Two solid replacements for the kludgy Windows 11 Start menu

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WINDOWS 11 By Lance Whitney Don’t like the Windows 11 Start menu? Both Start 11 and StartAllBack will bring the menu back to more traditional and usab
[See the full post at: Two solid replacements for the kludgy Windows 11 Start menu]

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lmacri, Cybertooth, 8string, rc primak, abbodi86

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I’ve been a fan of Start(x) since Windows 8. (It was instrumental in getting a young friend of ours through the bar exam when her old laptop died and its replacement came with that horrendous and incomprehensible interface.)

I agree that Microsoft has done an outstanding job of fouling up the start menu and that Start11 (or StartAllBack) will un-foul it. However, along with fouling the start menu, Microsoft also reduced the taskbar to almost uselessness.

Does either of these programs do anything to restore the functionality of the taskbar? Even more importantly, do either of them allow the user to put the taskbar where he/she wants to?

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I agree. Microsoft definitely screwed up the Taskbar in Windows 11. Beyond letting you tweak the Start menu icon and playing around with the colors and visuals, neither Start11 or StartAllBack gives you much control over the Taskbar as far as functionality. The main thing you can do with Start11 is move the Taskbar to the top of the screen, but you can’t move it left or right. With all the complaints about the Taskbar, I’d love to see one or both of these programs add more Taskbar features.

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Will Fastie, oldfry

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(Hope a similar message did not come up before because of a conflict with BBC Codes (BBC Broadcasting?)
I do not like the handling of the Windows 11 taskbar.
It often takes extra clicks to pin program icons, it appears to allow fewer icons, , therefore has an odd distribution between visual and hidden icons, and some of the hidden icons are really hidden as they fall outside the virtual box.

In any case, in Windows 10 I could use the taskbar to great effect, for example to search for music, download purchases from Qobuz etc, tagging and naming titles, storing files in the NAS and cataloging them, and retrieving music for playing and commenting ..
Does any of the two software programs help with the taskbar, or are there other apps / programs to consider?

Herbert

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What about OpenShell, free and open source carried forward from the original Classic Shell?

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Alan_uk, rc primak

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I was waiting for someone to mention OpenShell. My argument for supporting open-source solutions is more than philosophical:

Why should I have to pay for third-party solutions to a problem which Microsoft itself created?

Microsoft should be offering these choices for free, included with the OS. The only reason they don’t is money. All these changes are designed to drive users toward paid Microsoft-controlled Cloud Apps and away from Desktop Applications. Cloud Apps complete with huge ad panes and an overload of unnecessary notifications.

Security is as usual, pasted on as a thin veneer. Then made the centerpiece in a way which requires buying new hardware from Microsoft or their partners.

-- rc primak

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Alan_uk, Norio, Will Fastie, wavy, Cybertooth, David F

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I looked at OpenShell. In two independent reviews, OpenShell is much less capable than either Start11 or StartAllBack. While it’s free, there’s an element of getting what you pay for.

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gwt10, Cybertooth

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I’ve been using OpenShell (and it’s progenitor, ClassicShell) for nearly 8 years.  It has more capability than I need.  The two things that @Lance Whitney complained about in Start11 (built-in windows apps don’t have their own folder; configuration options are not organized) are addressed in OpenShell: Windows apps have their own folder, and there’s a search field for options.

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Cybertooth

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Well, you usually get what you pay for. OpenShell is free, so a little less capability would not surprise me. Plenty of features for most folks, it seems.

-- rc primak

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Lance Whitney wrote:

I agree. Microsoft definitely screwed up the Taskbar in Windows 11. Beyond letting you tweak the Start menu icon and playing around with the colors and visuals, neither Start11 or StartAllBack gives you much control over the Taskbar as far as functionality. The main thing you can do with Start11 is move the Taskbar to the top of the screen, but you can’t move it left or right. With all the complaints about the Taskbar, I’d love to see one or both of these programs add more Taskbar features.

I would not hold my breath for Microsoft to do anything as radical as actually listening to its customers. It has a long and sturdy history of doing just the opposite. Overhauling the interface between 8.0 and 8.1 was a notable exception mostly because people could – and did – avoid 8.0 like the plague and that cost it money.

With respect to the two apps, it may not be possible to regain the option to relocate the taskbar. I sure hope it is, but, again, I’m not holding my breath!

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rc primak wrote:

I was waiting for someone to mention OpenShell. My argument for supporting open-source solutions is more than philosophical:

Why should I have to pay for third-party solutions to a problem which Microsoft itself created?

Microsoft should be offering these choices for free, included with the OS. The only reason they don’t is money. All these changes are designed to drive users toward paid Microsoft-controlled Cloud Apps and away from Desktop Applications. Cloud Apps complete with huge ad panes and an overload of unnecessary notifications.

Security is as usual, pasted on as a thin veneer. Then made the centerpiece in a way which requires buying new hardware from Microsoft or their partners.

Presumably, Microsoft does not see the interface changes as a problem, so it sees nothing to fix.

While I fully agree that the hardware diktats for Windows are unnecessarily draconian, the interface changes have nothing to do with them. They are simply Microsoft riding roughshod over its customers who need to use its software to do something more useful than playing a game. Again…

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rc primak, Cybertooth

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Another recommendation vote for Stardock’s Start(10/11) utility — solid design and features, well supported, reliable operation, moderately priced!   We’ve been running it since October 2012.

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I started using StartIsBack with Windows 8, now using StartIsBack++ with Windows 10.  Immediately after upgrading one side of my dual boot daily driver to Windows 11, I installed StartAllBack.  I have no complaints; it works just as I expected it to work, and does what I want it to do.

As for the Taskbar, I have neither reason nor desire to put it anywhere other than the bottom of the screen, so for me that’s a non-issue.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do to our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

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gwt10

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bbearren wrote:

As for the Taskbar, I have neither reason nor desire to put it anywhere other than the bottom of the screen, so for me that’s a non-issue.

That’s nice for you, but it is an issue for others.

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MHCLV941 wrote:

bbearren wrote:

As for the Taskbar, I have neither reason nor desire to put it anywhere other than the bottom of the screen, so for me that’s a non-issue.

That’s nice for you, but it is an issue for others.

What percentage of people do you think actually move the taskbar?

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gwt10, rc primak

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