The IT Nerd

Stardock first came to my attention when Windows 8 appeared and people started telling me that the new (at the time) Metro interface sucked was hard to adapt to. In particular, the lack of the Start button that had been around since 1995. For many who could not cope with that, I helped them out by using a program called Start8 to bring back the Start menu and windowing for Metro apps. Now they’ve done it again with their latest application which is called predictably enough Start10. But let’s step back for a second and understand why Stardock even bothered with this given that you have a real Start menu in Windows 10. For some, that’s not good enough because it walks the line between Windows 7 and Windows 8. What Start10 does is puts it back firmly into Windows 7 country. That will make many dance in the streets. But what’s more is that you can tweak things to make it look exactly the way you want it to.

To find out how well this works, I installed it and snapped before and after pictures so that you can see the difference. For the after picture, I used the default settings.

Here’s what my stock Windows 10 install looks like:

And here it is after Start10 is installed.

This looks exactly like Windows 7 and users who are used to that will be overjoyed. If you want the Windows 10 Start menu for whatever reason, you can invoke it temporarily by clicking on “Windows 10 Menu” at the top of the start menu.

Here’s the best thing. To get this you have to pony up $4.99. But if you’re upgrading from Start8, you can save a buck. Not sure its for you? Stardock offers a 30 day free trial. If you want a more familiar Windows experience, I say you have nothing to lose by trying it and diving in if you like it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.