Normally, I don't install this sort of thing, but Windows 8 Metropolis is the dumbest, worst UI ever, and deletes the good features of Windows 7. As someone said, it's designed to kill productivity. So I thought that I'd take a look at this. Like so many such applications, it's designed for people who are stuck in XP-world, and is pathetic compared to the Windows 7 Start Menu.

Some people already mentioned features that others missed. It activates a tray icon which gives you handy access to lots of features, including a useful online Help, even without knowing how to access the Start Menu features.

#3, Fani Berechet, almost mentioned that it has a Skin Designer in the normal Start Menu program folder.

#7, Woozer, Windows Explorer has had "up" and sorting in any view for many years.

#14, DelennDax7, depending upon what your idea of customization is, Windows 7 supports tons of Start Menu customizations. You can also simply place (nested) folders on you desktop containing program icons/links, and they will display as nested menus from the Desktop toolbar, even if the desktop icons are hidden.

#47, GeorgiaCowboy, TidyStartMenu is in the actual Programs folder (and this is 64-bit aware).

#71, ArtKns, read the Help.

Tried a few of this software type before,was apprehensive about downloading this one shouldn't have been there is so many options with this little software and I'm only gliding around the edges Top of its Class.

If you're gonna steal the pig from Angry Birds as the new START icon, why not replace other icons with Angry Birds?

I have two hands.
Is the program still one or the other? Mouse OR keyboard?
I bring up the Start Menu with a hand on the keyboard and then make a choice on the menu with my mouse.
But Denys's past Menu programs have restricted usage to one or the other.
Symbiosis. Both is better.
News to date..?
(Actually, the slide-out magnifying dock from WinStep is the most useful of all interfaces I've ever found.)

Love it...easy to see and use....great program...thanks GOTD and StartX!!! It shows everything and works perfectly without reboot in Windows 7!!!

It could use a bit more skins to choose from, but otherwise it is really great

Immediately after install before showing GOTD activation the program is trying to go to a web sight that Bitdefender blocks and says it contains malware. By going back and not to the site the software completes install and functions correctly. Get same Bitdefender block if update is selected. May want to see what is causing Bitdefender actions. Has anyone else had a problem with their anti-malware program blocking the site?

While this may have some benefit for Win8 (from most indications another failure like all of the other even numbered windows), it has some very serious deficiencies for any power user and not much that can't be easily done just using basic Windows functions. Virtual Groups are nothing more than physical folders containing links (which are just files themselves), to physical files, folders or URLs

Deficiencies:
• Identical links cannot belong to more than one group.
• Groups are not hierarchical (only one level of grouping supported)

To easily replicate StartX functions and more in windows:
• Drag the task bar to the left side of the desktop [optional but recommended]
• Open the All Users or Windows "\Start Menu\Programs" folder with Windows Explorer or your file manager of choice
• Create sub folders under "\Start Menu\Programs" to however many levels as desired (each folder is a "virtual" group or sub group).
• Populate these folders with links to any desired app, file, folder or URL. Copy links from the \Programs folder (or any other link source), create new links, etc.
• Sort and/or set the display attributes for any folder independently of other folders
• "Register" these groups as custom Quick Launch toolbars (Taskbar Right Click | Toolbars New Toolbars)

Since these "groups" are just Windows folders, they can be opened and maintained by all of the normal Windows operations: sort, drag & drop, create, delete, display attributes, etc. Multiple "groups" may be open simultaneously and resized independently. Identical links may exist in multiple "groups". They also can be located anywhere on your system, not just under the Start Menu.

Locating the taskbar on the side of the desktop easily accommodates 30+ Quick Launch entries per column, while still leaving lots of space for the taskbar and tray, (Right Click | View | Small Icons). Individual toolbars ("groups") are resizable. The taskbar/toolbars can be locked or resizable, always on top or smart, icons & text or icons only (Right Click | Properties). Each Quick Launch entry is launched with a single click (StartX requires two clicks: the first to launch StartX itself). By including links to group folders in a toolbar you get the best of both worlds.

