Comparison of Start menu replacements for Windows 8

Microsoft's operating system Windows 8 introduced an updated Start menu known as "Start screen", which uses a full-screen design that consists of tiles that represent applications, and doubles as the primary interface of the operating system instead of the Windows desktop. Additionally, the on-screen Start button was replaced by a hidden button in the corner of the screen; Microsoft explained that the Start button was removed because few people used it, noting the addition of "pinning" apps to taskbar on Windows 7.[1][2][3]

The change was controversial among users, and a market ensued for applications which restore the visible Start button, emulate the previous Start menu design, or allow the users to boot directly to Desktop instead of Start screen.[4]

The following is a list of Start menu replacements for Windows 8 which have received coverage from third-party sources:

Name Developer License Skins Run Pinning Aero Sort Boot to desktop Notes
Classic Start 8[5] Crawler, LLC Freeware No Yes ? ? ? ?
BringBack[6] Revel Software ? ? ? ? ? ? Discontinued [7] (http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/revel_bringback8.html)
Wentutu Start Menu[8] Wentutu ? ? ? ? ? ?
Classic Shell[9][10][11][12][13] Classic Shell team Versions 3.6.8 and prior: Open source MIT License (except for skins, logo, artwork etc. which is copyrighted),[14] Versions after 3.6.8: Proprietary Freeware [15] 10+extensible[16] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Allows Modern UI related tweaks
Classic Windows Start Menu[17] SourceCodeBoy Freeware for non-commercial use only (CC-BY-NC-ND)[18] Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Ex7forW8[19] Tihiy Freeware ? ? ? ? ? ? Discontinued (http://tihiy.net/files/ex7forW8_1.0.zip)
Finalbird[20] Svyatoslav Yudin Freeware No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Favorites of Start Menu is unified with the other software parts
Handy Start Menu[21] ChemTable Software Freeware ? ? ? ? ? ?
Tweaks.com Start for Windows 8[22] Advanced PC Media Freeware ? ? ? ? ? ?
Pokki[9][10][12][23] SweetLabs, Inc. Freeware No ? ? ? ? Yes
Power8[9][24]

[25]

 Power8 Team GNU General Public License ? ? ? ? ? ?
RetroUI Pro[9][11][26][27] Thinix Trial ? ? ? ? ? ?
Samsung Quick Starter[28] Samsung ? ? ? ? ? ?
StartFinity[29] WinAbility Software Free and paid editions available ? ? ? ? ? Yes Supports automatic localization of Start menu
Start Menu X[30] OrdinarySoft Free and paid editions available ? ? ? ? ? ?
Start8[9][10][31] Stardock Corporation Trial Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
StartW8[32] SODATSW Freeware ? ? ? ? ? ?
StartIsBack[9][10][11] Пуск Будет Удобнее Trial 4+ Yes Yes ? ? Yes modifies existing hot corners
Start Menu 8[9][10][12][33] IObit Freeware ? ? No ? ? Yes
StartMenuPlus8[34] Winok Trialware ? ? ? ? ? ?
Start Menu Reviver[35] ReviverSoft Freeware ? ? ? ? ? Yes touch screen support
SyMenu UGMFree Freeware 6 ? Yes ? Yes Yes The menu is entirely portable
ViStart[36] Lee-Soft Ad supported Yes Yes Yes No ? Yes
Win8StartButton[37] Torch Media Inc. ? ? ? ? ? ?
Win8Starter[38] Engelmann Media GmbH ? ? ? ? ? ?
Xeesa 1b QuickStart[39] Xeesa Services Free and Paid Available No ? ? ? ? ? Cloud Start Menu available

The number of skins in the table givens the number of built-in skins. If there are downloadable skins, then a "+" is appended to the number to indicate that download extensions are possible.

