Comparison of Start menu replacements for Windows 8

Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system introduced an updated Start menu known as the "Start screen", which uses a full-screen design consisting of tiles to represent applications. This replaced the Windows desktop as the primary interface of the operating system. Additionally, the on-screen Start button was replaced by a hidden button in the corner of the screen; Microsoft explained that the Start button was removed because few people used it, noting the addition of "pinning" apps to the taskbar from Windows 7.[1][2]

The change was controversial among users, and a market ensued for applications which restore the visible Start button, emulate the previous Start menu design, or allow users to boot directly to the Desktop instead of the Start screen.[3]

The following is a list of Start menu replacements for Windows 8 which have received coverage from third-party sources:

Name	Developer	License	Skins	Run	Pinning	Aero	Sort	Boot to desktop	Notes
BringBack[4]	Revel Software	Discontinued	?	?	?	?	?	?	Discontinued [5] (http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/revel_bringback8.html)
Classic Shell[6][7][8][9][10]	Classic Shell team	MIT License[11]	10+extensible[12]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Allows Modern UI related tweaks Discontinued and forked
Classic Start 8[13]	Crawler, LLC	Freeware	No	Yes	?	?	?	?
Classic Windows Start Menu[14]	SourceCodeBoy	CC-BY-NC-ND (Freeware for non-commercial use only) [15]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ex7forW8[16]	Tihiy	Freeware	?	?	?	?	?	?	Discontinued (http://tihiy.net/files/ex7forW8_1.0.zip)
Finalbird[17]	Svyatoslav Yudin	Freeware	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Favorites of Start Menu is unified with the other software parts
Handy Start Menu[18]	ChemTable Software	Freeware	?	?	?	?	?	?
Open-Shell	?	MIT	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	Fork of Classic Shell
Pokki[6][7][9][19]	SweetLabs, Inc.	Freeware	No	?	?	?	?	Yes
Power8[6][20] [21]	Power8 Team	GNU General Public License	?	?	?	?	?	?
RetroUI Pro[6][8][22][23]	Thinix	Trialware	?	?	?	?	?	?
Samsung Quick Starter[24]	Samsung	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Start Menu 8[6][7][9][25]	IObit	Trialware	?	?	No	?	?	Yes
Start Menu Reviver[26]	ReviverSoft	Freeware	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	touch screen support
Start Menu X[27]	OrdinarySoft	Freemium	?	?	?	?	?	?
Start8[6][7][28]	Stardock Corporation	Trialware	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
StartFinity[29]	WinAbility Software	Freemium	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	Supports automatic localization of Start menu
StartIsBack[6][7][8]	Пуск Будет Удобнее	Trialware	4+	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	modifies existing hot corners
StartMenuPlus8[30]	Winok	Trialware	?	?	?	?	?	?
StartW8[31]	SODATSW	Freeware	?	?	?	?	?	?
SyMenu	UGMFree	Freeware	6	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	The menu is fully portable
Tweaks.com Start for Windows 8[32]	Advanced PC Media	Freeware	?	?	?	?	?	?
ViStart[33]	Lee-Soft	Ad-supported	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes
Wentutu Start Menu[34]	Wentutu	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Win8StartButton[35]	Torch Media Inc.	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Win8Starter[36]	Engelmann Media GmbH	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Xeesa 1b QuickStart[37]	Xeesa Services	Freemium	No	?	?	?	?	?	Cloud Start Menu available

The number of skins in the table givens the number of built-in skins. If there are downloadable skins, then a "+" is appended to the number to indicate that download extensions are possible.

RetroUI, StartIsBack, Classic Shell, Start8, and Pokki are five of the more notable of these.[6][7] RetroUI is offered in 33 languages, and also for Windows Server 2012, and adds a taskbar and resizable windows.[38] StartIsBack is also localized.[39] Classic Shell used to be free and open source (now proprietary freeware), major items are localized and installing the Language Pack from Windows Update makes all items fully localized; Classic Shell is also available for Windows 7 and Windows Server, and claims over 25 million downloads.[40] The Pokki download to restore the Start menu is free; as of January 2013, it has about 1.5 million users.[41] The Pokki application platform, based on Chromium, enables desktop applications to be built—like mobile apps—using standard web languages like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.[42] It is also available for Windows XP and Windows 7.[43] Pokki has raised $21.5M from investors like Google, Intel, and O'Reilly;[44] its business model is to make a commission on software sold through its app store.[42][45] Start8 has been downloaded over 5 million times.[46]

See also

• List of alternative shells for Windows

References

1. "Why Microsoft killed the Windows Start button". PC Pro. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
2. Whitney, Lance (2012-02-06). "Microsoft removes start button in Windows 8". CNET. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
3. Whitney, Lance (2011-10-12). "Microsoft reacts to gripes over Windows 8 Start screen". CNET. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
4. Revel BringBack (beta) Review | Windows 8 Start Menu Apps
5. "Revel Software - About Us". Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
6. "9 Windows Start menus for Windows 8". IT World. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
7. Sebastian, Anthony (2013-02-20). "How to bring back the Start menu and button to Windows 8". Extremetech.com.
8. How to get the Start menu back in Windows 8 | Windows 8 – CNET Reviews updated 2012/12/31
9. "6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8". HowToGeek.com.
10. Spector, Lincoln (2012-09-06). "Give Windows 8 the Start menu it deserves". PCWorld. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
11. Classic Shell FAQ, Is Classic Shell open-source?
12. Classic Shell Review: Softpedia
13. Free Traditional Start Menu Style for Use with Windows® 8
14. "Classic Windows Start Menu". Softpedia. SoftNews. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
15. SourceCodeBoy. "SourceCodeBoy homepage". Retrieved 2015-01-09.
16. "Disable the new Windows 8 interface for good with Ex7ForW8".
17. "Finalbird - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com".
18. Handy Start Menu – CNET Download.com
19. "Pokki Brings Back the Start Menu to Help Confused Windows 8 Users". SFGate. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
20. "What Windows 8.1 Must Be – Personal-tech – Desktop Operating Systems – BYTE". Informationweek.com. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
21. "Home · AgentMC/power8 Wiki · GitHub". Mike Makarov AgentMC. 2015-04-09. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
22. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (2012-04-18). "Make Windows 8 Look Like Windows 7". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
23. Erez Zukerman. "RetroUI tries to fix Windows 8's usability woes, but only makes them worse". PCWorld.
24. Chris Smith (2012-10-16). "Samsung to return classic Start menu to Windows 8 with free app | News". TechRadar. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
25. Pegoraro, Rob (24 November 2012), Windows 8 woes? Get Start menu sub, retrieved 10 December 2012
26. WINDOWS 8 START MENU APPS SHOWDOWN
27. Sandeep Yadav (2012-08-29). "Start Menu X: Get Start Menu and Button in Windows 8". TechFeb. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
28. Gregg Keizer (2012-09-27). "$5 buys a Start button, Start screen bypass for Windows 8". Computerworld. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
29. Preston Gralla (2012-10-12). "Windows 8 cheat sheet". COMPUTERWORLD. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
30. Jon L. Jacobi. "Review: StartMenuPlus8 is just another utility to give Windows 8 a Start Menu". PCWorld. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
31. Want To Get Back The Start Menu In Windows 8? Here's How | Mobile & Apps
32. "Tweaks.com Start for Windows 8". Advanced PC Media LLC. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
33. Muchmore, Michael (2012-04-17). "Tip: How to Get the Start Menu Back in Windows 8". PCMag.com. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
34. Bring the Start Menu back in Windows 8 with this app
35. 6 Things Microsoft Must Do In 2013 – Software – Windows 8
36. "Win8Starter: Startmenü gratis für Windows 8 – News – CHIP Online". Chip.de. 2011-08-27. Archived from the original on 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
37. Xeesa 1b Archived 2015-08-02 at the Wayback Machine
38. "RetroUI web site". Archived from the original on 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
39. StartIsBack web site
40. Classic Shell
41. Yahoo! News, Jan. 16, 2013
42. Kincaid, Jason (30 June 2011). "OpenCandy's Pokki Brings Web Apps To The Desktop, With Style". TechCrunch. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
43. Pokki web site
44. Wauters, Robin (29 September 2011). "SweetLabs Raises $13 Million From Intel, Google And Others For Pokki App Platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
45. Alex, Wilhelm (17 April 2012). "Meet Pokki: Bringing the power of mobile apps to your desktop". The Next Web. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
46. Mossberg, Walter S. (2013-05-07). "Review of Start8 and Pokki: Bringing an Old Start to a New Windows - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2013-05-29.

External links

• Compare Start Menus:Classic Shell vs StartIsBack, Start8 etc
• 5 Windows 8 Apps to Bring Back the Start Menu by LAPTOP Magazine