Scan & Fix 50 registry issues FREECNET Editors' review
Start8 brings back the familiar start button to make your transition to Windows 8 a little bit easier. The first thing you'll notice when firing up your new Windows 8 PC is the lack of a Start button. For design reasons, Microsoft has removed the old Start menu in favor of the new Metro Start screen. Start8 aims to bring it back and help you make your move to the new Windows without compromising productivity.
The installation is light and fast, and setting up takes almost no time at all. Setup will ask whether you prefer the original Windows 7 style Start menu or the Windows 8 style, which is the incorporation of the Metro user interface into the menu. From then on, everything is optional and customizable. You can change the Start menu behaviors, font, icon sizes, color, style, and which shortcuts you want Start8 to display. Documents, Music, and Pictures folders are back to where they belong (pre-Windows 8) and so is the search bar. In addition of giving you wider control over the Start menu, Start8 lets you customize the Start button icon to any of the included icons or your own custom images.
The free trial gives you 30 days to play, tweak, and set everything up just the way you like it before asking you to purchase the full version for $4.99. PC Users without a touch screen (which the Start screen was designed for) or who rely on the Start Button to navigate through their programs and files will appreciate Start8 bringing the familiar features and functionality back to the latest Windows operating system.
Publisher's Description
From Stardock:
Start8 returns the same Windows 7-style Start menu you have depended upon, while adding enhancements just for Windows 8. Quickly access your applications, devices, music, videos and documents the way you always have with Start 8.
Features include a Windows 7-style Start menu with Windows 8 enhancements; search for Windows 8-style (Modern UI) apps; pin desktop and Metro apps; boot directly to the Windows 8 desktop; or make the Windows 8 Start screen accessible from the Start menu.
What's new in this version: Version 1.12 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.
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All versions:
4.9 starsout of 34 votes
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Current version:
5.0 starsout of 3 votes
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My rating:
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Results 1-3 of 3
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"A "must have" for using Windows 8"
Version: Start8 1.12
Pros
Excellent, excellent, excellent... a great solution to being forced to jump around from the Windows 8 Desktop to the Metro page, and back again, constantly.
Cons
None I can think of
Summary
(Also check out ModernMix by Stardock, which helps similarly)
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"Returns W8 to W7"
Version: Start8 1.12
Pros
Start8 boots to desktop, and then allows you to use a W7 Start menu. It is very very stable!
Cons
None that I can see.
Summary
If you don't like or can't figure out W8 and want to be productive then this is the solution!
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"Relieve the stress of the Start screen"
Version: Start8 1.12
Pros
Brings back the efficient start menu along with added customizations for even greater efficiency.
Cons
None in the product itself. However, nobody would have to buy this in the first place if Microsoft didn't decide to replace a productivity-enhancing feature with a consumption-enhancing feature.
Summary
When I saw initial negative reviews of the Windows 8 start screen, I thought people just needed time to adjust and give it a fair shot. Well, once I got Windows 8, I tried to adjust and give it a fair shot. After a month of wrangling with the Start screen and Metro, I have to say I was wrong and everyone else was right.
Using a mouse & keyboard on Win8 is a chore and makes almost every action require more unnecessary clicks or keystrokes or more exaggerated mouse movements. It was becoming extremely aggravating doing routine tasks on the PC.
Enter Start8. Now, I get the Start menu back. It's not better because it's familiar, it's better because it is more efficient. It takes MEASURABLY fewer keystrokes or mouse clicks to get the job done compared to navigating the Start screen. Not only that, Start8 adds on additional functionality such as customizing what the "Shut down" button default action is.
I understand that touch and mobile computing may be the future, but the mouse and keyboard still exists today and is the dominant input method for productivity tasks. Microsoft, please don't make things more challenging for mouse and keyboard users until you can make touch or another input method just as precise and efficient, if not more so.
Results 1-3 of 3
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