User Ratings

★★★★★
★★★★
★★★
★★
264
3
1
1
5
ease 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
features 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
design 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
support 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5

Rate This Project
Login To Rate This Project

User Reviews

  • 👍👍👍👍👍
  • Win10 start menu experience was a nightmare every time. Especially on older (2008 year CPU based) machine. Hard to say how thankful I am for ClassicShell. Sad found it just in the end of it's development life span.
  • Spectacular program. Stopped working on my Windows 7 however, and the forum won't let me login for help.
  • I've been using ClassicShell ever since my first encounter with the buggy (still buggy!) Windows 8/Windows 10 excuse of a Start menu. Along with 8GadgetPack, it is this software that made it possible for me to make my peace with Windows 10.
  • Saving my life EVERY DAY !
  • Great Start Menu
  • Please, could some developers come forth to support this excellent application to ensure compatibility with future Windows versions? I'd rather switch OS than lose Classic Shell!
  • THE tool to make Windows usable. The great success of this program is like a slap in the face of Microsoft's managers: Visioneers too often loose their contact to the ground of real needs.
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • If you've used windows over the decades, Classic Shell makes Windows 10 is usable. Without it, the impedance of trying to find, do, or start something becomes silly. I don't know who designed the Microsoft Win 10 interaction model, but its focus on tiles, apps and mobile makes the desktop experience excruciating. Hope the community can keep Classic Shell alive.
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • Best third party utility for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. Something Microsoft should have done. Sorry to see it end.
  • Best Start Menu Replacement.
  • I'll miss you, Classic Shell. It was a great ride, but alas, this is goodbye. RIP
  • This is how we live with Windows 8, 8.1 and 10, best ever
  • very good
  • I installed classic shell. I almost cried when the old, XP style, cascading menus displayed when I clicked the Start menu button!
  • Great! I like it. but I think there are lots of stuff kinda complicated and need translations. Thank you
  • Squeeeee!
  • So good I donated,$$, not what its worth, but the best I could do. About all I could suggest as a want is an option to freeze out windows 8 as it keeps coming on whenever I touch "frequently" this sorry touch pad in any of the multitude of ways it does not like.
  • Muy buen programa.
  • Classic Shell is a great application! Be sure to download it from sourceforge! We should be able to pay for a non-GPL license instead of upgrade to a proprietary application. I dislike the dishonesty it now does by suggesting to upgrade with no license change being identified. It feels like they are disbanding the GPL version in favor for a proprietary non-open source version. Even if the source was shown under a proprietary-only license, I could at least determine if it contains spyware or adware. Not to mention, I am interested in learning and supporting it's source code to the features I like. We need to donate for the GPL code, or pay for a open-source proprietary version. But not until the suggested upgrade specifies the intent. Even if it becomes nagware (with the GPL source-code, we can disable the nagware). Or we need to fork this code (donations, or large portion thereof, still going towards the original owner).
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • I heard about this from an IT professional who has to install this on all his clients PCs with Windows 8 installed. I know no-one with Windows 8 that wouldn't want this app. I have a Win7 desktop and a Win8 laptop. Love the laptop hardware-wise but when at home I always go to the desktop just to avoid the desire to launch the laptop across the room. Win8 may be solid, have some good features but... to redesign the wheel by adding a pretty much unwanted tile interface OS on top of a desktop OS with some totally idiotic changes is mind-blowingly arrogant of MS. Why not have a set-up screen at first boot so we can select what we want?? It's taken 6 months to get my laptop in a usable state - and to do so has required totally chance conversations with IT pros who are picking up tips on the net grapevine, this app being probably the most useful... Makes your Win8 machine like a Win7 one... just what everyone wants. I can't use AutoCAD on a 10" touch-screen and I still need a laptop. Touch screen on a laptop is utterly pointless and even more pointless on a desktop. Thank you for this app. I have a 'computer' again.
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Just installed this on an 8.1 machine yesterday... so far, so good. Has alleviated much frustration with the new, "toy" Windows mash-up. If you want to just play around with your new touchscreen, 8.x is fine, but if you're used to being productive with the pre-8 menu system, this is a great tool. Kudos to the author for picking up the ball after Micro$oft fumbled it. You can still have the best of both worlds by letting Win8 boot to the new Start Screen, then click or hot-key your way to the desktop when you're ready to get down to work, or you can tell Classic Shell to go right to the desktop with the Classic Shell in place; the choice is yours. All in all, very well done. I give it 5 stars for features and ease of use, but only 4 (still very good) for design, based on the aesthetics - which is purely subjective.
  • Does what it says. Easy to use for all user levels. Excellent amount of features, even though it's free. And regular updates. This software is definitely a must-have.
  • This is a good product. In Windows 7, you can get the classic start menu back. Something that existed even in Vista. In Windows 8, you get a start menu. Now with 8.1 coming out, I will still use Classic Shell simply because I want control over my start menu. I do have a compatibility issue with Novell ZenWorks 11.2 and right-clicking a ZenWorks icon revels a gray context menu with no text. I took a star off for that since there has been a ticket for it since 2012 and no progress. We still use Classic Shell and I still highly recommend using it!!!!
  • This is awesome and great for any level user to use. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Show next 25 reviews >