Win11 Start Menu

[Andrew B.]

I have a new Windows 11 computer and I see no need to get a third party start menu. The photos in the Win 11 articles don't tell the whole story.
First, the icon window is scrollable. Meaning it holds more icons than it seems. The icons can be dragged to move them or group them. Next, the Win 10 alpha list interface is still there. It supports folders and includes a method for moving directly to any alpha letter group. Last, right-clicking the start button brings up a clickable list of administrative tools.

And there are other features, but the above are the basics I hoped for.

[terrie]

I use Classic Shell Menu and Classic Shell Explorer on both my Win7/Pro systems and the (testing) Win10/Pro systems and, now that I think about it also on the Win8.1/Pro system. I could never (ever, ever, ever! '-}}) use the Start Menu introduced in Win8/8.1...icky...icky...icky!!!



More power to you for using Microsoft's approach...you are a better human than I, Gunga Din...'-}}




Terrie

[woody649]

Originally Posted by terrie

I use Classic Shell Menu and Classic Shell Explorer on both my Win7/Pro systems and the (testing) Win10/Pro systems and, now that I think about it also on the Win8.1/Pro system. I could never (ever, ever, ever! '-}}) use the Start Menu introduced in Win8/8.1...icky...icky...icky!!!

More power to you for using Microsoft's approach...you are a better human than I, Gunga Din...'-}}

Terrie

Classic Shell is no more, but the torch is now being carried by Open Shell, which is currently being maintained and which, I have been told, works with Windows 11. I'm currently still running Classic Shell on some machines and Open Shell on others. For what I do, there's no appreciable difference, but the original developer of Classic Shell finally gave up in disgust/despair because Windows 10 updates kept breaking Classic Shell.

[Steve Rindsberg]

>> I could never (ever, ever, ever! '-}}) use the Start Menu introduced in Win8/8.1...icky...icky...icky!!!

That one reminds me of what one of our former members used to say about XP:

UI by Fisher-Price

[terrie]

steve: UI by Fisher-Price

LOL!!! That's a very apt description...'-}}



Terrie

[Andrew B.]

Originally Posted by terrie

I use Classic Shell Menu and Classic Shell Explorer on both my Win7/Pro systems and the (testing) Win10/Pro systems and, now that I think about it also on the Win8.1/Pro system. I could never (ever, ever, ever! '-}}) use the Start Menu introduced in Win8/8.1...icky...icky...icky!!!

I'm glad you got it all to work for you.

[terrie]

andrew: I'm glad you got it all to work for you.

Me too!!!! '-}}



The last version of Classic Shell (4.3.1) works in Win10/Pro (22H2) and in Win8.1/Pro--both the cs Start Menu and the cs Explorer portions--so I never got around to testing Open Shell...




Terrie

[Kayza]

Originally Posted by terrie

I use Classic Shell Menu and Classic Shell Explorer on both my Win7/Pro systems and the (testing) Win10/Pro systems and, now that I think about it also on the Win8.1/Pro system. I could never (ever, ever, ever! '-}}) use the Start Menu introduced in Win8/8.1...icky...icky...icky!!!

Windows 8 / 8.1 was terrible. But MS did make enough changes in Windows 10, that it's a very different experience, even though on first glance it looks similar.

Obviously you have what works for you, so I can't see any reason to change that. But if I'm right that you support your sister and she's not using this app, it's probably worth getting a bit comfortable with the standard menu just so you know what she's doing.

[terrie]

kayza: Windows 8 / 8.1 was terrible.

After wrestling with Win8.1/Pro, as much as it pains me to say this, I found it not quite as bad as I had thought it would be in large part because of Classic Shell--in late 2019, I bought a Win8.1/Pro laptop via ebay (got a good deal on what turned out to be a very nice HP ProBook 6570b for just under $150) to hedge my bets against Win10...'-}}


From what I have read and seen I think that Win8 would have driven me completely batty and I would have given up in disgust but the tweaks Microsoft did to create Win8.1 allowed me to move through the frustration to functioning stable Win8.1/Pro systems. With Win8.1/Pro I didn't have to fight too hard to block Windows Updates and while there were indeed annoyances, they were less annoying than Win10's annoyances...'-}}



And...yes...that surprised the hell out of me...'-}}





>>But if I'm right that you support your sister and she's not using this app, it's probably worth getting a bit comfortable with the standard menu just so you know what she's doing.


Speaking of hedging bets...I have fixed the game in my favor...'-}}



I do the setup and tweaking on all of my sister's systems so her systems look like my systems on a fundamental functional level with the additions of the software she uses (QuickBooks Pro and (ick!!!) Microsoft Office along with a few others). At this point we actually have matching O/S's although hers are all laptop-based where my primary system is a custom built (Win7/Pro) desktop and my other 2 are laptops but we each have one system with Win7/Pro, one Win8.1/Pro and now, Win10/Pro...



The overlay install of Win10/Pro on the Win7/Pro went more smoothly than I thought it would--I don't normally do overlay installs but, both my sister and I have software installed on the Win7/Pro side that can't be (freshly re-)installed on the Win10/Pro side so overlay installs did the trick. There was more than a bit of a learning curve to getting Win10/Pro tweaked to my satisfaction but I feel fairly confident that I've got a handle on controlling Win10/Pro's annoyances and...so far...knock wood...the Win10/Pro systems are stable...





Terrie