Classic Shell. Bring back the start button in Windows 8.

Classic Shell. Bring back the start button in Windows 8.

Windows 8, the latest incarnation of the Microsoft OS loved by millions, a fusion of desktop and portable  OS environments to unify the user experience. This post is not a review on windows 8, we’ll save that for another day.

Personally I think Windows 8 has some really nice features but the lack of the familiar start button confused me for a while. The confusion was initially frustrating until you understand how to access all those features you have come to depend on, but even when I understood, what seem to me limitations of the New Operating System, I was still confused. I was perplexed as to why Microsoft would remove the feature that most users depend on, the start button.

For tech savy individuals an upgraded version of an Operating System is exciting, for “normal” people it can be the stuff that nightmares are made of. People just want to get their new shiny computer and Start using it, the only problem is that with Windows 8 you can’t just Start using it because the magical Start button has gone AWOL.

So, without further a do I present to you your new/old start button, Classic Shell.

From the horses mouth:

Classic Shell™ is free software that improves your productivity, enhances the usability of Windows and empowers you to use the computer the way you like it. The main features are:

  • Highly customizable start menu with multiple styles and skins
  • Quick access to recent, frequently-used, or pinned programs
  • Find programs, settings, files and documents
  • Start button for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
  • Toolbar and status bar for Windows Explorer
  • Caption and status bar for Internet Explorer

Classic Shell has been in active development for 4 years and has over 10 million downloads

Here are some screen shots obtained on their website.

startmenu1 startmenu2 startmenu3

What do we think of Classic Shell?

We love it! Why Microsoft had to remove the Start Button we don’t know, why their user testing didn’t flag up the potential ramifications of this we’ll never know. What we do know is that we love Classic Shell and the guys behind this awesome bit of software done the entire universe a great favour, we salute you.

If you want to do simplify your life and bring back the start button to your Windows 8, head over to their site and download the software. The software is FREE but they do ask that if you find it useful that you make a donation and we think you should too. http://www.classicshell.net/ you can also find them on facebook if you want to show your support that way. http://www.facebook.com/classicshell

How much do we love Classic Shell?

100

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