I know it's a day late - but so far I love this. I'm using Windows 8 and really missed a regular Start menu. Thanks

# 39 Matt
"Then when I uninstalled, guess what? It uninstalled explorer.exe as well. .....I used Full Uninstall, I don’t know if that was a factor."

Yes Full Uninstall must have toasted your Windows Explorer.

Because I used Revo Uninstall to do an uninstall of StartMenu-X Version 4.76 and there were no problems. My Windows Explorer was not destroyed.

Installed this StartMenu-X Version 4.87 easily.

This program is pretty decent and a nice replacement for Windows...for all the Linux people...we don't care about your opinion...if you are on this site, then you're looking for freebies for Windows...NOT Linux. If Linux Mint is so superior...then why are you trolling this site??

I already had this same 4.87 version from a previous GOTD. Either that or it updated itself when I wasn't looking! Anyway, this means I won't be downloading and installing today's offer, but thanks all the same.

Not bad. It is a good start menu replacement, but Start Menu Reviver is FREE and better overall IMO. I'll keep this as backup

how does this compare to the free classic shell which i use now?

Do i need to uninstall classic shell to try this?

I have downloaded the program, and everything is Ok, BUT the strange thing is that the default instructions and labels within the screens are in a strange language - may be Dutch, but for sure not English.
Can the developer help me in making English the default language?
thank you.

I guess power users prefer something like "Launchy"...

I wonder whether this program works with "right to left" languages, like the Hebrew I use in Israel.
Can someone comment before the GATD expires?
Thank you all.

8.1 preview was Uber Fail at first release. This offer has such great timing :)

Start Menu X and Start8 are the best options out there. yes buy them and keep up with updates, if the button means as much to you as it does to me then its so worth paying a one time fee ( price of a pizza ) to get your smile back.

I purchased and have been using the pro versions of this software on all my computers since 2008 as a replacement for the regular Windows Start menu. I have found it very easy to use and organize, and the current versions have been very fast in opening subfolders of mine in which I have hundreds of items listed. I've always found the developer to be very quick to respond to any questions I might have had about the program, and he does tend to incorporate the suggestions of the users in future updates.

Tried with 7, don't ever expect to get 8, and where did my drag to start button functionality go?

I don't use the start menu all that much so the basic one, I have been working with for years, suits me fine, I adjusted to it over time.

The only $19.99 program for professionals:
Windows-key + R

I find this program to be redundant for daily/common use but if you have a need to monitor all your programs and keep them categorized it's great and very attractive.

I'm with #39. I installed this the time before last it was given away, and it worked great for a while.

Then it started crashing repeatedly, then stopped working.

Uninstalling it really screwed up my system.

Did like it while it worked, but it was too unstable for me - I actually get work done with my machine, it's not a toy.

Seems to work fine with XP Pro (SP3) Re #37, no auto-selected items here - screen after confirming install folder was to confirm shortcut folder in start menu... re:#21/22 GAOTD offerings are always larger than the freeware version - even if the core installer is the same, the key wrapper adds size...

I wouldn't trust the claim for compatibility with Windows 8.1 as the preview version of 8.1 has only been released which means that there could be lots of changes before it's ready for release.

#10: Can someone please comment on using this program with Windows 8?
Comment by marty
--------------

Marty, that's why the company is giving away the program. So people will do comparisons and post the results. And of course they hope you will choose their program.

I tried Start Menu some time ago and compared it to "Classic Start Menu". The two programs are similar but I prefer Classic Start Menu. I'd suggest people download Start Menu X and Classic Start Menu and compare them against each other and see which one suits your requirements best.

TNX to OrdinarySoft and GOTD for these programs to test.

Great program. When I installed Win 8, this was given away a day later, which really pleased me as I was missing the start button and booting straight though I believe v8.1 cured that problem.

All I need now is aprogram that will add an aero interface back to Win 8. anyone know of such a program. :)

I've been using an earlier version of Start Menu X for some time. It's a great alternative to the stock windows menu. This version seems to have fixed much of my issue with the slow response on hover that always annoyed me with the earlier release.

Great program for sensible menu navigation for all users - try it !
~Thanks

I thought this program was great. Until it stopped working. Then when I uninstalled, guess what? It uninstalled explorer.exe as well. There was no way to look for files, find files, etc. After much gnashing of teeth, I fixed that problem, only to find that all my start menu shortcuts were gone and my file associations no longer existed. Finally fixed everything, but took a lot of time. YMMV, I used Full Uninstall, I don't know if that was a factor.

This is an exact, and I mean exact duplicate of a Linux Mint menu. Seems awfully strange how more and more Win is emulating it. Maybe because Linux Mint is superior? Windows has become a bug ridden, unpopular dinosaur, and MS just does not seem to care. Win8 is a joke, and the way XP and 7 were just plain dumped, as opposed to developing a "super xp" or some such, MS just blows the public off-REPEATEDLY!

