In its final form, Windows 95’s Start menu retained the Windows flag on the button with the addition of the word Start. And, you can see that Help, Find, and Programs were all put on the menu along with Run and Shut Down commands. Also added were Documents and Settings.
Soon after Windows 95’s debut, Windows NT 4.0 made its appearance and it too featured the new Start menu. As you can see it has the same base items, but its name is emblazoned vertically along the side with a colored gradient background.
When Windows 98 hit the streets, its Start menu indicated its tight integration to the Internet via the Windows Update button at the top of the menu and a duplicate of Internet Explorer’s Favorites menu right after the Programs menu. You can see that the Log Off command became a main part of the Start menu.
In Windows 2000, we saw a shift back to cleaner Start menu. Favorites were gone and the Log off command now appeared in the Shut Down Windows dialog box. (However, you could put the Log off command back on the Start menu, if you wanted.)
The Windows Me Start menu basically looked and worked just like the Windows 2000 version.
When Windows XP made its debut, it was immediately apparent that the developers had radically modernized the Start menu. So much so that they provided the option to switch back to the Classic Start menu, so that those who were not ready for a new start menu could go back to something familiar. The Classic Start menu looked and worked like the one from Windows 2000 and previous versions of Windows.
After 6 years of Windows XP, the developers of Windows Vista decided to shake up the user interface with Aero and made many changes to the Start menu. The most obvious was the Start button, which changed from a box with the word Start on it to a glassy orb sporting only the Windows flag. The next major new feature was the Start Search box, which served as the main Search interface for the entire operating system.
The most recent version of the Start menu, in Windows 7 is almost identical in appearance and functionality to its predecessor’s Start menu. However, you’ll notice that the Shut down button has changed back to words and the lock icon is gone. All shut down options appear on a small menu adjacent to the Shut down button.
