I love the ease of use coming from Windows. Most things are where they "should be" and it feels great.
The big miss is when right-clicking on the "Start" button (the big Z). On Windows, I use the following regularly:
System
Device Manager
Disk Management
Computer Management
Terminal
Task Manager
Settings
File Explorer
Search
Shut Down or Sign Out
It would be amazing if the equivalent of all of these were available when right-clicking the Zorin button. That would greatly help Windows power users feel right at home immediately.
Is there any way we can add to this menu easily? Or is this only done in code somewhere?
I searched online but couldn't find anything about this.
I'm not currently running gnome so can't test these right away and I can't remember what version of gnome shell Zorin is using these days, but you may have some luck with one of these extensions:
This is a great idea to help transition Windows users. At least at first. Though I have to say I've been using Zorin for about 2 or 3 months now, and had to go back on Windows 10 the other day to help someone. Literally it felt like Windows was doing everything it could to hide things away from me. I'm in Search typing "disks" and "management" and it never would come up. Gave me some unrelated apps and some web suggestions. I had to right click the start menu to find Disk Management. A few months on Zorin and now I'm suddenly impatient and irritated with how obtuse I felt Windows makes navigating to anything lol. So do not be surprised if this happens to you.
But I think your idea is brilliant. Familiar and comfortable work flow really goes a long way.
The right-click menu in Windows is such a time-saver, especially when you need quick access to tools like Task Manager or Disk Management. When I switched to Zorin, I missed that too. I found it helped to pin some of my most-used apps to the favorites in the application menu. It’s not quite the same as a comprehensive right-click menu, but it does make things a bit easier. You might have to dig around in the settings to create custom launchers for things like that, but it's worth it for a more streamlined experience.
I know it's not really in the spirit of this question, but I am genuinely surprised that multiple people seem to really want this. In all my years using Windows, from 95 through to 11, I can't remember ever actually using that right-click menu for anything. I don't even know when they introduced that right-click menu, I don't think I noticed it until Windows 10.
Before the Start Menu had integrated search, and to this day because the integrated search became a useless ad-infested nightmare, I just used Win+R to open the Run box and then type in what I wanted: diskmgmt.msc, devmgmt.msc, cmd, explorer, notepad, etc. Other things on your list have their own shortcuts like Ctrl+Shift+Esc for Task Manager and Win+I for Settings.
EDIT: I'm not trying to say that right-click menu is bad or you shouldn't try to find a linux equivalent, just providing my perspective and some other options to consider. Not everyone can or wants to use keyboard shortcuts for everything, which I tend to prefer.
@Ultrabenosaurus This is totally in the right spirit of the question! Here you are, taking time out of your day to express interest in our right-click menu obsession and throw out some ideas in case you can help find alternatives that we can use.
I personally love keyboard shortcuts, I have my own system. That is why I took to Zorin so well I think, it was so amenable to heavy keyboard users. If I need anything I don't have a keyboard shortcut for, I simply Super and start typing. Like I am a spider in a web, I can bring up anything on my computer. Anything! Kinda get drunk with my own power. But yeh that is not for everyone.
But I agree, so many people love the right-click menu and I think it would make people feel like I did when I tried Zorin - wow I feel pampered because look how easy it is to continue the work flow I am used to. And actually do it better than Windows!
One of the biggest hurdles I faced on switching was the dreaded thought of having to relearn how to do everything on the system just so I could get back to doing what I needed to get done in an efficient manner. I think it makes people more comfortable to test out a system and see it is equipped with a lot of the things they depend on.