Classic Shell: Forum

Every effort is made to make sure this comparison is accurate, relevant and up-to-date. If you feel it's incorrect, feel free to discuss what below. It may just be that you do not understand some feature.

Feature	Classic Shell’s Start Menu	Windows 7 Start Menu	Windows 8/8.1 Start Screen	StartIsBack/+/++	Stardock Start8/Start10	Windows 10 Start
Supported operating system	Windows 7/8/8.1/Vista	Windows 7	Windows 8/8.1	Windows 8+	Windows 8+	Windows 10
Cost	Free	Free (Integrated)	Free (Integrated)	$.2.99+ more for additional licenses	$.4.99+ more for additional licenses	Free (Integrated)
All Programs Style	Windows 9x/2000, XP style, Windows 7 style	Windows 7 style	Screen full of items with no hierarchy	Windows 7 style, XP style	Windows 7 style	Windows 7 style
Access folder contents with submenus	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
Number of items that can be shown without scrolling	Few in Windows 7 style, many in XP style multiple columns	Few	Fewer than XP multi columns, but more than Windows 7	Few in Windows 7 style, many in XP style multiple columns	Few	Few
A-Z list is free of clutter (Uninstall, ReadMe, Help etc)	Yes	Yes	No, All apps view is cluttered with hardly ever used shortcuts	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tweaks for All Programs list	Open automatically, Focus on All Programs automatically, Hide Metro apps, Show folders first, Jump to app by typing first letter	Jump to app by typing first letter	-	Show folders first, jump to app by typing first letter	Jump to app by typing first letter	Jump to app by clicking or tapping first letter
Custom Start Buttons	Yes	-	-	Yes	Yes	-
Animated Start Buttons	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Adjust Start button size on-the-fly and alignment	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Configure mouse clicks	Left click + modifier keys, right click, middle click, hover, additional hotkeys	-	-	Left click + modifier keys only	Left click + modifier keys only	-
Configure Windows key	Yes, Win key+modifier keys, act differently depending on Desktop or Metro	-	-	Yes, Win key+modifier keys, press and hold Win key	Yes, Win key+modifier keys, act differently depending on Desktop or Metro, press and hold Win key	-
Search Start menu's own settings	Yes	-	-	-	-	Yes
Start without background service	Yes	Yes (integrated into Explorer.exe)	Yes (integrated into Explorer.exe)	Yes	Yes but not by default	Yes (integrated into Explorer.exe)
Pin apps, websites, folders and drives	Per-user and for all users	Per-user only	Per-user only	Per-user only	Per-user and for all users	Per-user
Items organized by	Folders, Custom items & submenus	Folders	Groups	Folders and Custom items	Folders and Custom items	Groups
Most used programs	Yes	Yes	Yes (Windows 8.1 only)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Recently used items	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Sort recent/frequent list by name or descending order	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Jumplists	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
Adjust width and height	Yes	-	-	-	-	Yes
Customizable Shutdown menu	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Power actions accessible over Remote Desktop	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Rearrange items by drag and drop	Yes	Yes	Yes (but only in Tiles View, not in Apps View)	Partially	-	Main menu right area only
Drag items from outside to menu to pin, drag items out from the menu	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
Sort recent documents	Name, file extension or date	Name	-	Name	Name	-
Sort once	Yes	-	-	Yes	-	-
Keep always sorted	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Highlight new programs	Yes, customizable for how long	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Install Windows updates on shutdown	Yes	Yes	Install updates and restart	Yes	-	No control over updates
Set submenu delay	Yes	OS settings in Registry	-	OS settings in Registry	OS settings in Registry	-
Set tooltip delay	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Icons in the second column	Yes	-	-	Glyphs in StartIsBack++ only	-	Yes
Multiple columns for submenus	Yes	-	-	Yes	-	-
Column width of submenus	Dynamic so more columns fit	-	-	Width of all columns is equal	-	-
Customize user picture and its command	Yes	Picture only	Picture only	Picture only	Picture only	Picture only
Pin folders as expanding menu	Yes, both left and right columns	-	-	Right column only	Yes, both left and right columns	-
Show Libraries as a combined submenu	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Show menu adjacent to vertical taskbar	Yes	-	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fast & fluid experience thanks to icon caching and search results caching	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Unified search for programs, settings and files	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
Search settings keywords	Yes	Yes	When using Win+W only	Yes	-	Yes
Search system path	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Search parts of words without using wildcards	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
File search using Advanced Query Syntax	Yes	Yes	When using Win+F only	Yes	Yes	After clicking “My Stuff”
