Windows 10: Windows Classic Shell - Free Download

Asking for opinions of anyone using this software that purports to place an older classic Windows interface over Windows 10. Most of the reviews I've seen of this software look like media hype, except for one Inc. Magazine article that was scant on details. Said you could overlay interfaces going back to XP.

My O.S. upgrade was from XP so I had to do a new clean install.

I am a small business user who, like most others, regard Win10 as a disaster. By small biz, I don't mean companies with 500 or less employees - that is not small by any reasonable standard. I mean just a few, like under ten, who usually cannot afford professional help. If we can't do it ourselves, we are fundamentally screwed. The constant OS changes by Msft makes our lives difficult and we regard Win 10 as a bloated pig.

So, on that note, something like Classic Shell seems attractive but I have my doubts that it could make 10 look anything like XP, the last Windows I had any respect for. Seems to me the overlays it does are pretty limited and probably not worth the effort. I also fear turning an already bad situation into a disaster.

What do you think?

:)

 

How how do you always display text for start menu folders?

You could try Classic Shell here:
Classic Shell. It's free so it's worth testing.

 

START menu NOT WORKING

I have the same problem and these fixes do not work for me either. However, another thread has a simple cure which seems to work: download and install the free "Classic Shell" program (like we used
to do for Win8) and the start menu works again. Classic Shell is free but the developer asks for a donation. Would it not be nice if Microsoft made that donation on our behalf!

 

It works as far as anything can that purports to change the look and feel of an OS - the OS is not changed so will still have all the many advances in modern OS compared with obsolete systems such as XPired.

You should of course take the time and effort to learn to use a modern OS as XP is never coming back

 

Install it and see how it effects your business efficiency..
Easy to Un-install too....

You have several "Start Menu" options available
Classic Shell
Start 10
StartIsBackPlusplus

 

I have Classic Shell for Windows one of my test machines, works just as good as it did in Win8 and Win8.1. It's a third-party software such as the others mentioned so one can't expect much support, if any, from Microsoft.
Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements
[Don't use classicshell.com, went to something else.]

 

Classic Shell works as you expect, and is highly configurable, as is its search box. You also can launch universal apps from it, and still use the Win 10 menu as well. It supports drag 'n drop, missing in Win 10's menu where you can't add items readily.

You don't have to struggle with it, and it correctly expresses a large complex start menu, categorised with sub-subfolders, which Win 10's start menu can't - it extracts the shortcuts from the sub-subfolders and lists them alphabetically. E.g.
Help
Help
Help
Help....
where each one belongs to a different program.

 

I setup Classic Start on my work computers. Makes everybody feel comfortable. Give it a try, it installs and uninstalls very easily.

I have also used Start8 and Start10 from Stardock. It costs like $5, but it's a little closer to the real Microsoft setup. There is a 30 day trial.

 

Another Classic Shell user here, been using it on two Win10 PC's since Win10 arrived, works faultlessly, uses very little in the way of resources in fact as I added the Win7 Start button it looks pretty much like Win7, the Win10 Start menu which IMO looks awful, is easily accessible.

 

I prefer CS to the Start Menu. You can configure CS so mouse hover opens CS and left click opens the Start menu so you can use whichever menu you want.

 

I used to use StartIsBack when 8 and 8.1 were the primary OS. They were dirt cheap and work great. I think a 5 user license cost me $5. Now, with 10, I haven't had a reason to use anything like this, as Windows is back to using an actual Start Menu again.

 

Go for Classic Shell, the best one.

 

I've been using it for six years, since I got my first Windows 7 box. And now I use it on Windows 10.
The complex start menu (and task bar) mess that has evolved from XP through Vista, 7, 8, and 10 are annoyances to me.
Classic Shell lets you get rid of much of that mess. And it's quite reliable.