How would I make a new start-menu?

[AreWeThereYet]

Background:
I'm a fairly new software-engineer. Have mostly worked in game-engine
coding, and some linux programming both in C++. Less so on the Front-end and
Windows sides. But have used Visual Basic and TrollTech's QT GUI libs before.

Tools:
Have most/all of the 'free' visual-studio installed on my Windows XP-Pro box.

Question:
I have some ideas for extending the basic desktop-functionality with simple
new features. I also want to try streamlining or even re-writing the
'Start-Menu'.

My ideas are purely functional and 99% graphics independent. Not eye-candy!

How would I go about proto-typing these for fun/testing/personal-use? Guess
my question is which tool do I need, and what relevant resources can I check
for more information? Or what keywords would I google? I need a starting
point.

Come to think of it, if MS-Windows is closed sourced, can one do something
like this?

Thanks!

 

[Stan Brown]

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 01:29:01 -0800 from AreWeThereYet

I have some ideas for extending the basic desktop-functionality with simple
new features. I also want to try streamlining or even re-writing the
'Start-Menu'.

I don't know what you mean by "rewriting the Start menu", but Windows
already lets you customize it almost completely.

Maybe if you could be more specific about what you want to do, we
could offer some more specific suggestions.

 

[Anteaus]

"Start Menu" is simply a folder within the userprofile, containing shortcuts.
You can replace these shortcuts programmatically, or by hand.

The other thing I would do is to change the settings to "Classic Start Menu"
-this gets rid of the XP-interface junk, leaving you with just the startmenu
entries.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Thanks for the replies.

Win95, Win98, XP, Vista, KDE-3.x, KDE-4, GNOME, etc. All have a "Start" menu
to accomplish similar purposes.

Each version has subtle differences in look, feel and functionality.

I'd like to play with ideas like moving the "All-programs" catalog to the
primary start-menu panel, or having scrolling "panels" like KDE-3.5/Vista
rather than the older nested pop-up menus.

Or having the "all programs" catalog display multiple columns, with programs
sorted by "category" in one and "manufacturer" in another.

I have both new ideas and ways to better-refine old methods. I want to
display more, better-organized information to the user in fewer clicks.

I believe my full vision goes beyond simple desktop-customizing though.


thanks,
Steven

 

[AreWeThereYet]

The other thing I would do is to change the settings to "Classic Start Menu"

-this gets rid of the XP-interface junk, leaving you with just the startmenu
entries.

So right now I can choose between:
- Classic Start Menu
- XP Start Menu

I want to change between:
- Classic Start Menu
- XP Start Menu
- Steve's Cool Start Menu
- Steve's SUSE-KDE-Clone Start Menu
- Steve's Vista-Almost-Got-It-Right Start Menu

Trying to say I want to edit the functional Framework of the start-menu not
just the icons in it on this exact machine.

- eg. Click "START" and see the "All Programs" list right THERE instead of
making two clicks

- eg. Have the open START menu permanently PINNED to the desktop



Trying to explainify without throwing out my GOOD ideas.. I think I could
improve virtually every aspect of the desktop. I want to start proto-type
little changes to the GUI.

Maybe my answer is it can't be done on a proprietary system and an
open-source desktop is the correct tool for experimentation.

I was hoping to run my trials on Windows-XP as I use it more often and
(IMHO) it is more poorly designed. Thus I would benefit more from my creative
undertaking. If any one has further suggestions though I'd appreciate them.