Menu
Classic Shell re-introduces the Start menu to Windows 8 and offers tweaks to Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer.
Pros
Easy install: For its magnitude and impact on the Windows operating system, we found Classic Shell to be quite easy to install and configure. We quickly changed our Windows theme without any errors in formatting or usability.
Loaded with options: From the general Windows theme to the Start menu icon, Classic Shell gives you the ability to modify and tweak your user interface. The variety of tools available can easily be changed and saved at any time, which is great if your computer is shared with others.
Exceptional support: Streaming anime sub indo. Classic Shell comes with one of the most detailed ReadMe files that we've encountered with a free application. It also provides quick links to even more informative FAQs and forums, which you'll find active and helpful.
Cons
Slow navigation: We noted that the speed of our operating system and Internet Explorer was slower than our standard theme. Classic Shell, by its nature, is also less streamlined than the current Windows theme, so finding folders and files can be a hassle.
Bottom Line
Classic Shell is a great application for Windows users that want to experience removed features, especially the Start button that was removed from Windows 8. Your user interface can be fully modified to suit all of your needs. We think Classic Shell should offer an easier way of customizing your PC, preferably in a manner similar to Start8. Download Classic Shell and access your favorite parts of Windows.
What do you need to know about free software?
![Windows Vista Taskbar Classic Shell Windows Vista Taskbar Classic Shell](/uploads/1/2/3/9/123947688/420615278.png)
Developer(s) | Ivo Beltchev[1] |
---|---|
Initial release | November 2009 |
Final release | |
Repository | |
Written in | C++[2] |
Operating system | Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2[3] |
Available in | English and other |
Type | Shell |
License | MIT License[3] |
Website | classicshell.net |
Classic Shell is a computer software for Microsoft Windows that provides user interface elements intended to restore familiar features from past versions of Windows.[5] It focuses on the Start menu, File Explorer and Internet Explorer — three major components of the Windows shell. In particular, it can serve as a Start menu replacement for Windows 8 and Windows 10 systems.
Developed by Ivo Beltchev, it was first released in 2009, and has been downloaded hundreds of million times since.[6][7]
Development by Ivo has ceased, and the project's source code has been released. A team has picked up development on GitHub, where the project can now be found.
- 1Features and architecture
Features and architecture[edit]
Classic Shell is packaged as a suite of three components, all optional and independent of each other:
- Classic Start Menu — A re-implementation of the Start Menu, replicating features from several different generations of Windows
- Classic Explorer — An add-on to File/Windows Explorer, restoring and extending features present in various Windows releases
- Classic IE — An add-on for Internet Explorer 9 and later, it restores the web page title to the window title bar, and various details to the status bar
Classic Shell is programmed in C++. Although it modifies Windows behaviors, it does not do so by modifying or tweaking Windows registry settings or replacing or patching system files — all modifications are done using Windows APIs.[citation needed] It is localized into more than 30 languages, including right-to-left support for Arabic and Hebrew.[8]
Classic Start Menu[edit]
Classic Start Menu is a replacement for the Windows Start Menu. Features include:
- Customize appearance of the Start button and Start Menu, and menu and submenu items
- Show recently, or most frequently used, apps
- Classic Shell start menu on Windows 10Show recently opened documents, with sorting, jumplists, and pinning
- Highlight newly installed programs
- Separate traditional desktop apps from Universal Windows Platform apps
- Sort menus alphabetically, by date, or custom order with drag-and-drop
- Windows Search integration
- Customize settings such as menu opening delay, tooltip timing, sub-menu column style, menu width, icon size, animation, scroll speed, font smoothing, etc.
- Skinning to more completely customize the appearance[9]
- Scales icons and menu background to higher resolutions and/or pixel density (PPI)
Besides restoring past behavior, there are several new features. These include showing the menu next to the taskbar when it is vertical, multi-monitor support, launching multiple programs at once, custom shutdown-related actions, Universal app launching, expanding any file folder as cascading menus, and additional keyboard shortcuts. The search box can search the system path, can show partial matches, and can show all results inside the menu.
Classic Start Menu can also modify Windows 8's new UI features, such as hot corners only on the desktop without disabling them inside Universal apps.
Classic Explorer[edit]
![Classic Classic](/uploads/1/2/3/9/123947688/193051491.png)
Classic Explorer is an add-on to Windows File Explorer, implemented as various shell extensions. It does not replace
EXPLORER.EXE
. Features include:- A toolbar that can include built-in commands, custom commands, or dropdown menus for arbitrary folders.
- Customize the behavior and appearance of the left folder navigation pane, including whether folders expand with a single click or double click, connecting lines, subfolder indicators, horizontal scrollbar, tree item spacing, and keyboard shortcuts
- The breadcrumb bar can be replaced with a traditional address bar, and the associated dropdown modified to show the hierarchical path instead of recent folder history
- Sort headers in all views
- Overlay icon for network shares
- Status bar can show disk free space, total size of current folder
- Tooltip of selected item
- 'Up' folder navigation button[10]
- Show the current folder in the title bar caption
- Copy progress dialog can be automatically expanded to show more details
- Replace the copy conflict dialog with one like Windows XP
History[edit]
Classic Shell began as a tool for personal use,[11] and saw its first public release in 2009.[12] Over time, the Start Menu component evolved to be a customizable launcher that also integrated a search box and other features of the Windows 7 Start Menu. The Explorer and IE components appeared later.
While earlier versions were compatible with Windows Vista and later, versions since 3.9.0 no longer support Windows Vista/Server 2008.[13] Classic Shell was never popular or necessary on Vista in the first place because Vista, like XP, came with the ability to revert to a classic start menu.
