The Pokki download to restore the Start menu is free as of January 2013, it has about 1.5 million users. 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. RetroUI is offered in 33 languages, and also for Windows Server 2012, and adds a taskbar and resizable windows. RetroUI, StartIsBack, Classic Shell, Start8, and Pokki are five of the more notable of these. If there are downloadable skins, then a '+' is appended to the number to indicate that download extensions are possible. The number of skins in the table givens the number of built-in skins. Supports automatic localization of Start menu The following is a list of Start menu replacements for Windows 8 which have received coverage from third-party sources:ĬC-BY-NC-ND (Freeware for non-commercial use only) įavorites of Start Menu is unified with the other software parts 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. 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.

This replaced the Windows desktop as the primary interface of the operating system. 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. JSTOR ( April 2014) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources.įind sources: 'Comparison of Start menu replacements for Windows 8' – news

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources.

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