Avoiding another app means not having the hassle of installing, learning and maintaining another app or, in this case, losing the "registered" status of a proprietary app. The only thing you lose from StartX are some minor GUI conveniences that are offset by some easier operations. For example, moving a link from one group to another is a simple drag and drop in windows but requires an old group select, link deselect, new group select and link reselect.

Works great on XP SP3. I like it a lot! :) This version let's me manage the Virtual Groups, and I didn't buy it. Not sure about the other stuff on someone's list above, about what buying it gets ya.

53% Thumbs up! Are you kidding me!? Great app! Added it to my 7 Start menu and my rocket dock. Loads fast and highly customizable, yet intuitive enough. Solves a major issue with getting used to Windows 8. I see it replacing my dock so I can once again be proud to be PC. A decent free version offered. Some folks here are bound to be picky... geeks are hard to please, but 47%. Come on guys... pull the rod out of your asses! I am scheduled for overhaul my dual core Toshiba soon. May install Windows 8 now... this makes the transition a little easier to cope with. Thanks Ordinary Soft for the chance to go Pro!

thank you , works fine for me,just have to tweak it a little to make it look just right for me but it is a keeper

I've been looking for a way to organise my start menu and add search functionality to XP's start menu for a while now and this software seems perfect for the job. There's enough positive reviews on GAOTD's site to convince me to give it a try and so far I've been impressed. I'm sure there are a lot of functions I haven't yet discovered but on the basis of it doing just the two things I've been looking for, I'd say this is a keeper and well worth the money.

My only negative comment on the program would be that sometimes when you have the start menu open, if you click on the start button again it doesn't always close the menu even though the button changes. Another click often does the trick though. Not sure if this is a 'feature' for XP only or not.

Installation was a piece of cake.
Has interesting properties.
However, it got rid of all the startup programs.
I tried and tried, but nothing.
Some of them, like word had pinned files.
And nothing.

The image I got was not the same I saw on their website.

Simply do not have the time to mess with this, so it was uninstalled.

This is an excellent program. I started when it was called "Vista
Start Menue". A free program from C Net. It is now called "Start
Menue X". Believe me you will like it. This Pro version has many
more features.

Have just downloaded Start Menu X Pro.
I would like to up grade to pro paid
Where can I do this and what is special cost today for one pc?

This looked really good at first, until I actually tried using it. The main problem I had was that neither the touchscreen nor non-touchscreen profiles worked the way I wanted it to:

In non-touchscreen mode, you access the menus/submenus by hovering the mouse over the menu name; actually clicking on the menu causes that folder to be opened in an Explorer window. This drove me absolutely nuts, because I'm used to the standard Start Menu behavior where clicking on a menu simply opens it immediately without having to wait for the hover effect to kick in. I therefore found myself constantly opening Explorer windows by accident.

The touchscreen setting was better, despite the fact that I wasn't using a touchscreen, because it turns the horrible single-click-opens-the-folder misfeature off. Unfortunately, it also for some bizarre reason entirely turns off the hover-opens-menu effect on submenus (but not, oddly enough, on the top level menus) and, worse yet, requires you to double-click on the actual programs to run them.

This program desperately needs to provide an option to work like the traditional Windows Start Menu, where both hover and single-click open the menu, where double-click opens the folder in an Explorer window, and where single-click on a program runs it.

It's also missing any ability to navigate the menu via the keyboard which, again, the native Windows Start Menu provides.

What's really annoying here is that the program comes so frustratingly close to being a wonderful superset of the classic Start Menu with the Vista/Win7 Start Menu's search functionality and a few other features added in.



I also had a few other (much more minor) issues with the program:

There's no About box and thus no obvious way to tell what version of the program you're running.

Having all the configuration options in a menu rather than a proper settings dialog is really awkward.

The program lacks a locally installed help file; the Help command in the program simply opens http://www.StartMenuX.com/help in your web browser. This is stupid; even if the developer can't be bothered to convert the individual HTML files to a proper .chm file, it would be trivially easy to install a copy of the HTML files locally.