Search recent documents	Yes (if added to search index)	Yes	-	Yes	Yes (if added to search index)	-
Open folders from index using search	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
Configure whether search box has focus or menu items	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Search network shares added to Libraries	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-
Set icon size of main menu & submenus to any size	Yes	-	Limited tile sizes, small size hides app name	-	All Programs view can show large icons in Start10	Limited tile sizes, small size hides app name
Customize animations	Yes	-	Yes	-	-	-
Customize fonts and text rendering	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Customize text and menu color	Yes, background color, more customization via skins	-	Background color and textures	Background color, more customization via themes	Background color and textures, more customization via skins	Background color only
Skinnable	Yes, own customizable skin format	-	-	OS visual styles and WindowBlinds	Yes, and OS visual styles and WindowBlinds	-
Customize Start button tooltip	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Disable hot corners on Windows 8	Yes	N/A	Partial	Yes	Yes	N/A
Taskbar customization features	Text color, background color & transparency, textures	Disable transparency and change color	Change color	Transparency, Skinning via msstyles	Transparency and textures	Change color
Customize menu item names	Yes	Yes (only for file system shortcuts)	Only before pinning	Yes	Yes	Only before pinning
Customize menu icon & tooltip	Yes	Yes (only for file system shortcuts)	Only before pinning	Yes (only for file system shortcuts)	Yes (only for file system shortcuts)	Only before pinning
Menu item positioning	Fully customizable	Limited	Limited	Limited	Limited	Limited
Custom DPI scaling	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Combine folders in one submenu	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Insert any command anywhere in the menu	Yes, both left and right columns	Only as pinned item in left column	Only as pinned item	Only as pinned item in left column	Only as pinned item in left column	-
Customizable menu sounds	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Group Policy support	Yes	Yes	Limited	Yes	Yes	Limited
Start or exit the menu without Explorer restart	Yes	N/A as it is integrated	N/A as it is integrated	-	Yes	N/A as it is integrated
Separate Apps from Programs	Yes	N/A	Only in Apps View when it's sorted by Category	Yes	In Start10, not Start8	-
Multi-monitor support, per monitor DPI scaling	Yes, menu can open on monitor with mouse pointer	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	-
Default number of skins / styles / themes	7 skins in Classic style, 5 in Windows 7 style	-	-	4 styles	3-4 themes	-
Open several apps by holding down Shift	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Filtering of paths in search box (e.g. C:\Windows\*.exe)	Yes	-	-	-	Yes	-
Hide programs from the Frequent list	Once or permanently	Once	-	Permanently	Once	Permanently
Expand search results within the menu	Yes	-	-	-	-	Yes
Search Providers (OpenSearch)	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Settings reset, backup and restore	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Insert submenu items as buttons	Yes	-	-	-	-	Has tiles which are similar
Split button items (command+submenu)	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Hide file extensions for submenus	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Extended keyboard shortcuts like Explorer	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Keyboard accelerators	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
View tooltips upon mouse hover	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Open any command or even a file as administrator	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Create folders or shortcuts inside menu without using Explorer	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Scroll items with mouse wheel	Yes, scrolling menus and program tree	Programs-tree only	Yes	Programs-tree only	Programs-tree only	Programs-tree only
Unmatched customization and usability for mouse+keyboard	Yes	-	-	-	-	-
Full right click actions available	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
Links with submenus to system locations	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
Ease of closing it with mouse	Click anywhere outside or Start button	Click anywhere outside or Start button	Must click on ‘Desktop’ tile or Start button	Click anywhere outside or Start button	Click anywhere outside or Start button	Click anywhere outside or Start button
Compact yet fully functional menu	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
Scales well for large number of apps	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-	-
Live Tiles	-	-	Yes	-	-	Yes
Optimized for touch screen	Yes	-	Yes	-	-	Yes
Glass support	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Start10	Yes
Match Start color with Taskbar	Yes and third party skins available	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uninstall Metro Apps	Yes	N/A	Yes	Yes	-	Only some
Move search box out of the way when touch keyboard is docked at the bottom	Yes	Touch keyboard can be docked at the top	Yes	-	-	Yes
Pin Metro Settings	Yes	-	-	-	-	Yes

