Microsoft could implement a significant change to the Windows 11 start menu. A publication on X (Twitter) hinted that the new leader of Windows has intentions to renew it in a future update. Mikhail Parakhin, director of Web and Windows Experiences, wants to make the start menu “great again.”
The manager asked his Twitter followers about the work environments and experience of using Windows. “It’s New Year’s, I’m asking all kinds of questions for my list of resolutions,” Parakhin said. Although the survey was focused on technical issues, a user named Mark Szili asked a fundamental change that would make life easier for everyone.
“Please just fix the start menu so I can scroll through all the apps without clicking All applications”Szili mentioned. The Windows executive immediately responded to the suggestion by pointing out that It is one of the characteristics that bothers you the most. Mikhail Parakhin closed by saying that he will push his team to make the start menu great again.
In the same thread, another user asked Parakhin to adjust the toolbar to switch to the last active window with a single click and without depending on the miniatures. The head of Windows responded that he also does not like this feature of Windows 11 and agreed that a functionality similar to the Aero Flip (Alt + Tab) of Windows 7 would be an alternative.
Mikhail Parakhin responded to more user requests and agreed that a change is necessary in some of the basic functions of the operating system. Parakhin took over as head of Windows and Web Experiences after Panos Panay resigned from Microsoft in September 2023.
The suggestions made by several users to Mikhail Parakhin revive one of the biggest controversies of Windows 11. Microsoft’s decision to center the Start menu and incorporating a simplified, app-focused layout significantly deviated from the traditional left-aligned menu.
Users found the change disorienting, as it threw away years of muscle memory and familiarity. Central location prioritized aesthetics over functionality and made navigation less intuitive for Windows veterans. This is evident in the “All Apps” button, which replaces the vertical scrolling of the Start menu.
The controversy was not limited to this function, but to others design decisions that hindered navigation or they eliminated classic features of the operating system. Added to that, Windows 11 introduced stricter hardware requirementswhich created compatibility problems for older computers that were perfectly capable of running Windows 10.
The manager knows that he must regain the trust of the users and the first step is solve basic operating system problems. Tweaks to the Start menu and other features are likely to arrive in the next big Windows 11 update. Mikhail Parakhi and his team will have to listen to the community to make sure Windows is great againsomething Panos Panay never did.