Furthermore, those web pages are rather lacking in detailed information about the program. In particular, there's essentially no information on the extra features you get with the PRO version over the freeware version. (Frankly, the only immediate difference I saw was the former's lack of a "Get PRO" button.) Given that developer obviously has a financial stake in emphasizing those added features, that's a pretty bizarre oversight.

Love it Love it. I, personally, have become so *used* to giveawayoftheday giving out such useful programs (and, of course, Giovanni's gifts...!) that I quit finding my own... *lazy*! I have hundreds of programs that clutter me up and I have been, foolishly, making start menu folders bigger and bigger (which is perfectly useable, but I'd MUCH rather use this giveaway!) Their YouTube video is VERY informational and explains the whole program efficiently and 'in a nut shell,' so for those of you that have questions I suggest you take a look at the video :) To those of you who do not like the 'ugly' white on black... to each their own. I guess nothing will ever be good enough for some people. I prefer to look at the cup half full by complimenting the programmer and GAOTD. Thank You for organizing my *mess*!

After trying the demo on a netpad, I paid for this not too long ago. It never could even install on my desktop properly. The protection scheme is over-the-top for what it is. Though the developer responded and suggested he would try to get a fix, before I ever heard back from him, I got frustrated and tried another program.

I THOUGHT I liked this program at first, but the 'virtual groups' is actually very taxing to pull together. When I began to tinker with the following FREE program CLASSIC SHELL - I discovered true satisfaction. I'm REALLY happy with Classic Shell (though I admit I have pulled some tricks to make it do really friendly things). This one offered here was promising but too idiosyncratic to be worth it in my opinion. Free, I'll respectfully pass; full price, NOT RECOMMENDED!

Installed without a problem. Tried it. Promptly uninstalled it.Same problem as #38. For me, not keeping the pinned items available is an absolute and total deal-breaker. There's no added feature on this program remotely worth that loss to me. Does'nt strike me as something that would be terribly difficult to implement, and it's addition would turn the program from 'uninstalled' to 'in use'.

Nice piece of software, looks like a keeper. Still can't figure out how to activate this darn thing. Help would be nice.

Is there any way to replace the green piggy face with a start button that is more traditional and/or professional looking? Audio on the video guide is somewhat distorted so I couldn't be sure, but I would like to confirm whether SMX automatically sorts the programs into folders or do I have to do several hundred of them manually, after creating folders, of course. Speaking of which #37/CJCotter's list of suggested categories is a big clue to his or her priorities, as is mine, I'm sure, as follows:

1. Half a dozen different types of PIM's,
2. Utility suites & similar singles,
3. Miscellaneous other utilities,
4. Audio/Video & animation,
5. Authoring, burning and ripping,
6. Readers, file formatting & compression,
7. Education, Reference, Search & hobbies,
8. Communication & Capture,
9. Hardware, OS, Network, Programming & Printing,
10. Backup, Recovery & Sync,
11. Encryption & Security,
12. Other.
I have roughly the same double-digit number of programs (most of them from GOTD) in each of these categories, except Other, to make menu selection go more quickly. That's why I need to find out how today's GOTD works before installing it.

If you miss out on this offer you can try Classic shell.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Win7 X64 installed fine. Guess it registered since I didn't really check. It's a nice program, but just not for me. I am happy and used to Windows 7 default.

One added thing. It may be possible to arrange things by folder vs name. In other words, have all folders listed in one area and files in another. I did look for the customization but not for very long. So, it may exist and I just didn't see it. At any rate, I like my folders all in one list alphabetical order and my files the same way. Uninstalled sorry but thanks anyway.

@44 I use ClassicShell under Windows 8.

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

It allows you to skip the Metro screen and also gives you the option to disable active corner, or just the start menu corner.

It obviously has many, many other features and it is free.

Hello:

Not often I am sooooo impressed with GOTD that I stop what I am doing in my tracks. Great Job, and in the next couple of weeks I will visit your site to purchase simple because I want to support your work!

Thank you!

