Windows 10: Recent Update to the start menu and taskbar icons

Hi,

So I've been using Windows 10 for about a week, everything was positive, until today. I downloaded the OS a good few weeks before I installed it so I'm not sure how up-to-date it was, however it's just completely updated itself (I'm not sure which build it is, or which build it was). So much has changed its like having a whole new OS to get used to all over again, perhaps not unexpected with previews.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem quite as user-friendly and tidy as it did before. To start with a large and obstructive search bar was added to the task bar, but this was easy to remove. More annoyingly the icons on the task bar are now ugly and small with no obvious way to change them, the icons in the tray area now look like they belong on a phone, and theres an un-moveable notifications icon that I can seem to hide or get rid of.

Most annoyingly of all the start menu has been ruined. Before the update there had been a neat, tidy and functional start menu, where the 'apps' section resized itself or even disappeared to fit the apps you put in it. Now it just sits there, massive, one block of ugly, oversized colour. Also the old start menu functions gone, replaced by 'places' and 'most used', not too different and probably easy enough to get used to. Its the large ugly app section that I can get past. Before the update it was so good, how can it be so poor now?

The search function now searches the web with bing (shudder) rather than just searching locally, which is a little unhelpful, I liked being able to just search locally with it, if I wanted to search the web I'd just open the browser.

I realise that everyone might not agree with me here but I can't help feeling a little disappointed with this update. I'm sorry if this comes across as an overly negative first post, for the most part I like Windows 10, especially before the update, its just disappointing to have such useful functionality taken away.

Does anybody know a way to get the older more functional start back, or to resize the apps section?



Apologies if something like this has been posted elsewhere, I haven't had chance to look through all the different forum sections yet.

:)

 

How to launch an installed app outside of Store

(You find it from recently added programs from the start menu) right click on the icon>more >pin to taskbar.

Or other method: right click on the icon> pin to start>right click on the pinned icon from the start menu>more>pin to taskbar

If you not have a icon on the start menu try the following : use the cortana search bar enter the text Windows Scan>right click>pin to taskbar.

Regards.

 

Having trouble with Win 10

I recently updated to Windows 10 and I can't open the start menu or right click on anything in the taskbar, plus I can't open the sound icon, notifications icon, and sound icon. Lastly I can't find powershell anywhere

 

It's not finished yet....