Windows 8 Classic Start Menu Download

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Malva Ferster

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:08:18 PM8/3/24

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You may be using Windows 7. Everything seems fine, except one thing. You simplyhate the way the Start menu has changed. You tried the old trick of using the classic theme, but it did nothelp you really. You are stuck with the dual-column Start menu and it annoys the very fungus between yourtoes. In other words, you do not like this:

You would prefer to have the good old, linear Start menu and access programs in a cascading manner. As someonewho suffers from a mild case of OCD and prefers functionality over eye candy to the uttermost limit ofefficiency and productivity, I fully understand and share your pain. Which is why I spent quite a bit of timetrying to find the solution to this irksome issue. Luckily, the remedy to the problem is rather simple.

The solution is called: Classic Shell. Classic Shell is a asmall, simple tool that re-enables a collection of features that were available in older versions of Windowsbut do not exist in Windows 7. Most importantly, it brings back the classic Start menu, adds a Windows XP styletoolbar for Windows Explorer and powers on a few smaller, less noticeable features. Sounds like exactly thetool we need! Let's install Classic Shell!

If the Start menu was the one thing keeping you from either using the classic theme in Windows 7, forcing youto stick with the sick-baby-blue default, or prevented you from considering Windows 7 in the first place, theissue has now been removed. You can happily migrate or make your desktop work as you desire.

On the other hand, you may be interested in pimping up your Windows XP to look more like Windows 7. Hence,this tutorial of mine. Moreover, if you need help getting your Windows 7desktop tamed, you might want to consider reading my Windows 7 customization article. Finally, to get Windows 7 installed in the first place or have it bootalongside other operating systems, you may want to peruse my Windows 7 installation guide and the dual-boot tutorial.Well, I guess that would be all for today.

-the recent programs are numbered by default -- you can just press the windows key to see the list, then hit alt + the number displayed besides the app to start it (sort of like Win+number for apps to the taskbar). I like it.

There's just so much stuff you can tweak. It's exactly what Windows' own start menu should be like: do whatever you want. Definitely NOT this "let's cram a dumb smartphone touch UI down your throat". Classic Shell's start menu is so good I just might install it on Win7 too.

You still get the occasional metro crap here and there (like network connections ) but it's like 98% gone. In fact, it seems to make Win8 mostly usable. There's still some small issues to fix (e.g. can't pin stuff in the start menu easily) but it's still a light-year ahead of Win8's metro garbage. An open source app just might be what saves MS from themselves.

I just found this thread (happens when you only enter the forum via links to e-mail notifications of new postings in existing threads). Thanks very much for the screenshot -- ClassicShell looks very attractive there!

I don't understand sometimes. If people want to have exactly the same appearance and features of W7, such as old Start Menu, Explorer without the ribbon, then why bother installing W8? Why not simply stick to W7 for it's a better choice?

That's NOT what we're after. We're perfectly happy with anything that's an actual improvement, or that is at least no worse than what it replaces. It's not that it's different, it's that the new version is horrendous (everything Metro, specifically) and that it can't be disabled. Just make this Metro garbage optional and the problem is solved! If you see people who try to get back what was there before, it's because that's a vast improvement over what Win8 has.

OK, then perhaps I am the only one here who is agreeable to this new OS! It comes to my sense that when I choose to use W8 with new nice features, I'll accept both the advantages and disadvantages. I mean, I'll enjoy all the good features, as for small and unimportant problems, I'll leave them alone!

Do you eat your soup with a teaspoon? This is what Metro is on a desktop PC with a large monitor: NONSENSE which slows down everything. It works a but, but it is not optimal (like eating a soup with a teaspoon). We have different types of spoons, knifes for some specific tasks. And Metro is a UI specialized for touch and nothing else.

Such as? There's barely anything new feature-wise (slightly improved explorer, somewhat nicer task manager, and that's it really), and it basically fixes none of the things I'd like to see it address.

