[Hublium]

Press <Windows>+R, "calc" <Return>. Easy and fast, if you can remember the exact names of the executables.

Also, back then Windows came not only with printed manuals, but also with an actually useful help system and not one that just makes a Bing search.

[pedrogpimenta]

Yes, regular user, just do:

<Windows>+R, then write "calc", press <Return> and you'll be ready to use the calculator. Very intuitive.

[_puk]

Almost like you need a CLI as the OS that simply launches the visual UI program for specific tasks.

A pretty desktop background and a prompt would go a long way.

I'm now picturing something like ChatGPT (or a specifically trained model) integrated into the shell, so a user can simply type / vocalise what they are trying to do, without knowing specific app details, rather than having to navigate a bloated UI.

[anthk]

Clicking a single item it's faster than typing.

[alxlaz]

The modern-day equivalent is yes, regular user, just do <Windows>, then write "calc", press <Return>, and you'll be ready to use the calculator. That R really killed it...

[Hublium]

To be fair, you have to remember that the calculator is called "calc.exe" to use this method. However, when parent said "you really wouldn’t want the II of that era back" I understood "you" as "HN reader", not as "regular user".

Also, there is also a "discoverable" way to launch programs keyboard-only: <Windows>, P, A, C (Programs - Accessories - Calculator).

I just really dislike the Windows 10 start menu search. It slows down on random occasions just often enough to be too annoying for me to use, at least on my machine.

[alxlaz]

I dislike it because the autocompletions are hilariously brain-dead most of the time. Like, it usually autocompletes folder names correctly, but I can't really rely on that feature because some of them are never offered as candidates. E.g. "Work" is not only not offered as candidate (even though I have a folder named "Work"), but mysteriously autocompleted to "Word".

It's also a solution to a self-inflicted problem. Super-crowded Start menus were a problem, but not a very widespread one among people who aren't nerds. The Windows 11 Start menu is crowded but largely because it's littered with Microsoft's own apps. If I were to take out Xbox, Alarms & Clocks and all the other crap I no longer bother to uninstall because it's gonna come back on the next update anyway, I could probably use it quite comfortably.

[pedrogpimenta]

No, it's not. For tech people, yes. For regular folks, most don't even know you can write after pressing the Windows key. Moreso, not everyone even knows the Windows key opens the menu. Folks don't use shortcuts like we do.