Filed under: Utilities, Microsoft
Hate the new Windows 'start menu'? Get the classic XP menu back with this little app!
By now a lot of you will have experienced the 'All-in-One Omnipotent Start Menu' thing that was first introduced with Windows Vista and can now be found in Windows 7. It combines My Computer, My Documents and your installed programs into one big, gribbly menu.Some people love it. Some hate it. Personally, I like the all-in-one search/run input box... but that's about it. I much prefer the old drop-out menu, even if it is a bit stupid when you've got 500 programs installed. I still use icons on my desktop, rather than getting at everything through my Start Menu.
There have been a few tools that replicate the old Start Menu, but this one(aptly called 'Classic Windows Start Menu'), unlike the others, also works with the Windows Aero theme. Sadly, as you can see in the screenshot below, there still seem to be some bugs with the display (ironically, probably when you have a lot of stuff installed), but otherwise it all seems to work as intended!
So if, for some reason (and I'm sure there are lots of possible reasons) you don't like the Vista/7 Start Menu, why not grab this tiny little app?
Direct download link / developer's site (it ain't pretty, but you can find other-language versions there, if you don't want it in English)
[via Into Windows]
I don't know if this is a labor of love or merely the brainchild of four very gifted games designers, but Level Up is a really weird mash-up of gaming elements that you have probably never seen in a Flash game before.
Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Malteserr said 1:03PM on 11-21-2009
I can't believe that instead of going forwards we're still stuck with these stupid apps.
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der_tuxman said 1:49PM on 11-21-2009
What's stupid in not wanting to change the way to use Windows?
Sebastian Anthony said 2:01PM on 11-21-2009
The original menu is still available to you at any stage, if you need it.
Flexibility is good!
kojo87 said 2:06PM on 11-21-2009
people who can't adapt to change should either stick with XP or just be left in the dust.
der_tuxman said 2:20PM on 11-21-2009
I don't think a missing will to adapt questionable changes is a bad sign.
Rocky said 2:55PM on 11-21-2009
Just type whatever you want to run in the search bar. A lot faster and easier than using either of the start menu trees.
der_tuxman said 3:32PM on 11-21-2009
Maybe faster but not necessarily easier.
Rocky said 3:43PM on 11-21-2009
To each his own. It's easier for me... if it's easier for you to use the tree, then obviously you should use that.
I just type one or two letters of what I'm looking for and it pops up instantly. Two keystrokes and a mouseclick and I'm on my way! =p
der_tuxman said 4:00PM on 11-21-2009
Right now I'm playing a bit with mouser's Find And Run Robot which does the same, but it leaves my start menu untouched... :)
Sebastian Anthony said 8:05PM on 11-21-2009
I also think the start-typing-find-what-you-need is very neat.
Especially as you can do it all from the keyboard: Windows key, and just start typing. Lovely!
david said 9:03PM on 11-21-2009
Because it's stubborn and the majority of people who whine about it have no legitimate problem with it, they just don't like change.
Cile1977 said 5:22PM on 11-21-2009
Vista and Win7 start menus are the best new thing in windows - now i don't have to use launchy or some other 3rd party app
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Noname said 4:33PM on 11-21-2009
Windows 7 and Vista Start Menu is an epic fail:
http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/vxp_18.jpg
compared to KDE Start Menu :
http://www.addictivetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kde4-start-menu.png
http://www.addictivetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kde-4-application-menu.png
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Malteserr said 2:59AM on 11-22-2009
You just went ahead and expanded a bunch of Start Menu items in Windows to make it look at messy as possible compared a screenshot of someone's "favorites" which has a max of 5 items. You remind me of politicians
Night Owl said 4:44PM on 11-21-2009
Why is this even necessary? Windows already has "Classic Start menu". Just right click on the Windows Orb, click on Properties, and then click on "Classic Start menu" (under the "Start Menu" tab). Why is it necessary to install another application?
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Ben said 5:46PM on 11-21-2009
You really should tell people you close all your apps just to launch new ones with desktop shortcuts. It makes you look like a simpleton.
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Sebastian Anthony said 8:04PM on 11-21-2009
Well on my desktop, it's usually used for one thing at a time -- games, Photoshop, audio editing. Usually getting back to the desktop is a matter of closing whatever's open.
On the laptop I just have my usual programs on the superbar, and open everything from that.
Warner Young said 6:52PM on 11-21-2009
You know, I wouldn't mind the new Start menu so much if I could organize things better in it. The ability to put a few items I want, either into folders, or divide them with separators, would go a long way toward that goal. But since there doesn't seem to be any support for that built-in, we have to find apps to do it for us.
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iubyont said 5:52PM on 11-22-2009
you can organize them. uncheck the box that says sort by name. right-click explore all users or whatever username and create folders.
the best setup i've found for windows is to put frequently used programs on the superbar and pin all frequently used files to those programs jumplists. reserve your desktop for recently downloaded/transferred files or for files that will be used frequently now but not enough in the future to deserve to be pinned to a jumplist.
Andrew Pollack said 8:04PM on 11-21-2009
I may try this. I don't really like the way the new start menu works. For 99% of the times I start something not already pinned to the taskbar, I use Launchy. When I hit the start menu, I'm looking for something or browsing for something I don't remember.
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