Classic Shell Reviews

So happy to find this program. Very well made with lots of options. Makes Windows 7 worth using. Saves me from daily frustration. Thank you so much!

I love this project! I write From Bogota Co.

This is one of the "can't-do-without" programmes for me, and I guess anyone who wants to actually *use* their computer, and not let their computer train them. Ever squinted trying to find the programme you wanted to launch, looking into the default "All Programs" list? Ever tried to go 'up' one level in Windows Explorer, and all you managed was to go 'back'? Ever missed the clarity of the Windows XP start menu? Or the cascading "Programs" list? Well, despair no more, for Classic Shell is the answer to your prayers! Rejoice, my brothers and sisters! :)

This Plug-in provides the essentials that Microsoft SHOULD have provided. The world get more and more "stupidified" because some people are too lazy too learn (and people willing to learn get accused of not wanting to learn the "new (STUPID!) way". Microsoft delivering "Windows 7 was my idea"...??? (A lot of stupid people out there if you call reducing features an "idea".... I need to work, not look at eye-candy!)

This project is absolutely fantastic. Microsoft's attempts to make my computer stupid and unusable may continue; however, Classic Shell not only makes it usable again... it actually makes it even better than the XP menu! I can't express how great Classic Shell is. I love its existence and will support it for as long as I'm using Windows!! If I had a suggestion for the future, it'd be something that can fix the horrendous over-spacing issues in the system tray! ;-)

Very well done. I like the "up" button and the Shared Folder Overlay options that were taken from Win 7 by Micro$oft instead of giving options to enable disable. Interesting to see great creative comments like the one from Marc-Andre. Make's me think that he works for MS. But regardless, he and MS both agree that all these thousands of people downloading this program, including the 500+ that already gave it great reviews, should all be forced to change into something they think is better. That, instead of the logical "giving an option". Yeah... we should all evolve into zombies... like Marc-Andre.

Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for and more. Well thought out!

Brilliant work! Makes Win 7 (and Vista) much more usable!

Perfect, many thanks!

Now all I need is to get my QuickLaunch bar back!!!

I really missed the xp style start menu in Windows 7. Especially the annoying shutdown button in win7 is set as default and it is very irritating when you accidentally click it while you were trying to restart or log off.

A MUST HAVE for anyone who has become aggravated by Microsoft's relentless efforts to steer users away from the clarity of the file management concept that made the initial success of Windows, based on what information really is and how it is actually stored on a computer and how humans classify it in real life. This utility is a great start. Now if only this concept could be expanded to take over the rest of Windows dismal, fuzzy 'Internet Explorer'-like shell, whose sole purpose seems to be FORCE users to organize information the way it sees fit, instead of allowing users to organize it in personally meaningful ways!

A jewel, efective and simple control, everything opposite of what it made Microsoft.

Yes! Finally a way to fix the disappearing tree icons in Windows Explorer! ! ! Thanks so much for that little feature!

the best!

This is great! I just was forced to upgrade to Windows 7 and it is too much a change for my workflow. After two days of searching, Classic Shell is what was missing.

It makes Windows 7 useable again. FANTASTIC WORK.

This program has made my life worth living. I've resisted moving away from Windows XP for years since the new Windows menu is so incredibly annoying. When I built a new machine, I added a solid state drive and knew it was best to just move on to Windows 7. Fortunately, I had already discovered Classic Shell and knew that it would be a relatively painless process. It's an almost perfect program. Classic Shell is light-weight and unobtrusive, and it provides me with the flexibility I need to customize the Windows Start menu to work the way I want it to work instead of forcing me to use somebody else's conception of what the "perfect" menu should be. With just a couple of clicks in the settings (switching the Left-Click/Shift-Left-Click behavior to display the regular menu and then setting the Windows Start Menu to a Cascading All Programs menu), I was able to get 90 percent of what I wanted (both the cascading sub-menus instead of the cramped standard style and proper default sorting with folders listed first). My Windows menu is better than it's ever been. I work with a lot of client computers (mainly using Server 2008 or Win7), and it's always a traumatic experience when I have to use the out-of-the-box Windows menu. ALL HAIL CLASSIC SHELL!

Classic start menu? You have to be kidding me, there is nothing good about that old piece of junk, you people should evolve.

When I came across a reference to Classic Shell for customizing Explorer, I did not have much expectation. I had already been through Explorer++, Q-Dir, QTTabBar,Total Commander, and Ultra Explorer. Changes to the Start Menu as described almost seemed impossible, so I did not think about it. When I tried installing Classic Shell, I had a major problem. Half way through the installation, I got an error saying permission was denied to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs It took quite a while to figure out what was wrong - "System" was not showing up in the Security Permissions for that "..\Start Menu\Programs" folder, and adding that solved the issue finally. Then the program installed, and it froze Explorer, and the start bar was doing weird things - and I thought - well, another hacked together half job. But what the hell, I rebooted, and opened up explorer. It seemed to be working all right. I followed the instructions in ClassicShellReadme.rtf and started tinkering around, first with Explorer, then with the Start Menu settings. After half an hour of tweaking things - I am now sitting here amazed at how perfectly everything is EXACTLY the way I want it - I mean EXACTLY! If someone was to wander by and look at me working, they would never know I am not on XP ! My Start Menu uses <No Skin> so that the icons are small - I can have my own folders at the top of it with my own frequently used programs - and the cascading sub-menu is such a relief after the pain of using the Win7 new Start Menu. Your page: "Why Classic Start Menu?" says it all perfectly. Explorer - with the tree line structure on the left! (Windows XP Classic - Navigation Pane Style). I thought I would never see that again! I can instantly see now where I am down the tree - how many subfolders down, and the left arrow "Back to" the last folder - such a time saver. And the beloved ALT+Enter to see a file/folder's properties, used so so many times a day is back! And back to the old dialog for File/Folder conflicts - the new Win7 one was so invasive. The only "tweak" missing from all this was found long before - putting back the Quick Launch area (available on most Win7 tip sites). ibeltchev - you have made Windows 7 behave the way I want - a way that is efficient - and conducive to productivity. Thank you so much for your amazing work - and for sharing it with the community. You have made my time on my laptop (many many many hours a day) much less stressful; much more enjoyable!

This is just awesome! If you want those treelines back OR if you want those triangles (expand/collapse buttons OR folding buttons) to not fade out when you're not mouse over them or the explorer navigation pane focused (by ie. shift+tab to it) then this can be done for the left side nav pane of explorer

Works like a charm, very stable and polished. Thanks Ivo!

good... but you can still do all this by clicking the links on the side of the vista/7 start menu or by clicking "All Programs". Awesome though, help those not familiar with vista/7

Classic Shell is by far the best addon for Windows Explorer. Probably the best shell extension ever created.

excellent!