Best Win8 start menu I've ever tried

On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:07:42 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

On 3/2/2014 11:50 AM, usenetopian wrote:
AIOE snip
Second, let me point out that are many such programs that provide very
similar facilities. Perhaps the most popular is Classic Shell (free)
but my personal favorite is Start8 (very inexpensive--$4.99 US), which
is what I use all the time.

So tell us about Start Menu X. What have you compared it with? Classic
Shell? Start8? Others? What is there about Start Menu X that you like
better than the alternatives?

I concur, Start8 to me is the best, I use an older version that includes
a Windows 7, Vista and XP startbutton to choose from

I am so surprised so many people are still using the archaic Start Menu.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of those very same people are using less
than 30+ PCs. It's just awful, isn't it?

I stopped using them around 2006. Launch Bars are so much faster and better.

Launch bars aren't faster and better. They're just another way to access
your applications.

Are hotkeys faster and better than launch bars? Is it faster and better to
pin your most-used apps to the Taskbar? What about pinning to the Start
Menu? None of those ways to access your applications is better than another.
They're simply alternatives.

Bottom line, we don't all want to work the same way, or to put it another
way, we don't all think your way is necessarily the best way. Use what works
best for you.

On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 13:39:32 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

On 3/2/2014 1:32 PM, Roderick Stewart wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:07:42 -0600, BillW50 wrote:


I am so surprised so many people are still using the archaic Start Menu.
I stopped using them around 2006. Launch Bars are so much faster and better.

Perhaps there's a reason why something archaic has remained popular.

Rod.

I suppose, but it is so slow and takes a lot of mouse clicks and it is
naturally so disorganized.

I see now why you have such disdain for your Start Menu. You've failed to
organize it.

On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:31:29 -0500, Ron wrote:

An Angry Bird as Start button... Really?

What's wrong with that?

If you have to ask, then I'm not wasting my time explaining it to you...

--
s|b

On 3/2/2014 1:40 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
Launch bars aren't faster and better. They're just another way to access
your applications.

They are faster than Start - Programs. As by that point, launch bar is
already launching your program.

Are hotkeys faster and better than launch bars?

Sure.

Is it faster and better to pin your most-used apps to the Taskbar?

Sure.

What about pinning to the Start Menu?

Sure.

None of those ways to access your applications is better than another.
They're simply alternatives.

No they are all much better than Start - Programs

Bottom line, we don't all want to work the same way, or to put it another
way, we don't all think your way is necessarily the best way. Use what works
best for you.

Of course, that is why so many are stuck using their 20 year old Start Menu.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v24.3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 Home SP1

On 3/2/2014 1:43 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 13:39:32 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

On 3/2/2014 1:32 PM, Roderick Stewart wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:07:42 -0600, BillW50 wrote:


I am so surprised so many people are still using the archaic Start Menu.
I stopped using them around 2006. Launch Bars are so much faster and better.

Perhaps there's a reason why something archaic has remained popular.

Rod.

I suppose, but it is so slow and takes a lot of mouse clicks and it is
naturally so disorganized.

I see now why you have such disdain for your Start Menu. You've failed to
organize it.

No I have. It helps a bit.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v24.3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 Home SP1

On 3/2/2014 2:47 PM, s|b wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:31:29 -0500, Ron wrote:

An Angry Bird as Start button... Really?

What's wrong with that?

If you have to ask, then I'm not wasting my time explaining it to you...


I can't read your mind. You're the one that has a problem with it not
me. Start8 also includes an Angry Birds icon.

BillW50 wrote:

Of course, that is why so many are stuck using their 20 year old Start
Menu.

Old doesn't mean dead. It's lasted longer than netbooks and iPods.

--
Blue

shadow said on 3/2/2014 11:45 AM:
"Ken Blake, MVP" escreveu na mensagem
...

"So tell us about Start Menu X. What have you compared it with? Classic
Shell? Start8? Others? What is there about Start Menu X that you like
better than the alternatives?"

shadow wrote:

I liked Start menu X because has no restrictions (freeware), is very
responsive to mouse click (fast), we can change button logo and looks
similar to original microsoft start menu. A not so perfect singularity
is the fact user can't drag and drop menu entries. I've tried this
utility but I don't use it because it has a short delay to load when
windows starts.


I like startisback http://www.startisback.com/ and it was only $2.99 US.
I think it behaves much like start8 or classic but after using all 3
I kinda like startisback. I've changed the start button icon &
deisgned my own for start8.

On 3/2/2014 2:29 PM, Blue wrote:
BillW50 wrote:

Of course, that is why so many are stuck using their 20 year old Start
Menu.

Old doesn't mean dead. It's lasted longer than netbooks and iPods.

Yes! That is an absolute fact. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v24.3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 Home SP1

On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 19:39:21 +0000, Ed Cryer
wrote:

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:

OK, thanks. Start8 does all the same things and more. It isn't free,
but it's $4.99 price is close enough for me.


Yes, Start8 has the edge for me too, but I don't like having all the
other Stardock stuff thrown my way.


Beside Start8, I use only one other Stardock product: ModernMix

On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 13:50:17 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

Are hotkeys faster and better than launch bars?

Sure.

Is it faster and better to pin your most-used apps to the Taskbar?

Sure.

What about pinning to the Start Menu?

Sure.

None of those ways to access your applications is better than another.
They're simply alternatives.

