Returning to Start10

I think it is a better fit for me.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 by The-Reaper-Man | Discussion: Start Menu Products

Well, after using Start11 for the past two or so years, I have decided to go back to Start10. There were certain aspects of Start11 and especially Start11 version2 which I didn't much care for, most of it to do with cosmetics. For instance when you hover the mouse cursor over the power button, that part of the Start Menu is supposed to be customized to match with whichever WindowBlind you are using but in Start 11 v2 it shows the same black background with stark white lettering for every single theme. The same with Universal Applications. And I like those parts to match exactly with the theme I have applied. I'm running Windows 10 anyway, so it makes better sense to me to have my Start Menu Product to also be designed with Windows 10 in mind. Just something I had to get off my chest.  

First Previous Page 1 of 2 Next Last
Jan Oscar
Reply #1 Wednesday, March 13, 2024 6:21 PM

You're not alone, Reaper. I'm on Start 11 v1.5. That version is skinning the menues you mention like in Start 10.

Neil Banfield
Reply #2 Wednesday, March 13, 2024 7:28 PM

If you are talking about the popup menus, you can make Start11 v2 use standard menus like Start10 via a registry key.

Likewise I believe the newer style menus can be skinned if the skin you are using supports the new sections we added when WB11 came out.

LightStar
Reply #3 Wednesday, March 13, 2024 8:17 PM

I will never stop using Windowblinds, SkinStudio and Start 10 on my main PC. Start 11 is wayyyyy too complicated for me. 

Jan Oscar
Reply #4 Wednesday, March 13, 2024 8:48 PM

Neil Banfield

If you are talking about the popup menus, you can make Start11 v2 use standard menus like Start10 via a registry key.
And the key is what?

Neil Banfield
Reply #5 Thursday, March 14, 2024 7:59 AM

Jan Oscar


Quoting Neil Banfield,

If you are talking about the popup menus, you can make Start11 v2 use standard menus like Start10 via a registry key.

And the key is what?

Create a string key called S11_UseOldRightClickMenus in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 and give it a value of "1" and then sign out and in again.

The-Reaper-Man
Reply #6 Thursday, March 14, 2024 8:09 AM

Neil Banfield

Likewise I believe the newer style menus can be skinned if the skin you are using supports the new sections we added when WB11 came out.
Well, I'm still using WB10, so perhaps that has something to do with it.

The-Reaper-Man
Reply #7 Thursday, March 14, 2024 8:13 AM

LightStar

I will never stop using Windowblinds, SkinStudio and Start 10 on my main PC. Start 11 is wayyyyy too complicated for me. 
Yeah, all I need is something basic. I always have it set to Windows 7 Style, because I don't like Windows 10 or 11's Start Menus. I think Microsoft should have kept the Windows 7 G.U.I.

3java3
Reply #8 Thursday, March 14, 2024 12:15 PM

IMO, the Windows 7 design is the most elegant, and stylish of all the various versions of Windows. And THAT helps to explain the popularity of skins like Aero 11, Windows Zero, 7 for 10, and so on. However, not everyone agrees with me. Many love the dark, flat look. Not everyone digs aeroglass or transparency as I do. Everyone has their likes and dislikes in regard to design. 

naroon1
Reply #9 Thursday, March 14, 2024 12:56 PM

Have to agree with Reaper, i can only speak for myself in this, and after testing out Start 11 in several  updates, there are too many glitches and issues i do not like which others have reported in the forum. I do see its potential, and for many who love it i understand why they use it, but i rolled back to Start 10 a while ago. No big deal as my Win 10 SSD is the least used so Start 10 works for me as it should almost out of the box so to speak, so do not need the issues that have come with the updated editions, I am A Theme Man now, but have never really forgotten about WB and Start Progs which i will always be grateful for getting me into Customising my PC. I think i will continue to test out new editions of SD stuff as the software is very good, it will get there i am sure, but right now i follow Reaper for similar reasons and other issues reported by users in here.

Phoon
Reply #10 Thursday, March 14, 2024 3:06 PM

Really enjoying Start 11 on my Win10 system.

However, I do NOT use Windowblinds at all so...

 

PhoonStart11

PhoenixRising1
Reply #11 Thursday, March 14, 2024 3:12 PM

I can definitely see two different camps as far as Stardock users go. People either love start 11 or they love windowblinds 11 but almost never do people love both softwares equally.

Using myself as an example, I very much like start 11. I also like having the windows 11 command bar and explorer tabs. But, whenever I have tried to use Windowblinds 11 nothing looks right. If I wanted to use all the massive amounts of artwork I would be better off using the windows 7 start menu and windows 7 / 10 parts, but I dont want to. I prefer windows 12's parts and therefore Windowblinds 11 just isnt a good fit for me.

I do know that Neil's team has done some good work to try and bridge the differences, but unfortunately none of that has really taken. I'm not sure if there is really a way to bridge the two groups or just accept that it is what it is and either one is ok.

Jan Oscar
Reply #12 Thursday, March 14, 2024 5:41 PM

I think we're not all talking about the same thing here. What I don't like is the menues that stay white and no longer skinned and the flyout menu for i.e. control panel being so big (and white). And the registry key did nothing for the right click menu. That's big and white too.

PhoenixRising1
Reply #13 Thursday, March 14, 2024 6:05 PM

Jan Oscar

I think we're not all talking about the same thing here. What I don't like is the menues that stay white and no longer skinned and the flyout menu for i.e. control panel being so big (and white). And the registry key did nothing for the right click menu. That's big and white too.

