Classic Shell: Forum

I upgraded from Win7 to 8.1 this week and tried all the start menus. You have quite an impressive product here but it needs more polish. Some of us value something that looks like it belongs to the operating system, Classic Shell in my humble opinion looks like a fat chick at a playboy party.

It sticks out like a sore thumb, whereas the likes of SIB and Start8 actually integrate well with the OS to the point where from a view where the desktop is shown and Start Menu is open, it looks like an exact replica of the start menu in Windows 7 utilizing the Windows 8 Visual Style.

Sorry dude, but some of us like things to look native, I'm slightly anal about the fact that Steam and Origin just blatantly ignore the UI guidelines of both Windows and Mac but I've got no choice with those.

If you excuse the visuals it is a damn fine product. My request to you guys is make it damn perfect visually.

The Start Menu supports skins and you can make your own skins. I made a skin to make it match the transparent taskbar better in Windows 8.1: http://winaero.com/blog/get-the-best-lo ... -skin-2-0/

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Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Are you saying that this doesn't look like an exact replica of the start menu in Windows 7 utilizing the Windows 8 Visual Style? http://www.classicshell.net/gallery/Cla ... ell-4/win7

Why don't you just find and use something that suits your tastes? Or, better yet make one.

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Classic Shell Start Menu

The Start Menu does not have a look that is native to the taskbar. With SIB or Start 8 you get the feel that the Start Menu and the taskbar are made of the same material texture. Classic Shell looks like a band-aid.



I tried that skin but I kept getting a blackish shade in the Start Menu whereas the taskbar looks less dark



If I knew how to I would make one. I fiddled with the glass color but can't get the same level of transparency as the taskbar. Not to take away anything from Classic Shell's quality but visuals make people want to use the product.

The menu is intentionally less transparent than the taskbar to make the text more readable. The default skin will not sacrifice readability for looks. If you want a more customized look you need a third-party skin or make one yourself. It is not that hard.

The Winaero 2.0 skin was created specifically to match the Start Menu Glass color with the Taskbar. I think it's a close match, it's a lot more transparent than the default skin but it tries to preserve readability by not being the same level of transparency as the Taskbar. In fact when I tried Start8 and StartIsBack on Windows 8.1 and the taskbar/glass color was a light shade, it was hard to read the text on the Taskbar as well as the Menu.

Also take a look at this topic: http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewt ... 186&p=6210 You might be able to tweak the colors easily with the table of values.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.