A collection of utilities bringing back classic features to Windows.
Classic-Start continues the Classic Shell project giving you access to the classic style Start Menu for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10.
Originally created by Ivo Beltchev, this fork is true to the first – to help improve productivity by allowing you to enhance the usability of Windows through a customizable start menu. You will be able to manage the way you use your PC via multiple style templates and skins. It also gives you quick access to recent, frequently-used, or pinned programs. You will also be able to quickly find any programs, settings, files, or documents with minimal keystrokes once you have it configured to your specific needs.
Classic-Start will also bring back the start button for Windows 10, 7, 8.1 along with the toolbar and status bar for Windows and Internet Explorer making it an excellent enhancement tool that for your daily Windows experience.
Features
Classic style Start Menu for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10
Toolbar for Windows Explorer
Classic copy UI (Windows 7 only)
Show file size in Explorer status bar
Highlights
Windows 11 start button support
New
New default Immersive skin for Windows 10/11 (#538)
New icons and installer artwork (#31)
Modern looking icons for Apps folder on Windows 10/11
Added option to always single-click folders (#692)
Added option to never highlight modified settings
Added option to use a custom search hint
Added option to hide “see more results” in search
Added option to set custom commands for controls
Added option to single-expand any Win7 style item
Added option to open folders to their true path (#555, #653, #691)
Added option to customize Pinned folder location
Added new option “Enable accelerators” (#447)
Added new option “Require Alt key for accelerators” (#117)
Added -reloadsettings command line switch (#1157)
Allow shutdown even if limited admin doesn’t have shutdown privilege (#1015)
Properly handle Windows updates during shutdown (#1250)
Get nightly (prerelease) builds from Github
Show Open-Shell version in start context menu (#888)
Use more convenient format for color settings (#82, #1141)
Use Segoe Fluent Icons font for modern settings icons on Windows 11
Updated help (#1173, #880, #524)
Help: Added skinning tutorial
Help: Added custom button tutorial
Show start menu next to taskbar by default
Setup: Recognize also /h and /help parameters (#1278)
Setup: Don’t install Classic IE by default
Don’t show first-time settings dialog if settings were imported from XML already (#1319)
Improved menu animation timing
Added menu animation fps logging
Fixes
Fixed taskbar texture on Windows 11 (#1230)
Fixed sleep operation on systems with connected standby enabled (#719)
Fixed corrupted icons in second column (#1088)
Fixed image rendering on Windows 7 (#1023, #90)
Fixed search box focusing (#1068)
Fixed Aero button alignment on multiple monitors (#1310)
Fixed handling of automatically hiding taskbar on multi-monitor setup (#908)
Proper start menu alignment in case of vertical taskbar Windows 11 (#1231)
Make sure tray buttons are properly positioned when custom start button was created (#1232)
Properly scale modern task icons (#518)
Properly scale default skin font according to DPI (#1110)
Properly round font size (#1547)
Use proper modern settings icon (#495)
Don’t track usage of Open-Shell modern settings folder (#744)
Don’t show Windows Shell Experience Host in list of frequent programs (#1164)
Fixed branding string on Windows 11 (#878, #960, #1063)