Classic Shell is released as free and open-source under the MIT license.[3]
Founder Ivo Beltchev announced the end of development in December 2017.[4]
As of June 2018, another team has forked the code on GitHub (https://github.com/passionate-coder/Classic-Start) and resumed development.[14]
As of August 2018, the project has been renamed Open-Shell and can be found here: https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu.[15]
Reception[edit]
Classic Shell was a fairly popular interface enhancement in the Windows 7 life cycle but became much more widely used after the release of Windows 8.[16]
It has seen coverage in such publications as Forbes,[17]Lifehacker,[18]Neowin,[5]Ghacks,[19]ZDNet,[20]PC World,[21]TechRepublic,[22]MakeUseOf,[23] and Betanews.[24]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ ab'Classic Shell'. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^Beltchev, Ivo (29 November 2009). 'Classic Shell'. Code Project. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ abc'Classic Shell: FAQ'. classicshell.net. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ abClassic Shell no longer in development. Source code released
- ^ abTyler Holman (11 April 2012). 'Classic Shell brings Classic Start Menu to Windows 8'. Neowin. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Ivo Beltchev. 'Download Statistics: All Files'. SourceForge. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Classic Shell page at FossHub showing downloads
- ^'Classic Shell: Translations'. classicshell.net. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^'Start Menu Skinning'. classicshell.net. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Kevin Purdy (1 July 2010). 'Restore Windows' One-Folder-Up Arrow with Classic Shell'. Lifehacker. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^John Callaham (20 May 2013). 'Interview: We chat with the creator of Classic Shell'. Neowin. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^'Classic Shell: FAQ'. classicshell.net. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^'Classic Shell: History'. classicshell.net. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^'Classic Shell • View topic - Classic Shell no longer in development. Source code released'. www.classicshell.net. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
- ^'passionate-coder/Classic-Start'. GitHub. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
- ^John Callaham (11 May 2013). 'Classic Shell sees 4.3 million downloads since Windows 8 launch'. Neowin. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Jason Evangelho (16 April 2013). 'Don't Wait For Windows 8.1 -- Get Its Two Best 'Features' Right Now'. Forbes. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Whitson Gordon (26 October 2012). 'How to Bring the Start Menu Back in Windows 8'. Lifehacker. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Martin Brinkmann (2 April 2012). 'Classic Shell Adds A Start Menu Back To Windows 8'. gHacks Technology News. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (13 December 2012). 'Two must-have downloads that make Windows 8 more bearable'. ZDNet. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Erez Zukerman (31 January 2013). 'Review: Classic Shell brings the Start menu to Windows 8 for free'. PCWorld. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Greg Shultz (2 February 2010). 'Put the Classic Start menu in Windows 7 with Classic Shell'. TechRepublic. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Justin Pot (7 February 2013). 'Make Windows 8 Suck Less With Classic Shell'. MakeUseOf. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^Mike Williams (9 January 2012). 'Give Windows 7 the XP makeover with Classic Shell 3.3'. BetaNews. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Classic_Shell&oldid=901272385'
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Although the Windows 7 Start menu provides a host of useful features, it tends to take up a lot of screen space when opened. If you want a compact Start menu for your Windows 7 computer, your best bet is to switch to the Classic Start menu. Unlike Windows Vista and Windows XP, Windows 7 does not feature a built-in option to change the look of the default Start menu. Fortunately, you can use third-party applications such as Classic Shell and CSMenu to give the Windows 7 Start menu a classic look.
Classic Shell
1.![Classic Classic](/uploads/1/2/3/9/123947688/634643759.png)
Download the Classic Shell installer from SourceForge.net (see Resources for full link).
2.Double-click the Classic Shell installer and click “Next” on the “Welcome” screen. On the following window, agree to the Classic Shell license agreement and click “Next.”
3.Click the “Classic Explorer” and “Classic IE9” options, and then select “Entire feature will be unavailable.”
Classic Shell Start Button
4.Click “Next,” and then click “Install.” If required, click “Yes” on the UAC dialog box to continue. Click “Finish” to complete installing Classic Shell.
5.Windows Vista Taskbar Classic Shell Replacement
Click the “Start” button to open the Classic Start menu.
CSMenu
1.Download the CSMenu installer from ClassicStartMenu.com (see Resources for link).
2.Double-click the CSMenu installer and click “Next” on the “Welcome” screen.
3.Agree to the CSMenu license agreement and click “Next.” On the following window, change the destination to where CSMenu gets installed, or keep the default destination intact and click “Next.” Proceed through the installation setup by clicking “Next” on each subsequent window, and then click “Install.” Click “Finish” to complete installing CSMenu.
4.Click the “Start” button to open the Classic Start menu.
Tip
- When using Classic Shell and CSMenu, you can instantly switch back to the default Windows 7 Start menu by clicking the 'Start' button while holding down the “Shift” key.
References (1)
Resources (2)
About the Author
As an ardent tech fan, Andrew Meer loves writing about the latest in computer hardware and software. Since 2006, he has worked as a level designer and programmer for various video game companies. Meer holds a Bachelor of Science in game and simulation programming from DeVry University, California.
Photo Credits
- computer system image by patrimonio designs from Fotolia.com
Choose Citation Style
Meer, Andrew. 'How to Change the Windows 7 Start Menu Back to a Classic Look.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/change-windows-7-start-menu-back-classic-look-64113.html. Accessed 30 June 2019.
Meer, Andrew. (n.d.). How to Change the Windows 7 Start Menu Back to a Classic Look. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/change-windows-7-start-menu-back-classic-look-64113.html
Meer, Andrew. 'How to Change the Windows 7 Start Menu Back to a Classic Look' accessed June 30, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/change-windows-7-start-menu-back-classic-look-64113.html
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