Samsung Start menu app shows why Microsoft is going its own way with Surface

New range of AIO Windows 8 PCs to include Start menu knockoff.

Ars Staff – Aug 28, 2012 7:00 pm | 322

Credit: Samsung

Samsung today announced three all-in-one desktop systems designed for Windows 8. They range from a $749 Series 5 system with a 21.5" 1920×1080 screen, Intel Ivy Bridge Core i3-3220T processor, 4 GB RAM, and integrated HD Graphics 4000, up to a $1699 Series 7 system with a 27" 1920×1080 screen, Core i7-3770T processor, and Radeon HD 7850M graphics. All three systems will ship with Windows 8, and all three systems include a 10-point multitouch screen for easier use of Metro applications.

Dressed all in black, the systems look more like TVs or consumer electronics than they do PCs. Nonetheless, they're fitted out with all mod cons; gigabit wired Ethernet and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a 1.3 megapixel webcam claiming support for "hand gesture recognition," USB 3 and HDMI ports, card readers, and so on. Full specs can be found in Samsung's press release.

More interesting than the PCs themselves, however, is the software that's bundled with them. Pre-installed software is nothing new to the world of PCs, of course. It has earned a deserved reputation as bloatware or crapware, and most users would be better off removing it. These Samsung machines are no exception; they come with some bundled applications.

Some of them, such as a Jamie Oliver-branded cooking application—Samsung is positioning the 21.5" model as the perfect kitchen computer—are inoffensive enough. But another of the bundled applications is raising eyebrows.

First reported by Mashable, the all-in-one systems will include a program called "S Launcher." This desktop application provides a crude replica of a Windows XP-era Luna-styled Start menu along with a settings app that provides access to settings that are equally found in Control Panel.

S Launcher in action, in a charming shade of Windows XP blue. Credit: Mashable

The Windows 8 user experience is polarizing, to say the least. The loss of the Start button and the replacement of the Start menu by the functionally similar, but substantially larger, Start screen is inevitably going to cause some shock and discomfort among new Windows 8 users. But it's also an intrinsic, unavoidable part of the Windows 8 experience. Windows 8 users will have to use the Start screen and will have to get used to it. If the Windows 8 store thrives, Windows 8 users will even want to use the Start screen, because it will be chock full of useful tiles and the applications that they want to use.

As such, S Launcher is just delaying the inevitable. It might seem familiar to users, but it will in practice stand in the way of their ability to learn and use the new operating system. And even that familiarity seems superficial; a number of third-party Start menu applications are available, and they do a much more authentic job of replicating the Start menu than S Launcher does.

This kind of application is exactly why Microsoft is producing its own line of Windows 8 tablets. The company wants the Windows 8 user experience to be just so. Microsoft is working to ensure that it's right—to ensure that it's appealing, and works well without unnecessary impediments.

And impeding the user experience is exactly what this kind of bundled application does. Samsung may be the first to have its alternative UI plans outed, but it's unlikely to be the only OEM to bundle software with Windows 8 to reinstate the Start menu in some shape or form. PC OEMs have a long history of including such apps, even when totally alien (such as OS X-style Dock knockoffs). These applications rarely work very well, and just serve to make the interface non-standard. Microsoft wants consistency and predictability, and these applications are in direct opposition to that goal.

Microsoft has long wanted to control the Windows user experience, but never as much as it does with Windows 8—because the user experience has never been as contentious as it is with Windows 8. As long as the OEMs demonstrate they don't really care about preserving the Windows feel, the company has a strong incentive to compete with the OEMs head on.