Windows 8 is one of the most reviled operating systems in recent times, and the replacement of the Start menu with a huge Start screen was one of the main reasons why it was universally hated. The lack of a Start button, which had become a staple feature of Windows by now, infuriated many, and so did the removal of power buttons from the Start screen.
Although some users liked the new Tiles interface, not everyone shared the same sentiment. Not to mention, the Start screen UI (and by extension the overall Windows 8 experience) was optimized for touch devices rather than full-fledged PCs. The only silver lining was that Microsoft learned from its mistakes and went back to a more conventional Start menu in Windows 10.
Redesigned Context Menu
Just like the Start menu, the context menu that appears when you right-click on the desktop has been a part of the classic Windows experience for years. Sadly, when Microsoft overhauled the ensign elements of Windows 11, the tech giant decided to modify the context menu as well. And the result was less than pretty.
In a bid to provide a more clutter-free experience for users, Microsoft butchered the number of options and settings you could access via this neat interface. Thankfully, it’s still possible to open the legacy menu in a variety of ways, and you can even modify the registry values to get rid of the new interface.
Cortana
When creating an AI assistant for its suite of desktop and mobile operating systems, Microsoft decided to go with Cortana, everybody’s favorite AI construct from the Halo series. While the initial release of Cortana received a fairly positive reception, the real-world version of the beloved mascot slowly devolved into a highly despised feature by the time Windows 11 was rolled out.
Besides its unnecessary inclusion in the Windows 10 OOBE setup process, Cortana’s functionality was pretty limited and its constant pop-ups were rather annoying for the average Windows user. What’s more, the AI assistant had memory leak issues and was known for hogging system resources, forcing many users to disable it using registry tweaks. In the end, Cortana just didn’t generate enough revenue for Microsoft to continue supporting, and the AI assistant was dropped in Windows 11, with the company deprecating Cortana’s Windows 10 app in 2023.