Peter

Using Windows 8 RTM here, installed without incident, stable, and responsive. A solid application that takes care of the train wreck that is the Metr--, er, Moder---, er, Windows 8 UI on a desktop. Props to the developer for creating a fine product in its own right.

However...

When compared to the competition, it seems to offer little in the way of advantage. Classic Shell is completely free and is a seamless Start Menu replacement. I didn't restart with SMXP so I can't opine if it does this, but Classic Shell boots you directly into the desktop instead of Metro.

Aston Menu is still my favorite start menu replacement offered on GAOTD. For the same $20 MSRP you get a skin selection WELL beyond what SMXP offers, start menu widgets, and additional customizations.


tl;dr: I have respect for the developer, but Classic Shell is just as good and always free, and for the same money Aston Menu is a much more functional alternative.

Joey

Loving the little green pig start menu button. :D I've never seen the need until now, but this is a keeper. One click, and I can see all my stuff. Thanks GAOTD!

What a great, great program to help me keep organize all the programs the years have accumulated. EZ install on win7 64 and intuitive interface. Thanks to the designer and GOTD!!

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

here is another alternate start menu.
open source.

I would love to use this program as I have enjoyed Tidy Start. However there is insufficient help to get you started. ie, how do you get it to replace what you currently have in place. My icon resides in my hidden icons tray and only pop up when I click on it. I am so frustrating that I think I will just use what I have. I am disappointed that it so cumbersome and the lack of clear and concise help.

Wow! Can't believe you put this program up for free Dennis. This is a great program! Ran the free one, liked it so much I bought it!I am hoping when Windows 8 comes out it will keep on running great. Thanks for all your hard work Dennis!

What a nice surprise to see this here today.Thanks for the giveaway. I'm lost unless i'm using this (free version)
It makes my life so much easier. Very good program, but I do have issues with it crashing sometimes.
Well worth putting up with it's faults though.
Thanks again

Just use this FREE version of "Tidy Start Menu"
http://www.tidystartmenu.com/index.shtml

After only five minutes with this app, I know it is a keeper. As expected from a very well coded program, it installed properly on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit test system (with 450+ third-party apps installed!) Minimal Registry and File entries and a very respectable <32Mb of Private Memory. Since it uses hooks into Windows rather than alter System Files, no conflicts, though did reboot to have it play nicely with Stardock's Objectdock and Fences, two other rock-solid apps. If you try it you will like it and, if not, I believe it will uninstall neatly and cleanly.

-- Add your(Outlook)Contacts to the Start Menu and send an email wihtout first having to open the client, whichever is your default.
-- Hugely expanded 'Recent Items' list that, together with something like Listary, means you *never* hunt for that day-old document again.
-- No right-clicking "Command" to run with Admin privileges.

And I haven't even begun to experiment with its Virtual Groups feature.

Thanks OrdinarySoft and GOTD for this extra-ordinary freebie!

update to the above comment, Shift WinKey brings up Windows Metro Interface. Still corner window switching is not available anymore.

Works in Windows 8 RTM. replaced my Windows Start menu. Recognizes Windows 8 and give appropriate options of mouse vs touch use. The corner cursor actions on the left side are lost when you use the program. would like to not loose those. I would not mind the option of choosing between. I selected do not override Windows 8 but it still ended up doing it. None the less I have never paid any attention to this type of programs , but I am not comfortable with the metro interface of W8 as of yet and this is a good replacement of what I lost with W7

Excellent program if you want to be organized and efficient...after all time is money, isn't it?

But how about make your own application launcher for FREE??

Too good to be true?? Certainly NOT with Giovanni....LOL!!

http://www.winstep.net/nexus.asp (amazing APP ==> Softpedia Editor Pick)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Launchers-Shutdown-Tools/Fahmy-My-Suite.shtml
http://sliderdock.wikidot.com/

Want to launch your frequent programs with a couple of mouse clicks?