I believe the UI was updated for users that are using version 2 of start 11. Additionally if I remember correctly there are a few different registry keys for those as well to change the look. I am not sure if the sizing can be changed however.

edit - I can not find where the registry edits where located. I would like to request a pinned topic for reg edits if I could.

basj
Reply #14 Thursday, March 14, 2024 9:23 PM

For me, its a pity that most who like to skin their system don't like Start11 other menu styles. They only stick to Windows 7 style. While there are ways to skin, at least for now, Windows 10 and Windows 11 style. Those right click menu on the Start panel can be skin too. And since not much interest in it. Stardock might not moving to make those new menu styles skinable, since not much interest in the community.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

The-Reaper-Man
Reply #15 Thursday, March 14, 2024 9:30 PM

Jan Oscar

I think we're not all talking about the same thing here. What I don't like is the menues that stay white and no longer skinned and the flyout menu for i.e. control panel being so big (and white). And the registry key did nothing for the right click menu. That's big and white too.
Until this morning, I didn't even know about the regedit keys and I really prefer not to mess around in the System Registry. Scary things can happen in there.  

PhoenixRising1
Reply #16 Thursday, March 14, 2024 10:33 PM


For me, its a pity that most who like to skin their system don't like Start11 other menu styles. They only stick to Windows 7 style. While there are ways to skin, at least for now, Windows 10 and Windows 11 style. Those right click menu on the Start panel can be skin too. And since not much interest in it. Stardock might not moving to make those new menu styles skinable, since not much interest in the community.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

I agree. I don't think I am alone in wanting windows 11 styles skinned either.

The other half of the problem, though, is that average users can't figure out how to skin in parts. I think there are a lot of people out there that wish they knew how to splice in the missing Windows 11 parts from other people's works. Unfortunately most people can't figure out how to do this. I know I cant.

DrJBHL
Reply #17 Friday, March 15, 2024 12:56 AM

PhoenixRising1

I would like to request a pinned topic for reg edits if I could.

I'll be glad to make that request as well.

DrJBHL
Reply #18 Friday, March 15, 2024 1:58 AM

For those interested in learning about editing the registry: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-use-the-windows-registry-editor/

The most important sentence in that 'how to' is "First make a backup of the registry."

Here's a 'how to' on registry backup and restoring: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/how-to-back-up-and-restore-the-registry-in-windows-855140ad-e318-2a13-2829-d428a2ab0692

pelaird
Reply #19 Friday, March 15, 2024 8:02 AM

PhoenixRising1

I can not find where the registry edits where located. I would like to request a pinned topic for reg edits if I could.

Here is a list I have recorded over time:

Also added registry key S11_UseMostRecentRunForSearchTerm which when created in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 and set to "0" will stop Start11 promoting the most recently run app for a given search term.

Stopped shutdown menu auto-expanding on the right-hand side for Win10/11/Pro/Launcher/App styles as was not supposed to.  Adding S11_AutoExpandShutdownOtherStyles = 1 to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 would enable it for other menu styles

Added registry key to hide > on Win7/Modern menus so jump lists do not show.  Create this in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8  called  S11_HideJumpListOnWin7ModernMenus = 1

Added string registry key to disable toggle for autohide on taskbar right-click menu. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8  S11_ShowAutoHideOnTaskbar = 1

Added string registry key to use Win32 menus on right-click on the taskbar to allow third-party extension of the menu. Use HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8    S11_UseOldRightClickMenus = 1

The new feature this enables is the import of settings on login (or explorer restart).  This will zap all settings and replace them with the data in the file provided. The key for this is SettingsImportPath which takes a full path to a settings backup saved from S11.  This is stored here : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8

Added registry key S11_PutUniversalAppsInFolderByDefault which when given a value of "1" will put universal apps in a Universal apps folder in the Win10/11/Pro/Launcher/App menus.  Create in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8

Added registry key S11_NoMenuAnimations which when given a value of "1" which will turn off right click menu animations.  Create in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8

Added registry key S11_DelayAutoHide which when given a value of "1" will delay autohide show/hide.  Create in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8

Added registry key S11_AlwaysScrollMenus which when set to 1 will stop Start11 making menus multi column and instead use a scrolling list.  Create in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8

Added a new registry key to control the right-click menu style on Windows 11.  It is called S11_MenuStyle and it has 3 options.  0 = translucent menus, 1 = solid menus, 2 = color tinted translucent menus

Added registry keys to replace the displayed username or mask the user picture.  These are S11_MaskUserIcon set to 1 (REG_SZ value) and S11_OverrideUserName set to whatever you want the new name to be.  These are stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8

Added registry key for forcing Close All Windows to show on Win11.  It is ForceCloseAllAlways in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8

Added support for a string registry value ShowAllNonUWAOnTaskbar in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8.  When set to "1" it will show all non-universal windows on the taskbar even when using virtual desktops regardless of the desktop they are on.

naroon1
Reply #20 Friday, March 15, 2024 10:58 AM

So now we are talking about Registry Hacks to change something users do not like for something Else/or to look differently. When in the past i have brought up similar Registry Edits, and was firmly Told.

DrJBHL  "SD also is strongly opposed to "edited"/hacked/pirated, etc. software. So again, don't pursue that topic."

So its OK only for SD Products Yeah, when told too by SD Staff, But Not For Other Things Users do not like?.

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