Classic Shell: Forum

I've used Classic Shell since I got Windows 7, and it's a great replacement tool for the wacky start menu Microsoft gave us. Now the default Start Menu in Windows 10, although some hate it, I think it's brilliant. I do know that the Metro skin is supposed to be a Windows 7 style implementation of 10's menu, but I was wondering if it was possible to add a skin that was closer to 10's Start and less like two column 7, and be for 7. I would say that tiles would be a stretch, but perhaps there could be a settings tab that lets you organize them? Maybe? It would look more like the actual 10 menu and less like the 7 one, if this is possible.

I think Classic Shell should also support those same taskbar customization options that Windows 10 does, on earlier Windows such as 7 or 8. I do believe that would be a fantastic addition, again, if possible.

And if possible, I think that the Classic Explorer should support titlebar color options, since there's a titlebar tab. There's likely more to it than that, but if this was a possible addition, it would be cool to have!

Thanks for creating such an awesome tool!

I also do like some things about the Windows 10 menu - in particular - the large icons/graphical images in place of icons for some apps which make things visually more interesting. Besides that, it has a lot more space for pinning stuff and organizing it. Ivo is continuously improving Classic Shell but implementing any feature without breaking the existing features takes a lot of effort and time so all we can do is patiently wait till he approves and codes it.

Overall, Classic Start Menu is far superior to what Windows 10 has - just see this comparison: viewtopic.php?t=2399 What I don't like about the Windows 10 menu in particular is that for many apps with graphical tiles, even at medium size, it shows no text label. And at small tile size, it shows no text labels for any apps at all. For example, in your screenshot above, the tile with the car graphic says nothing about it. This is one example of bad usability.

Another example of bad usability, the whole menu, especially the right side has very poor keyboard navigation with arrow keys, and it doesn't support accelerators at all. Even the Windows 8/8.1 Start Screen had more fluid and less cumbersome keyboard navigation with arrow keys than the Windows 10 menu. I also believe its small tile size is too small to target with the mouse, (besides not displaying the text label) and the medium size is too big even for touch.

Like all Microsoft-style upgrades, it has a few nice improvements but tons and tons of broken features, and missing features. I asked on the Facebook page what users thought about the Windows 10 menu and it turns out most of them hate it too much and prefer Classic Start Menu: https://www.facebook.com/classicshell/p ... 6399302216

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Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

The first link has a lot of things to consider about start menus. Some of the things I had thought, "Wow, I didn't even think people cared about that one." I can understand why people prefer Classic Shell over the integrated Start though. People liked how it's been since the XP era, but then Microsoft decided to change it again and again.

-Oh, you like the cascading All Programs menu? Let's change it to open on the inside.
-Let's hide Run by default
-You can't change your start button, because we're Microsoft and we...well we made it.
-etc

One of only things I liked about 7's start menu is that it had glass, was any color of your choice, and had a search bar built in. The fact that it had the all programs menu open inside was frustrating. I did change that within CS settings but I also made my own adaptation of one for the right column. I seem to be obsessed with full glass 7 style menus which are too few in count...

Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of problems with Start as well. It crashes, tiles don't pin, the button ceases to respond, and other things. I personally like it because it looks neat and isn't a start menu but isn't the start screen. (terrible reasoning xD) Would coding a skin like that break things since it technically (correct me if I'm wrong) doesn't match any of the three skin styles? Or do you know?