Skip to main content

How to Add a Start Menu to Windows 8. Some Solutions

start-screen-thumbWith Windows 8, Microsoft has put users in a quandary. On one hand, there is a new and efficient operating system, better file copy jobs, leaner memory utilization and snappier response, and on the other hand, there is this abomination called Metro. After the Developer Preview came out, users tried to reason with Microsoft and Microsoft responded by removing the most iconic symbol of the operating system of 25 years, the Start Menu. Users are horrified by the change and barring a few, most hate the Metro start screen. Some vocal users are now resorting to threats of boycott. But history tells us that deficiencies in Windows has never kept anyone from adopting this operating system, has it? Well, I’m not sure any more.

One thing is certain though – the start menu will be back, and in better form. No, don’t bank on Microsoft. It will be the third party developers who will do that, and they are already on work.

The first start menu application for Windows 8 was spotted on the web a few days ago. It’s an old program actually – ViStart – but users have discovered that it worked perfectly, almost too perfectly on Windows 8, as if it was meant to be used on Windows 8. After installation ViStart added the start orb at the familiar location and clicking on it opened the start menu. Pressing the Win key also no longer opened the Metro start screen but the start menu, the way it always has been.

vistart

Now popular Windows customization software publisher StarDock has just released a new tool called Start8.

Start8 employs an entirely different approach. Instead of bringing back the old Windows 7 start menu, Start8 opens the existing Metro Start Screen as a menu. Rather than hiding the desktop, the start screen stays on the desktop floating above the taskbar. You can use the start screen like you normally would, but now it won’t hide your desktop.

start8

Additionally, you can right click on the start orb and have a small context menu open from where you can choose to shutdown the computer. You can also change the start orb.

start8-2

The current problem with this approach is that the start screen is still too big and cover most of the desktop, anyway. And it doesn’t solve any of the problem associated with the start screen.

Personally, I can’t decide which is worse – the Metro start screen or the lack of the Start Menu. Microsoft’s lack of foresight and the inability to think past a single premise (tablet) is amusing at best, and infuriating at worst. Developers should be happy though. There is an entire ecosystem out there that is surviving off the mistakes of the Redmond engineers.

Maybe it’s a good time for program launchers to stage a come back. There is a whole fleet of them – Launchy, AcceleRun, Appetizer, Zen Key, Executor, Blaze, Skylight, 7APL, Krento, SE-TrayMenu, Mighty Box and lots more.

launchy

Comments

  1. O.K.! Now, seeing your post I can't help mentioning that from these two applications one stands out more than the other from one objective reason: that is, ViStart that I believe - not tested myself, yet - will and must work in Windows 7 Thin PC version and will activate - aside the Orb button that is already activated - the "Search" feature which in Windows 7 Thin PC is missing completely, for the simple reason that since this application works for Win 8 it'll surely work for a stripped down Win 7 version!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

69 alternatives to the default Facebook profile picture

If you have changed the default Facebook profile picture and uploaded your own, it’s fine. But if not, then why not replace that boring picture of the guy with a wisp of hair sticking out of his head with something different and funny?

How to Schedule Changes to Your Facebook Page Cover Photo

Facebook’s current layout, the so called Timeline, features a prominent, large cover photo that some people are using in a lot of different creative ways. Timeline is also available for Facebook Pages that people can use to promote their website or business or event. Although you can change the cover photo as often as you like, it’s meant to be static – something which you design and leave it for at least a few weeks or months like a redesigned website. However, there are times when you may want to change the cover photo frequently and periodically to match event dates or some special promotion that you are running or plan to run. So, here is how you can do that.

How to Record CPU and Memory Usage Over Time in Windows?

Whenever the computer is lagging or some application is taking too long to respond, we usually fire up task manager and look under the Performance tab or under Processes to check on processor utilization or the amount of free memory available. The task manager is ideal for real-time analysis of CPU and memory utilization. It even displays a short history of CPU utilization in the form of a graph. You get a small time-window, about 30 seconds or so, depending on how large the viewing area is.