No they are all much better than Start - Programs

They're all useful according to personal preference, but a big
advantage of a Start menu system with folders and subfolders is that
you can divide your programs into categories and accommodate very many
more of them than will fit on a taskbar or launcher. In W7 I have my
most frequently used ones on the taskbar, some of them with hotkeys as
well, and all the others in an XP-style menu system accessed via the
Documents shortcut in the white-on-black part of the menu. With
Classic shell it's possible to do the same thing in W8.

Rod.

On 3/2/2014 4:58 PM, Roderick Stewart wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 13:50:17 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

Are hotkeys faster and better than launch bars?

Sure.

Is it faster and better to pin your most-used apps to the Taskbar?

Sure.

What about pinning to the Start Menu?

Sure.

None of those ways to access your applications is better than another.
They're simply alternatives.

No they are all much better than Start - Programs

They're all useful according to personal preference, but a big
advantage of a Start menu system with folders and subfolders is that
you can divide your programs into categories and accommodate very many
more of them than will fit on a taskbar or launcher. In W7 I have my
most frequently used ones on the taskbar, some of them with hotkeys as
well, and all the others in an XP-style menu system accessed via the
Documents shortcut in the white-on-black part of the menu. With
Classic shell it's possible to do the same thing in W8.

I got that Rod. But everything you can do with the Start Menu, you can
do that and with far less effort. I generally use the launch bar under
Aston2 (payware), but there are many of them out there and Aston2 isn't
special in this regard. And they almost force you to categorized
everything. As it isn't very useful if you don't. And for me personally,
I couldn't careless if there is a Start Menu there or not. As I would
only use it maybe twice a year anyway. And if it wasn't there, Explorer
still works anyway. And that is far better than the Start Menu anyway
for twice a year usage.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v24.3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 Home SP1

Pin shortcuts to taskbar is good decision. If you do so, you can do windows
key + 1, 2, 3 ... 9 to open programs. But I think it's faster to use mouse.

"Roderick Stewart" escreveu na mensagem
...

On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:07:42 -0600, BillW50 wrote:


I am so surprised so many people are still using the archaic Start Menu.
I stopped using them around 2006. Launch Bars are so much faster and
better.

Perhaps there's a reason why something archaic has remained popular.

Rod.

"Big Al" wrote in message
eb.com...

shadow said on 3/2/2014 11:45 AM:
"Ken Blake, MVP" escreveu na mensagem
...

"So tell us about Start Menu X. What have you compared it with? Classic
Shell? Start8? Others? What is there about Start Menu X that you like
better than the alternatives?"

shadow wrote:

I liked Start menu X because has no restrictions (freeware), is very
responsive to mouse click (fast), we can change button logo and looks
similar to original microsoft start menu. A not so perfect singularity
is the fact user can't drag and drop menu entries. I've tried this
utility but I don't use it because it has a short delay to load when
windows starts.


I like startisback http://www.startisback.com/ and it was only $2.99 US. I
think it behaves much like start8 or classic but after using all 3 I kinda
like startisback. I've changed the start button icon & deisgned my own
for start8.

I agree, that's my favorite also. I got it back when it was $3.99 for 2 PCs.
Even though the price has gone up for 2 PCs to $4.99, I still get free
updates.

Easy enough to use, with plenty of options for those of us who can't leave
well enough alone, right out of the box :-)
--
SC Tom

On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 17:44:30 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

On 3/2/2014 4:58 PM, Roderick Stewart wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 13:50:17 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

Are hotkeys faster and better than launch bars?

Sure.

Is it faster and better to pin your most-used apps to the Taskbar?

Sure.

What about pinning to the Start Menu?

Sure.

None of those ways to access your applications is better than another.
They're simply alternatives.

No they are all much better than Start - Programs

They're all useful according to personal preference, but a big
advantage of a Start menu system with folders and subfolders is that
you can divide your programs into categories and accommodate very many
more of them than will fit on a taskbar or launcher. In W7 I have my
most frequently used ones on the taskbar, some of them with hotkeys as
well, and all the others in an XP-style menu system accessed via the
Documents shortcut in the white-on-black part of the menu. With
Classic shell it's possible to do the same thing in W8.

I got that Rod. But everything you can do with the Start Menu, you can
do that and with far less effort. I generally use the launch bar under
Aston2 (payware), but there are many of them out there and Aston2 isn't
special in this regard. And they almost force you to categorized
everything. As it isn't very useful if you don't. And for me personally,
I couldn't careless if there is a Start Menu there or not. As I would
only use it maybe twice a year anyway. And if it wasn't there, Explorer
still works anyway. And that is far better than the Start Menu anyway
for twice a year usage.

Horses, as they say, for courses. It's possible to build up a very
complex categorised system of bookmarks in a web browser (rather like
a complex XP-style Start menu), but even though I don't always use it,
often finding it quicker to use a search engine, I would be
disappointed if the software providers decided all by themselves to
take this facility away. The biggest strength of the English language
is its versatility, and I think this applies to computer languages
too. (Yes, I think it is justifiable to refer to all the protocols of
interaction with a graphic interface as a "language"). If there are
several different ways of saying or doing the same thing, even if I
don't use all of them myself, I think their very existence is an
advantage in iself, and it is counterproductive for anybody to remove
the ones that they personally don't think others ought to be using.

Rod.