If so, let’s give the excellent portable freeware tool “QuickCliq” a whirl:

http://apathysoftworks.com/software/qc

Full review here:
http://dottech.org/freeware-reviews/27794/quick-cliq-is-a-multi-function-portable-app-launcher-and-productivity-tool

Other great FREE ALTERNATIVES worth downloading for less advanced users, are also these:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Launchers-Shutdown-Tools/LaunchDock-Pulsar.shtml
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Launchers-Shutdown-Tools/Run-This.shtml
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Launchers-Shutdown-Tools/Fahmy-FFLauncher.shtml
http://softwaredistribution.xclan.ru/index.html
http://www.winstep.net/startmenuorganizer.asp
http://jacquelin.potier.free.fr/QuickWayToFolders/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Launchers-Shutdown-Tools/wxQuickRun.shtml
http://code.google.com/p/linx-lists/

But what if you could have a FREE launcher which can recognise any program you want to run through a darn simple MOUSE GESTURES? Yes dudes...you heard me right...MOUSE GESTURES….LOL!!

Too good to be true?? Certainly not:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Launchers-Shutdown-Tools/Gesture-Magic.shtml

Enjoy!!

Installed it. First time I pressed menu key I got a screen with one of the columns severely LEFT SIDE truncated. Control Panel, remove programs - here I come.

I've been using OrdinarySoft's "Vista Start Menu" for years, which seems to be the Vista-specific version of today's offering. That program works well for me. I've got 890 programs on my computer and this really helps me keep things organized and easily accessible. I've always found Dennis to be very helpful whenever I've had a question about the program. I would definitely recommend folks giving Start Menu X a try, especially if you're the type of person who would usually reset your start menu on your computer back to the Classic view from whatever new menu system Microsoft arbitrarily decides we should be using.

Note too.
Holding 'shift' while clicking the start menu button brings up your normal start menu, depending on your OS version of course.
& right clicking the button brings up options that you can change & view in real time (leave the menu open).

Been using the free version since it was last here.
Like how it's actively developed still.
Notice that bugs are obviously sorted out (like that shutdown/close error).

It ALSO makes any EXTERNAL drive or USB completely & easily accessible. That is a great plus for me. ... :)
I was very pleased when it went from a 15mb installer to about 5mb.
There was no loss of functionality. Pity GotD bumps it to 10mb.
I like the Aero too. & yes there's room for a few more skins for the GUI & button too. Sorry that people seem to have language problems.

Cheers to the developer. They deserve success & credit for their work.

I installed this and now can no longer see my pinned programs in the Start Menu. Can anyone help me view them with this program?

Instead of installing software like this, gullibly swallowing their idea that I don't have half-a-brain to sort my programs, I've found that all programs fall within one of these categories, which I created as Start Menu folders:

ASTRONOMY, CALENDARS, TIME
COMPUTER HARDWARE UTILITIES
COMPUTER SECURITY
DISPLAY OPTIONS
EARTH SCIENCES
INTERNET TOOLS
MULTIMEDIA
OFFICE
REFERENCE
SYSTEM TOOLS
UTILITY
VISUAL GRAPHICS

I just installed "Fences" program the other day and am enjoying having my desktop shortcuts organized, so I am a little reluctant to possibly add another related program to the mix. Also, there seems to be just enough funny little things going on in the comments to make me a little cautious about this software, so I'll pass on it. Thanks but no thanks.

Definitely useful for Windows 8 which coincidentally launches as a full release on the 26th of this month. But it's hard to say if the final Windows 8 will have it's own menu system or not. But it does seem that Windows 8 expects people to use the power button on their computer to turn it off, something that use to crash older versions of Windows.

With this thing installed, Win key doesn't bring Windows taskbar to front anymore (it does work occasionally, for some reason), which is a showstopper to me, since I often work in full-screen mode. Uninstalled

This seems like a pretty cool App - from GAOD.. I'll give it a try. But only on windows 7 machines - for Windows 8 I'm waiting to get.

http://www.retroui.com/

This is an awesome app cheaper as well.

I've seen it on a few windows 8 test machines and it's slick.

Testing on win 7 32bit
I have learned one thing in the past few days, with every new version of windows, the window manager becomes horribly crippled worse. XP had it half-right, (the bad half is that microsoft never officially made it so we could do themes!) the rest have been all downhill.
but lets get to this start menu x now...

