Pretty much in the title, the only time I interact with the windows key in its standard operating condition is getting pissed off that the start menu opened. I use it in other capacities such as taking screen shots and other key commands but I got to wondering if anyone, ever actually uses it to access the start menu.

Also if anyone comes here and posts “dOnT uSe wINdoWs,” you really are cute.

Edit: I am more curious if anyone actually gets utility out of its default behavior (opening the start menu). I am aware that it is used in a number of key commands (although some are new to me).

  • indomara@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    Yes, I definitely do. I use it to open start menu and search, as well as using quite a few commands, run, snipping tool, moving and resizing windows, etc.

    When win10 is no longer supported we will be making the leap to linux, and I really hope I can get much of this functionality there.

  • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    4 days ago

    Yes, it’s one of the most useful keys. I haven’t used file explorers for applications in forever. Hit the Windows key, type a couple letters of the program you want, hit enter.

  • Kcs8v6@lemmy.world
    7·
    4 days ago

    Yeah, 100%. I hit the windows button and immediately just continue typing the name of the program I’m looking for. It’s extremely convenient.

  • towerful@programming.dev
    8·
    4 days ago

    Win+M minimises everything.
    Win+(arrow key) moves windows around.
    Win+S for screenshot.
    Win+C (with PowerToys) opens a color pipette tool.
    Win then type the name of the program or setting brings those results up (well, after windows has a network connection or realises it isn’t gonna get one. Which is stupid)

    • Blemgo@lemmy.world
      4·
      4 days ago

      Win+P allows you to quickly change how your windows works. Win+K brings up the menu to connect to a wireless monitor. Win+L will lock the screen. Win+R will call the “Run…” window.

      KDE Plasma also inherits a lot of the shortcuts Windows has. AFAIK MATE/Cinnamon do also share some of the keybinds, but for some reason they use CTRL+ALT instead.

      Also fun fact: the Windows key is also called the SUPER key.

  • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
    661·
    6 days ago

    I use it a lot. Ever since windows 8, the best way to use windows has been hit the windows key and type what you want.

    Additionally there are a few shortcuts that are handy

    • win + L for locking
    • win + E for file explorer
    • win + D for desktop
    • win + ctrl + alt + shift + L to hate what windows has become
  • Kethal@lemmy.world
    49·
    6 days ago

    So you use your mouse to click on the start menu button, scroll through the menu and click again on the program? That sounds awful. I click the Windows button and type the program name.

    • MicrowavedTea@infosec.pub
      101·
      6 days ago

      The real question is who uses the actual start menu, as in tiles and program list. I’ve only ever seen people type the program name

      • wols@lemm.ee
        2·
        4 days ago

        I use the tiles to “pin” programs that I use semi-regularly and can’t be bothered remembering the name of. Or that share an inconveniently long prefix with the name of another program. Or that I have multiple versions of installed, with a specific version I usually need.

        I don’t like pinning such programs to the task bar because they add unnecessary clutter while not in use.

      • Kethal@lemmy.world
        9·
        6 days ago

        The Windows start menu is inexplicably a huge mess. Like all MS products, they cram their interface with as much as possible.

        • rivalary@lemmy.caEnglish
          3·
          6 days ago

          I preferred their nested menus to what is there now, though I started using search as soon as it became a thing (Windows 7?). They should have really implemented categories (like in Linux) early on rather than having every suite have it’s own sub-menu in the Start Menu.

          • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
            2·
            6 days ago

            You can do that yourself, since Chicago first debuted in ~1994.

            I don’t want my OS categorizing stuff for me.

            My start menu is categorized on the root (where “pinned” items go), and I leave the rest of the menu alone.

            • rivalary@lemmy.caEnglish
              1·
              6 days ago

              The maintainer of the application chooses the categorie(s) but manually organizing things as an end user… is kinda dumb. Maybe I don’t understand your workflow (or why the Start Menu is the way it is now with all programs barfed into one list, I figured it was for touch devices). It doesn’t really matter, though, because search is used primarily now, anyways. Forgetting the name of the application is the only reason I can see digging through the Start Menu now.

      • LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.world
        3·
        6 days ago

        I prefer OpenShell, since it unfucks the start menu and makes it usable. It’s just like Win7 but easy to customize.

        • pulverizedcoccyx@lemmy.ca
          2·
          6 days ago

          I only ever see the real start menu on other people’s computers. Openshell is like ublock, without it your face tends to contort and twist like you ate a lemon.

      • Donebrach@lemmy.worldOP
        1·
        6 days ago

        I imagine some legacy users who cut their teeth on Windows 95 or something and never changed their ways. I was a Mac user through the mid 2000s and switched back when I got my gaming rig with Windows 10 so I don’t remember when the search bar was implemented—never used the start menu since.

  • WolfLink@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    4 days ago

    Sometimes it works better for tabbing out of a game than alt-tab does. Not sure why. Also it depends on the game.

    In Ubuntu I use the command key as my main way to launch applications.

  • aStonedSanta@lemm.ee
    16·
    5 days ago

    I’m on Linux. But yeah I use it to open the start menu all the time. Then I can type apps name and hit enter

    • DokPsy@infosec.pub
      51·
      5 days ago

      Win +shift+s to get snapshots

      Win +r to get to run command, generally for opening applications in safe mode

      Win to quickly start search for apps or settings

  • sag@lemm.ee
    5·
    4 days ago

    Do you mean super key? Yea, All the time for moving Windows, opening programs, etc.

    • maniii@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      4 days ago

      Don’t you have a Penguin sticker on yours ? It doesnt have to be a Windows logo.

      • sag@lemm.ee
        2·
        4 days ago

        Yea, I bought a penguin sticker paste it on my Windows keys.

  • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    5 days ago

    Constantly.

    Open shit on the taskbar.

    Win + E for file explorer.

    Win key and type stuff for a few programs I don’t want to have icons for.

    One of the best keys!

  • Eiri@lemmy.ca
    11·
    5 days ago

    All the time. It’s basically the only way I open the Start menu. And I use Windows key shortcuts like Win+Alt+K really often.

  • finalarbiter@lemmy.world
    13·
    5 days ago

    As others have said, I use it mainly for the search function to start programs as well as many shortcuts. I’ve seen others mention screenshots and locking, but here are a few more:

    • Win+. - Opens the special symbols/emoji windows
    • Win+ left or right arrow - Snaps a window to the left or right half of the screen, respectively. Up arrow maximizes, down minimizes.
    • Win+r - Opens the run dialog
    • Win+v - Opens clipboard history (history is off by default, it will ask you to enable it the first time you use the shortcut)
    • Win+x - Opens the ‘quick link’ menu (Power Options, Event Viewer, System, Device Manager, Network Connections, Disk Management, Computer Management, and Command Prompts
    • As a bonus, my favorite windows shortcut is Ctrl+Win+Alt+Shift+L, which opens linkedin in in a new browser tab.

    A full list can be found here: windows key shortcuts