Best Free Start Menu Replacement

Not as I expected! it only put a icon in the tray beside the clock that it the start menu principal still look the same, no change.

I don't see anyone mentioning Classic Shell from SourceForge. I'm just busy trying it out now. Seems good so far.

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

dose it work and how do i get it

I have just been playing around with a desk shell replacement. Not sure if it is here but looks like the right place
http://emergedesktop.org/
Works on Win7 64bit great. Has different themes. I got stuck for a while and realised it was Wordweb that was the conflict. After that I found it easy to navigate giving me a clean desktop

I tried to post this the other night, but got some kind of wacky error which I can now see has been fixed. Thanks to whomever did that.

I've been so frustrated by this category... it's just so difficult to find good straightforward freeware menu replacements; and Vista Start Menu doesn't quite feed the bulldog. And I've made comments on this page regarding the other suggestions.

I had almost given up when I stumbled onto two products that I'm finding very interesting... and that I'd like other people try and report back here what they think.

Both of them work on a simple premise: Create a folder somewhere (you can put it anywhere, but I called it the "Menu" folder, and put it directly in my username folder, on the same level as "Documents" and "Pictures," etc.).

Just using Windows Explorer, you populate the folder with subfolders, and in those more subfolders if you like; and ultimately ending on whatever level with shortcuts. In other words, you just use regular Windows Explorer to create a complete menu and sub-menu (and sub-sub-(etc.)-menu) system of whatever kind you like, and you put that foder (with all its sub-menu folders) wherever you want.

Then you launch the menu software and tell it where to find that menu folder construct.

In the case of one of the pieces of software, a simple desktop folder is created, and then that becomes what you click on to launch the menu system. The cool think about that is that it can be either on the desktop, or you can drag it down into the Quick Launch bar... which kinda' makes more sense, especially if you put it right next to the regular Windows Start Menu button.

In the case of the other one, it's actually a piece of software that launches with Windows, and puts a little bar wherever you want it on the screen, using either a small or large icon which you can specify. And the little bar can be just the menu structure, or it can be that plus shortcut buttons to whatever you want... notepad or whatever other things... you can specify. In my case, I told it to just be a menu icon, with nothing else. And then I told it to always be on top. And then I dragged it down to where it's stacked right above the start menu button, down in the lower left corner of the screen, technicall above the task bar, but it's so small and unobtrusive that so far it hasn't been a problem with bunches of windows open.

What I like about using either one of these utilities is that I can, once I'm using them, just leave the regular Windows Start Button Menu the way it comes from the factory, with its endless alphabetized list of program folder under "All Programs." Since that's where any program that you install puts the start menu folder icon and shortcuts anyway, what the heck... why not just leave it and not try to sub-folder it or anything, so that it can be used whenever you want to launch a program by just finding it alphabetically. And then I use the menu utility to create a much cooler menu construct which begins, on its top level, with the same categories I've always used, and which, if you think about it, pretty much every piece of software can somehow fit within... even if under more categorical sub-menus. They are:

* Accessories
* Communications
* Development
* Educationand & Reference
* Entertainment
* Productivity
* Utilities

And to that, sometimes, depending on the system, in recent years, I've been known to add to that "Multimedia" as its own top-level categoy because, face it, multimedia has kinda' become its own thing, like the others, on modern day so-called multimedia computers. And I've been known to split "Education & Reference" into their own categories if the machine has a lot of both of those.

But my point is that everything, seriously, really can fit into one of those categories. All internet stuff, fax stuff, etc. in "Communications." Things like a link to "Control Panel" and pretty much anything and everything that configures anything but isn't really an app into utilities. Microsoft Office into "Productivity" and then graphics software in either "Productivity" or "Development" depending on what kind of work you do. Stuff like that. How you categorize beyond the top level is up to you, but in 30 years of doing IT and setting-up machines for people, these top-level menus will work for EVERYTHING if you'll just let them.

Anyway, so back to telling you about the two freeware utilities...

The first one -- the one that creates the icon that can (and I recommend should) be placed into the Quick Launch bar right next to the regular Windows Start button -- is cool because it not only creates classic Windows XP-style menus, but also Windows 7-style jump lists, and Mac-style stacks and grids. It's just way cool, but I found that once it gets pretty filled-up with tons of submenus and shortcuts in them, it kinda' slows-down a little when it's clicked on. Still, it's very cool, and worth checking out.

It's called 7Stacks by Alastria Software.
http://www.alastria.com/index.php?p=software-7s

And the other one -- the one that lauches with Windows, and its icon can (if you do it the way I do it) be put immediately (and I mean to where its very bottom appears as if behind the very top of the round Windows Start Button) -- is starting to seem to me almost better... even though it's a much older piece of software. It just works... and works exactly like what you'd expect... what you'd want, if you just want an XP-style menu/sub-menu system. No frills, just works. And no matter how many folders and sub-folders and shortcuts I throw at it, it keeps-up its speed. So, as much as I love 7Stacks, I'm starting to love this one maybe even more.

It's called Advanced Launcher by Alentum Software
http://www.alentum.com/alaunch/

I have looked high and low, far and wide, and for whatever it's worth, it has now come down to these two for me. Check it out and see if you agree.


P.S. I'm adding this a few days later: Another interesting one upon which I just stumbled is called MenuApp, and I'm thinking it might also be worth checking out. And, finally, though it drifts slightly from the true start-menu interface we're really talking about here, if the Mac-like stacking capability of 7Stacks interests you, then there's another stacker called Standalone Stack which some may think is worth a look.

Also, since I posted, above, I've stumbled upon a couple of reviews of 7Stacks which mention the performance problem to which I alluded, above; so it's not just me... 7Stacks can definitely be slow... a lot slower, in my experience so far, than the Advanced Launcher which I earlier mentioned. As of this writing, I haven't yet tested MenuApp; and I'm not really interested in stackers, so won't be testing Standalone Stack. But I certainly invite others to... and to report back here.

__________________________
Gregg L. DesElms

I like Codysafe. It's handy, nice looking and has lots of features I could not find in other launchers.
Have a look http://www.codyssey.com/products/codysafe.html

Vista Start Menu has been on my PC since about May of last year. It has been one of the best pieces of software I've used. I've added all my 'No Install' programs to the menu list on the left. It has been very stable, looks nice and is quite customizable.

I've been using Vista Start Menu for quite a while. The four video's at the website made up my mind. Check them out for yourself:

http://www.vistastartmenu.com/index.html

They are very well done, and show a lot of options (though they do also mention the Pro version).

I prefer zune theme instead of this vista start menu. Firstly, it looks great and does not consume any system resources. Vista start menu consumes too much system resources.

The free Vista Start Menu is a feature-restricted version of the fully-featured Pro version (USD $20). IMHO that's not "unrestricted freeware".

Start++ is a good alternative.

http://brandontools.com/content/StartPlusPlus.aspx