- PUTTING WINDOWS XP SKIN ON START MENU ON WINDOWS 10 INSTALL
- PUTTING WINDOWS XP SKIN ON START MENU ON WINDOWS 10 UPDATE
- PUTTING WINDOWS XP SKIN ON START MENU ON WINDOWS 10 WINDOWS 10
Of particular note, however, is that Classic Start hasn’t removed anything. It feels very natural and familiar in almost every circumstance. Open-Shell has been integrated into Windows very well. You choose the style you prefer the first time you click on the Start button. If you’re not a fan of Windows 7’s approach to Start menus and prefer something even more basic, we can do that, too.
PUTTING WINDOWS XP SKIN ON START MENU ON WINDOWS 10 WINDOWS 10
Open-Shell MenuĪfter installing Open-Shell (and making a choice or two, which I’ll cover in a moment), my Windows 10 Home edition now has a Windows 7 style Start menu: Windows 7-style Start menu in Windows 10.
PUTTING WINDOWS XP SKIN ON START MENU ON WINDOWS 10 INSTALL
I’ll focus on the Start menu - Open-Shell Menu - for the rest of this article.Ĭlick Next and then Install to complete the installation.
PUTTING WINDOWS XP SKIN ON START MENU ON WINDOWS 10 UPDATE
The fourth option - Open-Shell Update - enables checking for future updates. The default is to install all, and so far, I’ve seen no harm in doing exactly that. Classic IE adds a caption bar and status bar for Internet Explorer.Įach of these can be selected (or not) at installation.Open-Shell Menu adds a Start button and a highly customizable traditional Start menu.Classic Explorer adds a toolbar and a status bar to Windows Explorer (now referred to as the File Explorer or Windows File Explorer).Open-Shell has three separate components: Open-Shell setup wizard.Ĭlick Next to view and agree to a license agreement click Next again to view a menu of installation options. You’ll be presented with a welcome message. Open-Shell download link.Ĭlick on that to download the installer, and select “run” if prompted. On the resulting page, scroll down until you see the installer - OpenShellSetup_xxx.exe. The Open-Shell home page (click for larger image).Ĭlick on that. Visit the Open-Shell homepage and look for the release button. Open-Shell is free, open source software available on GitHub.
With Open-Shell - also known as Open-Shell-Menu - you can get the old-style Start menu back. It’s powerful, it’s customizable, and works well with the mouse and on touch screens. On the left is Windows 10’s traditional list of installed programs (not present in Windows 8.1), and on the right is the object of most people’s concern: the tiled portion of the Start menu. Tiled Start menu in Windows 10 (click for larger image). Open- Shell (formerly Classic Shell) is free software that gives you your favorite Start menu back, as well as restoring and adding functionality to Windows Explorer. Unfortunately, that tiled Start screen leaves many with a very negative first impression - a first impression that goes on to color their entire Windows experience. While it was tamed down a little in Windows 10, it’s still quite startling if you’re upgrading from, say, Windows 7. The Start menu in Windows 8 was its most strikingly different feature.