If you are still not convinced, here are 15 reasons to use the Classic Shell Start Menu in Windows 10.

And 10 Ways to Customize Windows 10 With Classic Shell

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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.

Good comparison info. I've tried them all and am convinced Classic Start Menu is way above the rest for my preferences. Thanks. Will contribute again soon.

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Windows 10 Build 1803 (OS Build 17134.48)
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Macrium Reflect Pro
Classic Shell Start Menu

Good comparison info. I've tried them all and am convinced Classic Start Menu is way above the rest for my preferences. Thanks. Will contribute again soon.
Very very good ClassicShell

I didn t even need to read that ! Just using it convinced it was the best !!! )

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Fabien
"Let's make things simple. Faisons les choses simplement. "

Nice comparison and Classic Shell excels. One thing I like with SiB is that it can keep only Apps on the Start Screen, removing all the clutter. Is that possible with CS?

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Windows 10 Pro x64

No that is not possible for the Apps view with Classic Shell as of now. But on Windows 8.1, the automatic pinning of desktop shortcuts to the Start screen Tiles view is gone anyway so you can keep only Metro apps pinned there. Better still, use the Start Menu to launch Modern apps. You can add an "Apps" item to the right column in Windows 7 style also from the Customize Start Menu tab in Settings.

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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.

Good news, thanks a lot GauravK. Didn't know this about 8.1.

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Windows 10 Pro x64

Great comparison here. Tried them all but one thing that keeps me away from ClassicShell, such a small thing, but with the Windows 7 skin, the right panel with Control Panel etc doesn't look right, not enough width spacing compared to Windows 7 and SiB.

The spacing is less because it can support a far greater number of items (system folders and important locations) in the right column, much more than the Windows 7 menu ever did.


But you can adjust the spacing yourself by simply modifying the skin and re-saving it. The parameters you might need to modify are Main2_text_padding and Main2_padding. The 4 values of each parameters are the number of pixels added around the element from the left/top/right/bottom of the menu.

Copy the Windows Aero.skin7 file to the Desktop, open it in Resource Hacker. Change the 'top' or 'bottom' (2nd and 4th) values of the above parameters and save the changes. Rename the skin and copy it back to C:\Program Files\Classic Shell\Skins and then switch to the modded skin from the Skin tab in Start Menu settings.

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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.

Hi,


As GauravK said, it is very simple to do this modification with the Resource Hacker utility, and I encourage you to try it. However I have attached a ready-made skin that makes buttons bigger, more like Windows 7 if you like. Screenshot :


Not sure it is exactly the same size as on Windows 7 though, I don't have a mean of comparison here. Enjoy!

I like Classic Shell's start menu

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Android hacking is sometimes a puzzle.

I do see some improvements in the Windows 10 Start "menu":

1. Live Tiles with push notifications (like the Windows 8 Start screen). Tiles are colorful and graphical, tile sizes can be variable, some of them large, some of them small.

2. Overall, more space for pinning your items. (like the Windows 8 Start screen). It's not without tradeoffs though. The big compromise is all those super-important system folders with submenus have no place. The idea comes from mobile OSes like Android which tuck away all apps inside an App Drawer while you pin apps to the launcher's home screen which you use across multiple pages.


