Re: Games? The First Sign of Program Categories?

One of the main resons "games" has now been separated in the start menu is
due to the new focus on parental controls within vista. When a game is
installed its ELSPA rating is retrieved and logged with the game, a shortcut
is placed in the game folder along with the rating, a proper boxshot, and
links to support info for that game.

Parents can now use parental controls built into vista to limit children to
playing games on or below a certain ELSPA rating giving them more control on
what their kids are subjected to. There is also a set of benchmarking tools
that have shortcuts in that folder to allow people to ensure they can run
the game before buying (even more important in the UK now all game retailers
have stopped takign returns from ppl who didnt check their spec before
buying!)

Of course this sort of functionality is not required for other types of
applications such as ur word processing and ultities etc. It is part of MS's
focus to make the PC a 'one stop shop' this part allows the pc to run almost
as simply as a games console.

HTH

Ben
"Adahn" <administrator@localhost> wrote in message
news:eDmUkIcQGHA.2300@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

>I have always had both the Start Menu and the actual locations categorized
>like that, and kept copying the Start Menu over across Windows
>installations.
>
> In my case, the categories are;
>
> Accessories (everyday tools & applets, further subcategorized into
> Communications, System Tools, Multimedia etc.)
> Emulation (my hefty collection of emulators and related stuff)
> Games
> Lab (development tools)
> Workshop ("productivity" apps, like Office, CorelDraw etc.)
>
> anything transcendental, like Encarta, the Command Prompt, and so on gets
> to stay on the root
>
>
> <Nicholas> wrote in message news:uDzZyabPGHA.1460@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

>> So MS has done something to the programs folders at last huh?
>>
>> You know, Games is totally out of place in the Vista Start Menu:
>>
>> Documents (files)
>> Pictures and Videos (files)
>> Games (programs)
>>
>> Hey MS! Why didn't you go on!!!!???? You should've made:
>>
>> Games (programs)
>> Office Productivity (programs)
>> Educational Reference (programs)
>> Creativity (programs)
>> etc...
>>
>> So that we can finally ditch the 20 year-old folder system for grouping
>> program shortcuts!
>>
>> You see the benefits of the Games folder... ALL GAMES IN ONE PLACE, isn't
>> that neat and simple? I'm sure you didn't miss the days going through
>> Start > All Programs > EA Games > Command & Conquer > Command & Conquer
>> Generals...
>>
>> Now MS do us a favor, in Windows Vienna or whatever, next time, force all
>> software publishers ISVs to adhere to CATEGORIES, plain and simple... 180
>> million Windows users in the universe will thank you for that, I
>> guarantee...
>>

>

I have always had both the Start Menu and the actual locations categorized
like that, and kept copying the Start Menu over across Windows
installations.

In my case, the categories are;

Accessories (everyday tools & applets, further subcategorized into
Communications, System Tools, Multimedia etc.)
Emulation (my hefty collection of emulators and related stuff)
Games
Lab (development tools)
Workshop ("productivity" apps, like Office, CorelDraw etc.)

anything transcendental, like Encarta, the Command Prompt, and so on gets to
stay on the root


<Nicholas> wrote in message news:uDzZyabPGHA.1460@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

> So MS has done something to the programs folders at last huh?
>
> You know, Games is totally out of place in the Vista Start Menu:
>
> Documents (files)
> Pictures and Videos (files)
> Games (programs)
>
> Hey MS! Why didn't you go on!!!!???? You should've made:
>
> Games (programs)
> Office Productivity (programs)
> Educational Reference (programs)
> Creativity (programs)
> etc...
>
> So that we can finally ditch the 20 year-old folder system for grouping
> program shortcuts!
>
> You see the benefits of the Games folder... ALL GAMES IN ONE PLACE, isn't
> that neat and simple? I'm sure you didn't miss the days going through
> Start > All Programs > EA Games > Command & Conquer > Command & Conquer
> Generals...
>
> Now MS do us a favor, in Windows Vienna or whatever, next time, force all
> software publishers ISVs to adhere to CATEGORIES, plain and simple... 180
> million Windows users in the universe will thank you for that, I
> guarantee...
>

"I have always had both the Start Menu and the actual locations
categorized
like that, and kept copying the Start Menu over across Windows
installations.

In my case, the categories are;

Accessories (everyday tools & applets, further subcategorized into
Communications, System Tools, Multimedia etc.)
Emulation (my hefty collection of emulators and related stuff)
Games
Lab (development tools)
Workshop ("productivity" apps, like Office, CorelDraw etc.)

anything transcendental, like Encarta, the Command Prompt, and so on
gets to
stay on the root "

Yes, that's great! But it would be even better if MS forces all ISV to
adhere to some common "UI management" sense.

Regards

--
Nicholas...

"Overclock Your Life, Then The World"