With the introduction of Windows 10, we got rid of the horrible start menu system of Windows 8 and 8.1. That Metro start menu wasn’t that bad but the majority of Windows users (including me) didn’t like it. Windows 7 start menu was at the core of our heart. Windows 10 reintroduced the Start menu with a lot of tweaks. Many are happy, many are not.
Personally, I’d like to stick around with the good old Windows 7 start menu. It was simple and powerful with easy interface. If you’re one of those Win 7 start menu enthusiasts, let’s get our favorite feature back! Thanks to the software devs of all over the world, there are some good pieces of software to enjoy. Don’t forget to take a look at the best free screenshot tools for Windows users!
Get start menu back!
There are a good number of available start menu apps for Windows 10. Microsoft has left Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 and moving forward with Windows 10 where all the new features along with the latest security updates are available.
For Windows 10, I strongly recommend using Classic Start. It’s completely free and open-source with the power of tweaking other parts of Windows like Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. Classic Start is the next generation of the famous Classic Shell that came to the end of its life not so long ago. With the support from the community, Classic Start was derived and is going strong today.
As for other free alternatives, you can get the original Classic Shell (not recommended),
If you have a few bucks to spare for the best possible experience with your Start menu, you can get some really good premium tools like Stardock Start10, StartIsBack++ etc. These are extremely powerful with tons of customizable options.
We’ll be going around with the Classic Start for this guide as it’s free and open-source. I also salute Classic Shell for supporting us, the Windows user community, for such a long time.
Why Classic Start
There are numerous reasons to consider.
- It’s free.
- EXTREMELY customizable. You’ll be amazed when you’ll find out all the available options to modify and tweak.
- A good number of available skins.
- Nice start buttons
- Support for older Windows (Windows 7, 8 and 8.1)
- Status bar and toolbar for Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer.
Installing the start menu
The process is simple. Install Classic Start like any other software in your system. It’s recommended to install it on “C:\Program Files\” folder. This way, it’ll perform faster with the system.
Now, press the start button and feel the change!
If you’re in need of customization, right-click on the start menu >> select Settings.
There are numerous things that you can change. Perform whatever tweaks you like to give your start menu the most satisfactory view. This is my favorite one –
I’m using “Midnight” skin for having a mixture of the classic and modern style of Windows.
Feel free to customize as much as you want. There’s a backup button, so there’s no need to worry about messing things up.