3. Pinned items can be organized into groups (like the Start screen). Again the compromise is that it took the place of important folders whose contents you needed to access easily and frequently.

4. In the All Programs list which is often long and requires you to vertically scroll, you now have the ability to jump to an app which is way up or down in the list without scrolling all the way. You can just click or tap on the A,B,C...Z letters. But then again if you had a physical keyboard, you could do that already. This feature comes straight from Windows Phone. You can do this with Classic Start Menu too if you tap the touch keyboard on the taskbar and tap a letter on it.

5. A handy "Recently installed" feature.

6. Apps can be uninstalled from the menu by right clicking. (The Windows 8 Start screen had this feature too). Most mobile app launchers also have it.

7. The Windows 10 menu can search EXE names to return shortcuts and do approximate string matching. Windows 8.1 also had this feature to type the EXE name and have the shortcut shown.


Do you see anything else which is an improvement over the Classic Start menu? Discuss it here: http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4995

The Start screen also had some interesting unique features like sorting apps by date installed and direct switching between multiple user accounts bypassing the logon screen.

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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.

In Windows 10, I do like the tiles appearing to the right of the Start Menu. I have tried Stardock10 and they offer three choices -- Windows 7, Windows 7 (with Windows 10 styling), and Windows 10 (with tiles).


I would like to have Windows 7 menus AND the Windows 10 tiles.

From the detailed comparison chart above, it appears that configuration is not available from anyone.....is that correct?

It appears so, however it is possible that one of the above has updated since its been reviewed, or there is another product on the market. If you happen to find either to be the case, We would appreciate an update

this is a very good data..... well done

Hi all, I'm new here, have been through windows 8.1 and 10 without feeling the need for any classic start so far, but now i have tried it out a bit, it looks rock solid
and i must say it has much more functionalities that i thought it would, and it has an incorporated search kinda like the one that was supplied in windows 7, which is actually the only thing i was missing in 10. Because without cortana(it is not compatible with my regional settings and i do not want microsoft to own my stuff) windows 10 search box is so slow, and clumsy, it hardly works for me . I don't know if cortana would make the experience any better.

But now i have a dilemma, windows 10 has the best and most versatile styled start interface ever, and with the most shitty searchbox. On the other hand, classic shell has the best search box with the older windowsish interfaces ( that even with it's vast costumization can not match the speed at which i can access all my usual stuff in windows 10 start).

Gaurav had this to say about Windows 10 interface: "The only improvement I see in the Windows 10 menu is being able to pin items in the right side area and organize them into groups."
But this is not just some random feature, it is the best thing ever in my humble opinion. you can cover your entire screen with easily visible and accessible icons organized the way you want, kinda like another desktop, but much better, on the press of a single button.

Not telling the autor that he must do this or that, just wanted to voice my opinion about something that i believe is not possible but should be, which is having the new windows 10 start menu, with the practical cs search box.

Keep up the good work, and have a nice day everyone .

Yes I agree it's a nice improvement. It's like having an organized folder/desktop inside the Start Menu, and because it takes advantage of the screen horizontally and has grouping, it makes it easier to pin and access the stuff you need quickly. It's not perfect - for example, the Windows 10 Start Menu pin area has poor keyboard usability and no features to sort by name, only manual rearranging, but overall it gives a lot more space for pinning compared to earlier menu incarnations.

In the future, if Ivo agrees it's an improvement, he can certainly extend the current menu styles to incorporate pinning items to the main menu in an expanded area.

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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.

I Get it now

Love it.

This was mistakenly (?) posted in the "Start Menu Skins" subforum:

...I can only assume it was intended for this one .-.

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TILES WOOOOOO

What I'd really like is some of the features of Start Menu X

PS: Especially the Virtual Folders/ Categories where we can organize the HUGE BUNCH of Programs via Specific Categories, without actually disturbing the underlying Windows info. Just a layer/ netting on top.