Where's the Start Menu??

Windows Server 2012 introduces a new start menu that really has no "start button", but it's still there.

Quick Answer

The quick answer, is you can access the start menu by carefully moving your mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen and clicking when the Start Menu hover image appears. See the screenshot to the right for clarification.

Detailed Answer

The new start menu is designed to be used heavily with the "Windows Start" key on your keyboard however most Remote Desktop connections will only pass shortcut keys like this when used in full screen mode. It's possible to always pass shortcut keys as well but you must configure this in your Remote Desktop options before connecting to your Windows VPS. This option is not only useful on Windows, but Mac OSX users may have even more trouble with shortcut keys. As a result, instructions are in the "Long Term Options" section below.

Long Term Options

• Enable Shortcut Keys on Windows Remote Desktop
  1. Close any remote desktop connections you may have open.
  2. Run "Remote Desktop Connection"
  3. Click Options at the bottom of the Remote Desktop Connection window.
  4. Click the Local Resources tab and evaluate the Keyboard options available there.

• Enable Shortcut Keys on Mac OS X Remote Desktop
  1. Close any remote desktop connections you may have open.
  2. Run "Remote Desktop Connection"
  3. In the osx menu at the top of the screen, click Remote Desktop Connection > Preferences.
  4. Click the Keyboard tab and evaluate the Keyboard options available there.