In this review, Mike Fara at Windows8Forums.com shows you some of the features of Stardock's Start8. With this software, you will be able to bring back the "Start Menu" from Windows 7 and prior Windows versions, without any significant performance overhead.
Sincerely, Mike Fara Microsoft MVP Windows 8 Forums
Operating System Windows 8 Pro x64 Internet Explorer Version 10.0.9200.16384 DirectX Version 11 Computer Type Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 v1 CPU Type and Speed Intel Core i7 Extreme 975, 3500 MHz (26 x 135) CPU Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 CPU Idle Temp 43c CPU Load Temp 60c Motherboard Chipset Gigabyte Intel X58 + ICH10R GA-X58A-UD7 System BIOS Revision F7 System Memory Type 24GB G Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL System Memory Speed DDR3-1333 (667MHz) System Memory Clocking 8-8-8-22 Video Card Type and Speed SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 Video Card Cooling Standard Video Card Temperature 54c Power Supply Unit (PSU) Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W Computer Monitor Dell 2007WFP 20" LCD
Sound Card Realtek ALC889 @ Intel 82801JB ICH10 Speakers Logitech 2.1 Headset/Microphone Sony MDR-V600/Yeti Mic Storage Controller Intel IICH10R 3400 Series SATA RAID Hard Drive x6 CRUCIAL_CT128M225 Optical Drives Portable USB DVD-RW Keyboard and Mouse MS Keyboard / Logitech G500 Mouse Modem-Router Type Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Network Adapter x2 Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Printer Canon MX850 Network Speed 1GBit Internet / LAN USB Controller Intel 82801JB ICH10 Gaming Console PS3, XBox Anti-virus Software ESET Smart Security Productivity Suite Microsoft Office 2010 System Install Date 8/18/2012 Computer Skill Level Certified Professional Windows Experience Index 7.7 Favorite Game Skyrim Favorite Application Skype
Well, as you gentlemen know, I seem to have impeccable timing as of late. No sooner than I made this video, Stardock released version 1.1 of Start8, which requires a re-download and does not work with the auto-update feature.
New in this update:
• Added drag and drop support (including rearranging items in All Programs)
• Added support for renaming items in All Programs
• Added support for displaying pinned folder items via jumplists
• Added support for custom locations (like linking to Dropbox)
• Added option to open Winkey+X menu instead of classic or Modern start menus
• Added additional start button images
• Additional UI language support(ar, cs, de, fr, ja, pl, pt-br, tr, zh - see lang\en.lng)
• And more!
As for pat's interest in free solutions, I am sure many of them are amicable and work just as well as Start8. And as for Drew saying you don't need a Start Menu add-on for Windows 8, I think many older users who are hitting the curve are just really annoyed by the fact it is not there. I know quite a few people who are consistently insisting "It is designed for tablets" and refuse to use it. I cannot sell them on it at all because of this widespread rumor and misinformation... I think leaving some form of Start Menu in for the desktop mode would have prevented this problem quite a bit.
Sincerely, Mike Fara Microsoft MVP Windows 8 Forums
Operating System Windows 8 Pro x64 Internet Explorer Version 10.0.9200.16384 DirectX Version 11 Computer Type Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 v1 CPU Type and Speed Intel Core i7 Extreme 975, 3500 MHz (26 x 135) CPU Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 CPU Idle Temp 43c CPU Load Temp 60c Motherboard Chipset Gigabyte Intel X58 + ICH10R GA-X58A-UD7 System BIOS Revision F7 System Memory Type 24GB G Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL System Memory Speed DDR3-1333 (667MHz) System Memory Clocking 8-8-8-22 Video Card Type and Speed SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 Video Card Cooling Standard Video Card Temperature 54c Power Supply Unit (PSU) Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W Computer Monitor Dell 2007WFP 20" LCD
Sound Card Realtek ALC889 @ Intel 82801JB ICH10 Speakers Logitech 2.1 Headset/Microphone Sony MDR-V600/Yeti Mic Storage Controller Intel IICH10R 3400 Series SATA RAID Hard Drive x6 CRUCIAL_CT128M225 Optical Drives Portable USB DVD-RW Keyboard and Mouse MS Keyboard / Logitech G500 Mouse Modem-Router Type Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Network Adapter x2 Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Printer Canon MX850 Network Speed 1GBit Internet / LAN USB Controller Intel 82801JB ICH10 Gaming Console PS3, XBox Anti-virus Software ESET Smart Security Productivity Suite Microsoft Office 2010 System Install Date 8/18/2012 Computer Skill Level Certified Professional Windows Experience Index 7.7 Favorite Game Skyrim Favorite Application Skype