RetroUI, StartIsBack, Classic Shell, Start8, and Pokki are five of the more notable of these.[9][10] RetroUI is offered in 33 languages, and also for Windows Server 2012, and adds a taskbar and resizable windows.[40] StartIsBack is also localized.[41] Classic Shell used to be free and open source (now proprietary freeware), major items are localized and installing the Language Pack from Windows Update makes all items fully localized; Classic Shell is also available for Windows 7 and Windows Server, and claims over 25 million downloads.[42] The Pokki download to restore the Start menu is free; as of January 2013, it has about 1.5 million users.[43] The Pokki application platform, based on Chromium, enables desktop applications to be built—like mobile apps—using standard web languages like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.[44] It is also available for Windows XP and Windows 7.[45] Pokki has raised $21.5M from investors like Google, Intel, and O'Reilly;[46] its business model is to make a commission on software sold through its app. store.[44][47] Start8 has been downloaded over 5 million times.[48]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button". PC Pro. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  2. ↑ Whitney, Lance (2012-02-06). "Microsoft removes start button in Windows 8". CNET. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  3. ↑ "Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button". PC Pro. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  4. ↑ Whitney, Lance (2011-10-12). "Microsoft reacts to gripes over Windows 8 Start screen". CNET. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  5. ↑ Free Traditional Start Menu Style for Use with Windows® 8
  6. ↑ Revel BringBack (beta) Review | Windows 8 Start Menu Apps
  7. ↑ "Revel Software - About Us". Retrieved 2014-01-30.
  8. ↑ Bring the Start Menu back in Windows 8 with this app
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "9 Windows Start menus for Windows 8". IT World. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sebastian, Anthony (2013-02-20). "How to bring back the Start menu and button to Windows 8". Extremetech.com.
  11. 1 2 3 How to get the Start menu back in Windows 8 | Windows 8 – CNET Reviews updated 2012/12/31
  12. 1 2 3 "6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8". HowToGeek.com.
  13. ↑ Spector, Lincoln (2012-09-06). "Give Windows 8 the Start menu it deserves". PCWorld. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  14. ↑ Classic Shell SourceForge Project
  15. ↑ Classic Shell FAQ, Is Classic Shell open-source?
  16. ↑ Classic Shell Review: Softpedia
  17. ↑ "Classic Windows Start Menu". Softpedia. SoftNews. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  18. ↑ SourceCodeBoy. "SourceCodeBoy homepage". Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  19. ↑ "Disable the new Windows 8 interface for good with Ex7ForW8".
  20. ↑ "Finalbird - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com".
  21. ↑ Handy Start Menu – CNET Download.com
  22. ↑ "Tweaks.com Start for Windows 8". CNET. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  23. ↑ "Pokki Brings Back the Start Menu to Help Confused Windows 8 Users". SFGate. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  24. ↑ "What Windows 8.1 Must Be – Personal-tech – Desktop Operating Systems – BYTE". Informationweek.com. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  25. ↑ "Home · AgentMC/power8 Wiki · GitHub:". Mike Makarov AgentMC. 2015-04-09. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  26. ↑ Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (2012-04-18). "Make Windows 8 Look Like Windows 7". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  27. ↑ Erez Zukerman. "RetroUI tries to fix Windows 8's usability woes, but only makes them worse". PCWorld.
  28. ↑ Chris Smith  (2012-10-16). "Samsung to return classic Start menu to Windows 8 with free app | News". TechRadar. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  29. ↑ Preston Gralla  (2012-10-12). "Windows 8 cheat sheet". COMPUTERWORLD. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  30. ↑ Sandeep Yadav  (2012-08-29). "Start Menu X: Get Start Menu and Button in Windows 8". TechFeb. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
  31. ↑ Gregg Keizer (2012-09-27). "$5 buys a Start button, Start screen bypass for Windows 8". Computerworld. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  32. ↑ Want To Get Back The Start Menu In Windows 8? Here's How | Mobile & Apps
  33. ↑ Pegoraro, Rob (24 November 2012), Windows 8 woes? Get Start menu sub, retrieved 10 December 2012
  34. ↑ Jon L. Jacobi. "Review: StartMenuPlus8 is just another utility to give Windows 8 a Start Menu". PCWorld. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  35. ↑ WINDOWS 8 START MENU APPS SHOWDOWN
  36. ↑ Muchmore, Michael (2012-04-17). "Tip: How to Get the Start Menu Back in Windows 8". PCMag.com. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
  37. ↑ 6 Things Microsoft Must Do In 2013 – Software – Windows 8
  38. ↑ "Win8Starter: Startmenü gratis für Windows 8 – News – CHIP Online". Chip.de. 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  39. ↑ Xeesa 1b
  40. ↑ RetroUI web site
  41. ↑ StartIsBack web site
  42. ↑ Classic Shell
  43. ↑ Yahoo! News, Jan. 16, 2013
  44. 1 2 Kincaid, Jason (30 June 2011). "OpenCandy's Pokki Brings Web Apps To The Desktop, With Style". TechCrunch. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  45. ↑ Pokki web site
  46. ↑ Wauters, Robin (29 September 2011). "SweetLabs Raises $13 Million From Intel, Google And Others For Pokki App Platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  47. ↑ Alex, Wilhelm (17 April 2012). "Meet Pokki: Bringing the power of mobile apps to your desktop". The Next Web. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  48. ↑ Mossberg, Walter S. (2013-05-07). "Review of Start8 and Pokki: Bringing an Old Start to a New Windows - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2013-05-29.

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