She flys into a spanking new directory no problem.
The ORB is beautiful, Love to have more options. Never played angry birds, but I digress. Where the orb becomes ugly is when I get to the windows 7, 8, 8 metro choices. why it's been such a pain to change the start button all these years. Okay well seemslike you have that solved, where solved is running yet another 3rd party app, but dont feel alone, because I can't seem to get window blinds to do anyting with the start button either. Maybe you should collaborate with both microsoft and stardock?? I am being dead serious, these new versions of windows are a nasty joking nightmare for productivity. I literally hate every transparent glass theme. You want the taskbar glass, great... I could go off on how screwed up windows is but I digress.

Start Menu X failed for me because there is no classic mode, it literally conflicts with my classic menu from sourceforge. While I still love the new orb. Not enough to sell me an angry bird for the price of selling my classic menu's soul.

I see that .theme, and .msstyles isn't enough to keep all this insanity busy for now wee need .vgastyle files too. hmm, and i was thinking load up a classic theme.. fail

Touch-pad choice failure. Mouse vs touch-paaad, never the two shall meet, never assume intel drivers would already have a check box ticked, to detect a usb mouse being plugged in or yanked out and logically disable the touch-pad, and re-enabling it.

For the record the them I like the best was classic sky.

Maybe one day Deviant Art, b3ta, 3rd party tool makers and angry metro people on non-touchscreen could protest, and pound some sense into redmond?

thumbs up if you like the modern menu, and you have tossed the productive classic mode under the buss. If she could have killed my start button with a cannabis leaf, and had the option to leave my classic menu's alone it would get two thumbs up.

You are encouraged to go to developer's website and view the introduction video.

Looks like I already can organise and control program execution well using the built-in Windows ability to send icons to the desktop. The Start Menu can be organised into main Groups named according to your choice. So no need for any additional software because Windows gave you everything.

There is a FREE version with less features on the website.

Good points that the video said:
Start Menu X does not mess up your Windows system files.
You can choose to use Start Menu X with a simple command. Or not.
You can choose to assign any program to the group of your choice and that will be reflected immediately in the listing.
You can collapse the menus.
You can send it to the 2nd monitor.
You can let the Pro version auto hunt for the execute .exe or .com file within a list of files.
You can adjust the width of left hand column.
The icon size will adjust according to the zoom.
Some frills - quite unnecessary - you can go into CMD mode as Administrator.

Can try it just for fun and if you don't like it, simply uninstall.

It is not a must-have.

I know why the colourful backgrounds. Because a program like this would be dreadfully boring if it was always with a dark grey background.

I have not used a menu program since pre-Windows. Never had a need for one and really I don't NEED this program, I know how to find programs and start them, but I saw a few raves for it in the comments so I thought to give it a try. First let me say that it downloaded and installed quickly and without glitches. (Win 7-32 Home Premium)

The 'start' button changed to their little pig icon which I did not care for but it did let me know that something is different. I clicked on it and found a 'crystal' (see through) screen with a small font and could not read anything. From reading the comments I knew the skin could be changed, Right clicked and easily found the Start Menu X/Skin button and changed to classic and another right click used the scale button to increase the size. Much better for my tastes.

Now I see that the Manage Virtual Groups is the next step and I have decisions to make regarding the layout that will suit me.

All in all it looks like a good program, a definite keeper, and will be a time and trouble saver after I adjust it to my needs/tastes a bit. Now to check if there is any automatic update button that I need to turn off and see if there is a way I can customize the start button icon. I can live with the green pig (or any of the other Icons they provided) but I'd prefer Betty Boop or Tweety Bird.

P.S. When leaving a message for or about a particular post/comment it is best to address it something like '#5/Name here' since GOTD does sometimes change the numbers of previous comments.

Prior to my previous comment - this is the Pro version. I wasn't able to find the Group Manager, which rather than as described - it isn't the program folder - must be activated by right clicking in the replacement start menu then selecting 'start menu x' - 'manage virtual groups'. Apologies.