During the Windows XP development process Microsoft began a “clean desktop” initiative, to attempt to make the Windows desktop a more useful place to run applications and save the user time by not having to minimize apps to launch new processes (that’s what the Start Menu is for). It was also the intention of Microsoft to give the end user more control over the desktop and let the user keep only the icons that were important to the user on the desktop. It seems as though that initiative has been forgotten, as it seems like almost any application that is installed places an icon on the desktop, sometimes with permission, or more often, without.

I find myself having to clean up after applications way too often, especially on my mobile systems. The application that started this particular rant today is an image viewing and manipulation application that placed its icon on my desktop. For that application, I do not require the desktop icon or even the start menu icons. The only way I launch the application is by its file associations. Perhaps its time to rethink how applications are accessed.