Windows 8 start button + menu: €5

[Curt]

http://www.win8starter.com
-they have both a free and a €5 version

http://www.engelmann.com/eng/news.php?id=420

Windows 8: We want our start button back!

Windows 8 redoes everything. But many users hardly believe their eyes: the start button on the task bar has disappeared. And a start menu cannot be found anymore. With all due appreciation for innovations: that won't do! The Windows-8 software Win8Starter therefore restores the old status quo and guarantees that the users of Windows 8 can start their daily PC-routine as usual.

In short:

- New app: Win8Starter
- Special software for Windows 8
- Retrieves start button and start menu
- Lists all the installed programs
- Grants access to control panel, printer etc.
- Full text search with intelligent pre-search
- Fast shut down of Windows 8
- Freeware version available
- Price: 4.99 Euro
- Link: http://www.win8starter.com

Some of the most important Win8Starter functions

•    The familiar start button and a start menu are available again on the Windows 8 desktop!
•    Like in the past: Expand your Win8Starter menu easily per "Drag & Drop" by your own program links.
•    List of most frequently applied programs and functions. All program entries can be moved and arranged anew.
•    Also included: Your familiar user folders and the direct links to system folder and –functions like ‘Documents‘, ‘My Pictures‘, ‘My Music‘ ‚ ‘Computer‘, ‘Control Panel‘ and ‘Printers and Devices’.
•    No complicated switch-off of Windows 8! Select as usual and directly via the start menu between the options like ‘Shut down‘, ‘Lock‘ and ‘Restart‘.
•    Lists all the installed programs and all the applications available under Windows 8
•    All the programs and files that the user requires become faster and more directly accessible!
•    All functions can be adjusted conveniently via the Win8Starter settings dialogue, among them the fade-in and fade-out of start menu buttons! The dialogue offers nearly all the settings options that you know from older Windows versions.
•    Full text search with intelligent pre-search, which in most cases shows the results under the installed programs and documents when entering a term.
•    Furthermore, (compared to Windows 7 start menu) you can add the following useful Windows programs to the button bar: Calculator, Editor, Paint, Task manager, Registry Editor, CMD, Adaptive, System information, System configuration, Explorer and Remote Desktop connection.
•    Win8Starter is no hack! Win8Starter runs as separate program instance; no system files or registry entries are configured, deleted or changed.
•    Uniform look: Win8Starter automatically adjusts to the set window color of Windows 8.
•    Available languages: English, German. More coming soon.

Restrictions of the free version:
no settings; no automatic adjustment of menu color; no possibility to add your own shortcuts.

http://www.win8starter.com

[Tuxman]

Or 0.
http://classicshell.sf.net

[dr_andus]

Or 0.
http://classicshell.sf.net

Thanks for this! It's great to have the classic program list back. Also, I won't be shutting down my Win7 system accidentally any more, as "sleep" and "shut down" are now at a safe distance from each other, as they should be...

[AndyM]

I've gotten used to the Start button over the years, even find it handy for a few categories of occasional tasks.

Still, at it's inception I thought it was a lame and limiting feature (I moved to Windows from OS2), dumbing things down.  I've never changed my mind.

It's a crutch best eliminated,  so I won't be going out of my way to duplicate it when I move from XP to Windows 8 (when someone gives me a new Surface).

Getting rid of the ribbon in Office and reverting to the more useful classic menu/toolbar setup?  Now that's a different story.... 

[wraith808]

That was something I posted on another board - how the one feature that MS got the most grief for is now the feature that people are scrambling to put back in.

Oh, and there's also Win+X for $0 also.

[x16wda]

Oh, and there's also Win+X for $0 also.

Such as described here?

[wraith808]

Oh, and there's also Win+X for $0 also.

Such as described here?

I wasn't talking about that one specifically.. thanks for the link!  Really cool information on that site!

But mine was on how-to geek.  Forgot to link it up.  It's a little bit more touchy-feely for those that are registry-impaired.