Andy Young, a former Microsoft employee who was a senior software engineer for over 13 years, recently shared his frustrations on X (formerly Twitter). He highlighted the performance issues he’s been facing with Windows 11 and criticized the start menu, calling it “ridiculously bad.”
Along with his post on X, Andy Young shared a video demonstrating the performance problems he’s been experiencing. Surprisingly, he’s running Windows 11 on a high-end $1,600 device equipped with a powerful Core i9 CPU and a massive 128GB of RAM, significantly exceeding the minimum system requirements for Windows 11.
The Windows 11 Start Menu is comically bad.
This machine has a $1600 Core i9 CPU and 128 GB of RAM and this is the performance I often get.
What is going on in Redmond? pic.twitter.com/hDvALHRB5q
— Andy Young (@anerdguynow) April 9, 2024
Andy Young’s post on X quickly went viral, with numerous users expressing their own frustrations with the app. Many users echoed his concerns about the poor start menu performance, stating that it often lags, making it difficult to access and launch applications quickly.
As Andy Young sarcastically pointed out, “My favorite Windows feature is opening the Start menu, typing ‘notepad’, hitting Enter, and having Edge open with a Bing search for ‘notepad’.”
Changes on Windows PC
Interestingly, earlier this year, Mikhail Parakhin, the former leader of Microsoft’s Windows Experiences, pointed out some issues with the Start menu in Windows 11. One of the major concerns was the inability to scroll through the entire list of apps directly from the Start menu without clicking on the ‘All apps’ option.
Parakhin expressed his desire for his team to address this issue, considering it one of the most frustrating aspects of the Windows 11 Start menu.
However, there have been changes in Microsoft’s Windows department since then. The company recently underwent a reorganization, resulting in the Windows team returning to the Windows organization under the leadership of Rajesh Jha, who heads Engineering + Devices.
Pavan Davuluri, formerly in charge of Microsoft’s hardware efforts, now leads the Windows engineering team. These changes may bring new perspectives and strategies to address user feedback and improve the Windows 11 experience.
Focus on AI
Microsoft appears to be shifting its focus and resources toward AI efforts, particularly its Copilot projects, as evidenced by the recent internal memo. The company is reportedly moving most employees away from the Teams chat app to support these AI initiatives despite increasing pressure from the EU Commission over antitrust concerns, leading to Microsoft decoupling Teams from its Office 365 suite globally.
Additionally, Microsoft seems to be exploring new ways to integrate Copilot into the Windows experience, albeit in a manner that some users could perceive as intrusive or unwanted.
Reports suggest that Microsoft is testing features that could display Copilot as an advertisement on users’ desktops, triggered by simply tapping the taskbar icon. Furthermore, an upcoming Windows 11 update is said to change how users interact with the notification center on tablets, replacing access to notifications with the launch of Copilot.
Could it get any worse at this point?
It’s encouraging to hear that there might be some positive developments regarding the performance issues with the Start Menu in Windows 11, as highlighted by users like Andy Young. According to Young’s recent update, someone named ‘Jen’ approached him and indicated that Microsoft is actively investigating these performance concerns.
While Young did not explicitly mention who ‘Jen’ is, there is a strong possibility that he was referring to Jen Gentleman, a member of Microsoft’s Windows engineering team.
Gentleman is known for her involvement in gathering feedback and addressing issues related to the Start Menu, Settings, Taskbar, Input, and other aspects of the Windows operating system. She also frequently shares useful keyboard shortcuts with users.
If this speculation is accurate, it would suggest that Microsoft is taking the performance complaints seriously and is actively working to investigate and potentially resolve the Start Menu issues that have been frustrating users.
Having a dedicated member of the Windows engineering team acknowledge the problem is a positive sign that Microsoft is listening to user feedback and prioritizing improving the user experience.
The State of Windows
As we enter 2024, the Windows landscape presents an exciting picture, notably marked by users’ reluctance to transition to Windows 11 despite the looming end-of-support deadline for Windows 10 in October 2025.
According to StatCounter data, Windows 10 holds a significant market share, commanding 69.04% of the Windows operating system market. In contrast, Windows 11 trails behind in second place, capturing only 26.72% of the market. Several factors have contributed to this trend, including Microsoft’s stringent system requirements for Windows 11 and perceived design flaws in the operating system.
Many Windows 11 users have voiced their dissatisfaction with the Start menu, indicating a strong sentiment among users. This sentiment has spurred the popularity of third-party alternatives like Stardock’s Start11, offering users a more customizable experience. A recent update to Start11 introduced rounded corners to the Windows 11 taskbar, mimicking the aesthetics of a potential future version of Windows.
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