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Windows 8 Gets The Start Button Back With This App

A lot of people, including yours truly, don’t like Windows 8 all that much. Most of our frustration comes from the fact that the newest OS forces you to boot into the Metro Windows 8 UI. It also...
Windows 8 Gets The Start Button Back With This App
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  • A lot of people, including yours truly, don’t like Windows 8 all that much. Most of our frustration comes from the fact that the newest OS forces you to boot into the Metro Windows 8 UI. It also got rid of the start button because Microsoft wanted to save space. Well, a new open source app will make all your Windows 8 troubles go away.

    The app is called Classic Shell, and it does as the name suggests. It allows users to insert the Start button back into the desktop on Windows 8. There are other apps that do the same thing, but this one gives you a choice. Users can choose between a variety of start menus including the classic Start menu from the mid-90s.

    In even better news, Classic Shell is also able to prevent Windows 8 from booting into the new UI. In my experience, I’ve found the new UI to only slow down my PC. Eliminating it from the boot process will only be a good thing.

    There are some people who enjoy Windows 8 and its Live Tile UI, but a lot of people also hate it. It’s unfortunate that Microsoft seems to be completely ignoring their customers that hate the UI that Windows 8 is forcing upon them. There should have been an option from the beginning that allows desktop users to just stick with the classic interface without having to interact with the Live Tiles.

    Until Microsoft reverses course and actually starts caring about desktop users, apps like this are going to be our best bet. We can only hope that Microsoft won’t try to shut down these apps that provide a necessary for us curmudgeons that don’t want anything to do with Microsoft’s vision of “progress.”

    You can download the latest version of Classic Shell over at Sourceforge. If you’re feeling helpful, you can contribute to the open source project to make it even better.

    [h/t: The Register]

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