Most power users would be perfectly willing
to upgrade to Windows 8 if it weren’t for two things the tile based “Metro’
interface and the missing Start button. While Metro is Like a rash in that you
eventually get used to it, we can’t imagine getting used to the lack of a Start
button. It’s too bad Microsoft didn’t give us the option of using both
features, but fortunately, two third party utilities do. If you want the speed
of Windows 8 and your old buddy the Start menu, one of these utilities belongs
on your system. Let’s find out which one.
StarDock
Start8 vs. Classic Shell
Round 1: Installation
The Start8 install begins with choosing
which style of OS to use for the Start menu, what the button Looks like, and
options relating to the behavior of the start menu. Once you’ve made your
choices, the Start menu reappears and you’re ready to compute. Classic Shell.
on the other hand, is much more old school and feels Like a registry-tweaking
program from five years ago. Once you’ve selected your Start menu style Classic,
XP, or Vista/7 you can choose whether you want to have the classic Look be applied
to four areas of the OS Explorer, Start menu, 1E9, and the Windows Shell. From
there, it installs and voilà the Start menu has returned. Both applications
offer a hassle-free install, so we’re calling this one a tie.
Winner: Tie
Round 2: Options
Both apps offer a plethora of configuration
options, but Classic Shell offers more tweaks white Start8’s are easier to
digest. For example, Start8 presents you with easy to use menus that l set you
choose between bits and pieces of Windows 7 and Windows 8 UI features, such as
using the Windows 7 Start menu but opening Metro when the Windows key is pressed
on the keyboard. But Start8 only offers two configuration panes with a handful
of options in each. Classic Shell offers similar configuration options but Lets
you tweak every variable imaginable, presenting you with a wall of radio
buttons that will instantly bring you back to the days of hacking the delay
time for menu animations and other UI tweaks. When it comes to sheer number of
options. Classic Shell wins hands down.
Winner: Classis Shell
Round 3: Functionality
Though Classic Shell wins the prize for
offering the most options, Start8 is easier to use since everything is
presented in a more sophisticated and simpler manner. Plus, since it costs
money, Start8 has a lot more polish (as expected) compared to the freeware
Classic Shell. Both apps easily walk you through the Start menu selection
process, but once you’re on the other side, Start8 gives you easy-to-understand
options and basic tweaks required for an enjoyable Windows experience, white
Classic Shell drops you into the deep end of the radio button pool. Both apps
offer roughly the same options, and both let you use a Classic Start menu and
access Metro, so there’s little functionality lost between the two. We’re
choosing Start8 though, because it gives us the options we want in an easier-to-understand
interface.
Winner: Start8
We’re
choosing Start8 though, because it gives us the options we want in an easier to
understand interface.
Round 4: Ease of Use
At this point the winner of this category
is hopefully quite clear, as Start8 is much easier to use and configure than
Classic Shell. This is not to say Classic Shell is like a Rubik’s Cube or
something, impossible to decipher and poorly coded. It’s not at all, it’s just
that we’ve gotten used to Uls that are a bit more intuitive than the classic”
menus we used to wade through into the wee hours of the morning. The downside
to Start8’s simplicity and ease of use is that it has fewer options than
Classic Shell, but we’re fine with that. Classic Shell also has a simple” mode
that offers just basic tweaks, but once you dive in deeper, things can get
somewhat confusing.
Winner: Start8
Round 5: Price
This category is pretty cut-and-dried, as
Classic Shell is free and Start8 costs $5. In the name of rational
decision-making, we’re calling this one for Classic Shell, but also feel the
need to point out that $5 is still a great price for Start8, as it may just be
the best bang-for-your-buck piece of software Windows 8 users ever install.
We’re not sure at this early stage how popular, or unpopular, the Windows 8
Metro UI will be, but our guess is that a lot of people will miss the familiar
Start button, making these apps essential. And Start8 feels like a fully formed
piece of commercial software, whereas Classic Shell is as rough around the
edges as you would expect. We’re not complaining it is free, after all but one
Look at it and you know it’s freeware.
Winner: Classic Shell
And the Winner Is...
This is a nail biter, because both of these
apps execute their primary mandate quite well while being easy to navigate and
totally affordable. If you just want your old Start menu back, Classic Shell
offers a quick and easy remedy to your dilemma, and the fact that it’s free
removes all risk from the decision to try it. That said, we prefer Start8 even
though it costs $5, because it is so polished that it looks and feels like a
Windows Power Toy, and we like being able to open a mini version of Metro, too.
It’s also easier to use and configure, and provides more than enough
functionality to justify its price.