My problem in installing Start Menu X on my Win XP Pro (SP3) OEM machine (which also has several other languages enabled, including Russian): when the Setup Wizard reaches the next step after the one indicating an installation folder (C:\Program Files\Start Menu X), a box appears with a correct name of Start Menu Folder (Start Menu X), but below it there are three (3) auto-selected items displayed in unreadable characters. Since these items are not human-readable, I had to stop the wizard. Restarting the machine does not help. What to do next?

Info for FrancisBorne (comment #4): Some (easy) research on the Web will give you the following:
The developer of Start Menu X is Dennis Nazarenko of OrdinarySoft. Address: str. Jovtneva, 7A ap 15, Kiev 08132 (Ukraine, Europe). On some Web sites, also the state of Nebraska is included in this address, but this is clearly wrong. Not everything is in the USA and Nazarenko's home town (Kiev) is in Ukraine. I can only guess that there is (much younger) city of Kiev also in Nebraska.
Thx, wkkos.

This program is a great idea and it works on Windows 7 and Windows 8. For example, being able to group together several different video or video editing apps in one folder or utility apps in one folder makes good sense.

I really must say after reading the many comments I was truly amazed by this programe
1.It was very quick to download
2.It automatically installed when I pressed ok
3.it already had an icon on the screen ready
4.it worked immediatelly, being already set up without me having to do another thing.
5. for me on my Laptop 32bit system it is just perfect and quick and efficient too.

Many thanks for all concerned for making this all possible.

I Love this software program. It really organizes everything so much better then other programs i have tried in the past. I always ending up removing other programs, this one is great. I won`t be deleting this one. Thanks GOTD!! This is a keeper!!

Regarding the updates as listed in Comment # 14, here is a link in addition to those comments:

http://www.startmenux.com/checkupdates.php?ver=4.7free

I like the fact that I can run this alongside Classic Start 8 at the same time and switch between the two whilst I am configuring this as a potential replacement.

My problem in installing Start Menu X on my Win XP Pro (SP3) OEM machine (which also has several other languages enabled, including Russian): when the Setup Wizard reaches the next step after the one indicating an installation folder (C:\Program Files\Start Menu X), a box appears with a correct name of Start Menu Folder (Start Menu X), but below it there are three (3) auto-selected items displayed in unreadable characters. Since these items are not human-readable, I had to stop the wizard. Restarting the machine does not help. What to do next?

Info for FrancisBorne (comment #4): Some (easy) research on the Web will give you the following info:
The developer of Start Menu X is Dennis Nazarenko of OrdinarySoft. Address: str. Jovtneva, 7A ap 15, Kiev 08132 (Ukraine, Europe). On some Web sites, also the state of Nebraska is included in this address, but this is clearly wrong. Not everything is in the USA and Nazarenko's home town (Kiev) is in Ukraine. I can only guess that there is (much younger) city of Kiev also in Nebraska.
Thx, wkkos.

I will stick with Classic Shell plus the included Classic Explorer, and it's free.

I downloaded Start Menu X the last time it was on GOTD. I spent ages setting it up and when it was all set up, I thought it was very useful and looked fantastic.

After about 3 weeks, however, it lost all my settings and would not allow me to reset my categories. Very frustrating to say the least!!

I now use Classic Shell instead. It does not look as snazzy as Start Menu X but so far, it has been 100% reliable

I tested almost ALL the free versions of this kind, and find this one is pretty good and works best for me, it has ALL the info right there when opened. I actually bought the Pro version for a great discount back at v.476.

This is what you need if you run W8 and miss the start menu/button, I have it on my Windows 8 Pro x64 and runs fine..

Yes, I'd like to see more skins available.

another one of these programs that I find interesting and actually more geared to W8 like GUI is Start Menu Reviver its a bit different and even is touch enabled for those with touch screens. I have it installed also and am following its progress because I think it has promise, BTW its also FREE :)

http://www.reviversoft.com/start-menu-reviver/

I had this installed from the last giveaway. I Like it.

While I download some great GOTD products, I seldom comment.
This program is nothing less that wonderful at simply organizing
what is a mess in Win 7. Thank you GOTD and Start Menu X.

@David Mean't to click no to say it isn't necessarily better than Start8, not -1 your comment. It appears the benefit of Start8 is that it allows you to control hot corners, boot to desktop and control the metro experience more, not just provide a Start Menu.

Appearance is key. This is not the clearest of the start menu replacements, and needs more skins or text options. Noted you can change the font size.

Probably the prize for clarity goes to the free Classic Shell/Classic Start Menu. However I found a couple of bugs in that start menu (custom icons disappearing, menus with lots of items too large for the screen).

