen].
Use unique features not available in any other Start menu replacements, like a smartphone-like home screen to manage your favorite apps and sites, a real-time notification center, free app recommendations, and the ability to customize your Windows 8 experience (i.e. boot to desktop, disabling hot corners).
If you plan to always use NVDA on this computer, you will want to choose to install NVDA.Installing NVDA will allow for additional functionality such as automatic starting after sign-in, the ability to read the Windows sign-in and secure screens.These cannot be done with portable and temporary copies.For full details of the limitations when running a portable or temporary copy of NVDA, please see Portable and temporary copy restrictions.
This option allows you to choose whether or not NVDA should automatically start while at the Windows sign-in screen, before you have entered a password.This also includes User Account Control and other secure screens.This option is enabled by default for fresh installations.
If you have installed NVDA with the installer, then starting NVDA is as simple as either pressing control+alt+n, or choosing NVDA from the NVDA menu under Programs on the Start Menu.Additionally you can type NVDA into the Run dialog and press Enter.If NVDA is already running, it will be restarted.You can also pass some command line options which allows you to quit (-q), disable add-ons (--disable-addons), etc.
When NVDA starts for the first time, you will be greeted by a dialog box which provides you with some basic information about the NVDA modifier key and the NVDA menu.(Please see further sections about these topics.)The dialog box also contains a combo box and three checkboxes.The combo box lets you select the keyboard layout.The first checkbox lets you control if NVDA should use the Caps Lock as an NVDA modifier key.The second specifies whether NVDA should start automatically after you log on to Windows and is only available for installed copies of NVDA.The third lets you control if this Welcome dialog should appear each time NVDA starts.
If you sign in to Windows by providing a user name and password, then enabling this option will make NVDA start automatically at the sign-in screen when Windows starts.This option is only available for installed copies of NVDA.
If this is enabled, NVDA will inform you when there is a pending update on startup, offering you the possibility to install it.You can also manually install the pending update from the Exit NVDA dialog (if enabled), from the NVDA menu, or when you perform a new check from the Help menu.
Installed versions of NVDA store all settings and add-ons in a special NVDA directory located in your Windows user profile.This means that each user on the system can have their own NVDA settings.To open your settings directory from anywhere you can use Input Gestures dialog to add a custom gesture.In addition for an installed version of NVDA, on the start menu you can go to programs -> NVDA -> explore user configuration directory.
The log viewer, found under Tools in the NVDA menu, allows you to view all the logging output that has occurred up until now from when you last started NVDA.Using NVDA+F1 will open the log viewer and display developer information about the current navigator object.
The first option in ExplorerPatcher's Properties menu is for Taskbar. Here, you can change the Taskbar style to Windows 10, choose how and when to combine Taskbar buttons, modify the size of Taskbar buttons, and move the Taskbar to any side of the screen. After making your modifications, click the link for Restart File Explorer, and the changes go into effect (Figure 9).
In addition to the changes to the Start menu, Windows 8 takes a more modal approach with its use of full-screen apps that steer away from reliance on the icon-based desktop interface. In doing so, however, Microsoft has shifted its focus away from multitasking and business productivity.[28]
Windows 11 start menu layout option deployment is better if you compare it with Windows 10. You can also learn more about Windows 11 Taskbar Customization Using Intune. Start menu layout customization is important for Windows 11 after the production release on 4th Oct 2021.
Windows 11 uses JSON files to customize or modify the Start menu layout. For Windows 10, I used the XML file to customize the start menu and taskbar layout. Device restriction policies helped us to implement start layout settings for Windows 10 PCs using the XML file.
You can launch the endpoint.microsoft.com MEM admin center portal to create the Windows 11 start menu customization policy. Following the steps to start the Intune Windows 11, start the menu customization policy creation process.
Now, you will need to find out the OMA-URI for customizing the Windows 11 start menu settings (pinned apps). The following OMA-URI is shared in Microsoft documentation.
You can check the event log to confirm whether the policy deployed to Windows 11 PCs or not. You can also check the registry entries to look at the Windows 11 start menu customization quickly. I have shared many other Intune troubleshooting posts as listed below.
You can also use Group policy to customize Windows 11 start menu layout. Microsoft says there are some known issues with the following group policy configurations. Some policies may not work as expected.
You can navigate to any of the following policies and configure Windows 11 start menu layout using group policy. More details of Windows 11 ADMX policy implementation guide Download Windows 11 Administrative Templates.
When you start a focus session, taskbar badging will turn off, flashing of applications in the taskbar will turn off, a focus timer will appear on screen, and do not disturb will turn on. Focus in Windows integrates with focus sessions in the Clock app, so you can play calming music and see a task list from Microsoft To-Do. When your focus session ends, you will receive a notification letting you know your focus time has completed. You can personalize your focus experience (Settings > System > Focus). 2ff7e9595c
Comments