It seems to me like so chuck full of serious problems that it might as well be closer to "just a large collection of problems" than "an operating system" (some parts copy/pasted from a previous post) :

Win8 is making everything useful about Windows "legacy", only to force an ill-suited touchscreen interface on mouse/keyboard users which is a gigantic setback in usability and which will just confuse everybody. It'll take some time for most users to adjust to this tacky interface and its gaudy icons, gestures, hot corners and screen edges (which are a real pain with VMs and multi monitor setups, while also taking away familiar elements like the start button to do so), hidden elements (less visual cues), reduced discoverability, scrolling up/down with the mouse that actually scrolls sideways, everything running maximized (and with no chrome), the desktop being just another application, multitasking being very much neutered, the disjointed combo of metro and desktop environments, etc. The new start menu replacement is a gigantic step back over what we had, WMC is now a paid-for extra that even requires you to purchase a more expensive version of Windows (yet it had zero updates), DVD playback and the MPEG2 codec are gone (no Blu-Ray support either), WMP lost the ability to play DVDs even if you buy the WMC pack which makes it a even worse media player than it already was. Also, customizability has been thrown out of the window, they're forcing crappy MS cloud services on users, ARM devices throw 20 years of backwards compatibility out the window (and they also introduce locked bootloaders), the app store that can remotely deactivate apps you paid for, the existing Metro apps are of incredibly bad quality and are very much feature-light (most are also useless without an internet connection), Metro apps in general are rather dumbed-down, etc. At best it just gets in your way, it's an obstacle to getting work done and it slows you down.

They've reinvented the wheel by making it square. It creates countless major problems rather than solving any, just so they have a laughable chance at selling a few mediocre tablets (I'm sure it'll sell as good as the Zune or Windows Phone). But hey, explorer now has a ribbon, and task manager has heat maps!

About WMC (= Windows Media Classic?), I never use it! I've always got VLC and the KMPlayer on Windows since I used XP and W7 so I installed them on W8 too. If I watch something on my own on the desktop, I'll run VLC. If I watch something on TV screen with my family or friends, then I'll use the KMPlayer. Both of them can play nearly every media files. And as I said before, I only use my computer for simple needs. W8 seems to meet those needs very well.

In conlusion, in my previous post on this thread, I said perhaps I was the only one here agreeable to this OS. It also means that I agree that everyone has their own opinions about W8. Most people find it full of problems and don't like it. I myself, on the contrary, feel very pleasant to use it all the time. Is this completely clear to you two now?

I understand that "we have different types of spoons, knifes for some specific tasks". But we also have different types of Windows users with different IT levels and different needs. That's why we have different thoughts about this issue too. I don't like the Metro screen then I ignore it, just working on the desktop only and it doesn't bother me at all. That's why I consider it just a small problem.

Yes, you are absolutely correct that "to each his own" is the approach we all should take. After all, you didn't ask us if we thought you should use Win8, you had already decided that on your own. You did however seem surprised that we don't like it. At this point though, I think that both sides have very clearly stated their opinions so we should let it rest. If you won't try to convince us we should use it, then we won't try and convince you to use something else. (At least I won't.) I'm sure that opinions about Win8 will continue to be posted, because it has definitely irritated a lot of people, but the opinions are not meant as any kind of affront toward you. People are just expressing their dissatisfaction with the decisions that MS seems to be making, and describing how those decisions would effect how they currently use their PC in their daily lives. The hope is that if enough people complain loudly enough in enough places and with the purchases they make, or the lack of them, that MS might listen. If it doesn't effect Win8, then perhaps Win9.

In short, Classic Start Menu is based on a simple ability of human memory to remember images and locations of objects on a subconscious level. For this reason, Classic Start Menu represents each program as an icon, so that you could automatically memorize its location and access much faster next time.

Being compatible with all major Windows versions, Classic Start Menu replaces the current start menu with a more functional and customizable menu: you can organize your programs and commands from the menu itself, apply power-off options, launch programs in a Single Click, zoom in and out for better viewing, and much more.