Classic Shell 4.0’s public beta is now available. Completely free, no license key, registration, or activation hassles, nothing. Get it here: http://classicshell.net/ And good news, Classic Shell reached 8 million downloads. 😀
What’s new in 4.0?
•Windows 8.1 support
•New “Windows 7” menu style that replicates the look and feel of the Windows 7 start menu◦the programs show in a tree inside the main menu
◦search results and jump lists show inside the main menu
◦dedicated shutdown button
◦the unparalleled customizability you’ve come to expect from Classic Shell
•New Windows 8 optimized skin
•You can search for files as well as programs (Windows Search integration)
•The menu can show the frequently used programs instead of the recently launched
•Newly installed programs are highlighted
•Many improvements to performance and responsiveness
•Programs can be pinned directly from context menu
•New more reliable way to start on Windows 8, that doesn’t use a service
There are numerous other improvements and changes all around such as:
– Easier to customize Start Menu items in Windows 7 style
– a new turn off monitor command
– search box for settings dialog and nested settings. Dependent settings are offset from their parent
– Country flags in the Languages tab
– Computer item can now show a list of drives as a menu without expanding them further
– Secondary Tiles for Modern apps show the personalized tile name and can be launched from the menu as well
– “Install Updates and Shutdown/Restart” functionality like the original Start Menu
– Aero Glass rendering if the MSFN member BigMuscle’s AeroGlass for Windows 8 mod is installed
– Enhanced keyboard shortcuts like Home/End/Page Up/Page Down in addition to F2, Del, Alt+Enter etc working everywhere
– Shift+Win uses a hotkey instead of a keyboard hook so it will give less problems and work with elevated programs
– The icons and data are saved to a cache on disk at %APPDATA%ClassicShell, so the menu should stay responsive all the time.
– Right-click for the Win+X menu works even when all corners are disabled
– New setting for the icon size for the classic button
– Windows 7 treeview style can show folders first
– Classic IE9 renamed to Classic IE as it has enhancements for IE9 and up
– Classic Shell 4.0 no longer supports Windows Vista
Some screenshots:
On Windows 7:
On Windows 8:
Classic single column style:
Settings window with abundant customization:
