Review: Classic Shell brings the Start menu to Windows 8 for free

Windows 8 doesn't have a Start button. If you don't think that's something that needs fixing, you're probably in the minority, at least for now. Maybe in time, Windows 8's Modern-style Start Screen will grow on users and it'll turn out Microsoft was right all along. Until that happens, there's a flourishing niche of aftermarket utilities that bring the Start button (and menu) back to Windows 8, from excellent ones like Stardock's Start8, to ones that add value like Pokki. But you don't need to pay to get a Start button: There's one tool that's free, open-source, and very customizable. Meet Classic Shell.

This is my Classic Shell Start menu, but yours may end up looking completely different, depending on your taste.

Unlike most Start menu replacements, Classic Shell has been around for a while. Its first version came out in November 2009, long before Windows 8 was even close to public. At the time, it was meant to fix interface annoyances in Windows Vista. That was version 0.9 (the first publicly available version), and today, more than three years later, it's at version 3.6.4. As software projects are wont to do, Classic Shell grew over time, and now consists of three separate parts: Classic Explorer, Classic Start Menu, and Classic IE9.

That tendency of software projects to grow and morph over time is exactly what Classic Shell sets out to fix. It doesn't try to invent anything new: In the project's own words, Classic Shell is "a collection of features that were available in older versions of Windows but were later removed." You're not going to find any groundbreaking UI innovations here, and in my eyes, that's a good thing. These are interface patterns that worked and that Microsoft took away for reasons unknown.

Classic Shell ships with three built-in skins derived from different Windows versions, which can be tweaked as needed.

Classic Shell's most newsworthy component is Classic Start Menu, and it's stellar. Hit the Windows key on your keyboard, and up pops a Start menu, just like you remember it from Windows 7 (or Windows Vista, or Windows XP?you can choose your own skin). Start typing to search for programs, hit Enter to launch. Search is blazing fast. You can pin items to the Start menu, and customize every aspect of it. Never use the Printers item? No problem, you can easily make it go away. In other words, Classic Start Menu is just like the Start Menu you know and love, only more customizable.

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