Windows user experience (Rant)
Windows user experience (Rant)
I’ve never posted much before, but I thought this was the right spot to vent my thoughts. This morning I found myself in a scenario where my girlfriend wanted to play Minecraft (and she’s definitely not a kid). She needed to upgrade to the latest launcher, even though it wasn’t strictly necessary. The installation went smoothly. When she tried to create a shortcut on her desktop, Microsoft apparently didn’t support it. Since her PC uses Windows 11, I remembered that in Windows 10 you could drag the launcher icon from the start menu onto the desktop to make a shortcut. That was my first attempt, but I realized Windows 11 doesn’t have that option. I tried right-clicking and even the shortcut menu didn’t appear. Eventually, I opened the Run dialog, used the shell command, and went back to the start menu folder, hoping for a hidden shortcut. But there was nothing there. We both agreed it was more trouble than it was worth. I suspect the issue stems from Minecraft Launcher being classified as an Xbox game rather than a standard app. Still, I’d expect it to have basic shortcut features. This thread might make me seem really confused if there’s a simple fix I’m missing—please let me know if you think of anything. But based on what I see, Windows 11 doesn’t seem to offer a clear way to create desktop shortcuts for Xbox games like the new Minecraft Launcher.
Interesting idea—something lighter than traditional XP but tailored for gaming.
I haven't touched desktop icons in ten years, I usually start everything by pressing the Windows key with my thumb and typing a few words. Yet I chose to try it, it looks like adding desktop shortcuts works fine now—just right-click items and generate a shortcut. (Windows 11)
You can find complimentary scripts and tools that help remove Windows 10 excess features. It’s possible to transform Windows 10 into a more XP-like setup.
On Windows 11, the Start menu icons can't be placed on the desktop yet. You can still access them by navigating to the "All Apps" area and dragging an app there.