Start Menu X displayed the wrong icon for a few of my custom icons for folders in the start menu, but it appeared to successfully handle very full submenus.

As commented above, 'Sort by name' seems to be missing on right clicking a start folder, for example.

It uses about 3x as much RAM as Aston start menu (44Mb vs 15Mb in my case).

One word: awesome. Thank you.

oops... forgot the link. Here it is:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/Start-Menu-7.shtml

How come it's a 14 MB download when on this site, it's only 4.9MB ?

terrawarra

Wow! This looks almost exactly like the Linux Mint MATE Start Menu system! So switch to Linux and get the "pro" version of this FREE, and as an added bonus get thousands of applications and top-notch programs and applications FREE too!

Free version has no important features, this is imho crap suggesting to buy more better commercial product, no fine gift.

Figured it out! Activated the Virtual Groups and configured them. Now it's better.

I have been using Start Menu X for a long time and can thoroughly recommend this software.

@ Peter B

Benefits of PRO version:

Single-click launch!
Assign a primary program to any folder and start it simply by clicking this folder.
Change the structure and add tabs.
Manage the Virtual Groups
Sort files by name
Free minor 4.x updates

http://www.startmenux.com/registration.html

This is an excellent program, and is one of the first programs I download and install whenever I setup a new computer for someone. It allows you to see everything on your computer (alphabetized) from a single screenshot.

What’s particularly nice about the pro (paid) version is that you can select any one of the start menu entries and make it what starts when you click on the main folder.

So, for example, if the main program is three entries down in the start listing, you can make it start when you click on the folder heading as though it were the first entry in the startup listing.

This program is so valuable to me that it is only 1 of 2 that I’ve been willing to pay for out of 100 programs on my computer (the other paid for program is xplorer2, everything else is freeware!). Grab it while you can!

Improvements in 4.87 version:

[+] Windows 8.1 compatible

Improvements in 4.86 version:

[+] Now you can rename files and items inside the main menu.

Improvements in 4.85 version:

[+] New picture for the start button and program icon. Old Windows logo was removed by request from Microsoft.

[+] Now you can setup auto-width text in the menu. Please setup this in the personalization section.

[+] Pin to Start Menu X was added for shortcut files in context menu.

[-] Few small bugs was fixed

Improvements in 4.8 version:

[+] Added the ability to assign keyboard shortcuts to function keys and power buttons

[+] Added option to show/hide the buttons from the Settings window

[+] Now, the program shows the folders and tabs, even if they were not available at the time of loading the program

[+] PRO version stores the activation code to re-install / update

Improvements in 4.76 version:

[-] fixed bug with wrong position of start menu (rare ceases)

[-] fixed a bug with duplicate content menu(rare ceases)

Improvements in 4.75 version:

[+] Options window was added

[+] Now you can manage shortcuts and other options

[+] Now you can manage scale more slowly

[-] Improved a Start Button replacement feature under windows 7

[-] minor bugs was fixed

Improvements in 4.7 version:

[-] Fixed - Bug in Virtual Groups

Improvements in 4.69 version:

[-] Fixed - Integration of the Start Button with a system.

Improvements in 4.68 version:

[-] Fixed message - The specified window has already been registered as a drop target.

[-] Fixed Language identifiers in language files the cause to show you the wrong language

Improvements in 4.67 version:

[+] Added search inside Control Panel items

[-] Fixed bug with search results

I'm using Start8. Is this better than Start8?

The description and title are not imediatly clear what is being offered here! The title and name of this giveaway is just genericly named "Start Menu Z 4.87" and that's it! as the description then list:

"Benefits of PRO version:
•Single-click launch!
•Assign a primary program to any folder and start it simply by clicking this folder.
•Change the structure and add tabs.
•Manage the Virtual Groups
•Sort files by name"

Is this implying that what we are being offered IS or IS NOT the pro version? Is this the program that's been offered here before in various version that has a weird green pig like face icon that can be used as the programs start button? If so then each time I tried it it was less than useable on my main laptop not generating any clickable menus at all... ended up having to uninstall every time!

Just looked at their website and they have a screenshot http://www.startmenux.com/images/screenshot1.jpg and that shows the green pig face that can be used to overlay the vista and above round start button as well as other options... I am certain it is the same program... never worked in any usable fashion for me so I won't be wasting my time more than commenting here.

PS I'd imagine their website does not illicit too many sales of the paid for version since links to the page where you can register and pay for the paid for version is hidden away in help pages and not an imediatly obvious link or button on each page on the site!

#3. Since version 4.8 they fixed an issue with the hot corners not working properly on some systems & gave a few more customization options to they layout. I'd definitely recommend this version as an upgrade if you have an older one.

Can someone please comment on using this program with Windows 8?