Start8 or?

Is Star8 the best windows 8 start menu replacement at the moment?

 

Never heard of that one. I've use the Stardock and Classic Shell 4.0. I prefer Classic Shell personally.

 

Beware with Start8 if you reinstall Windows a lot, 5 activations and your license key is blocked and good luck waiting on customer service to unlock it.

That's why I use StartIsBack for all my clients that run Windows 8.1, cheaper, better, it's like the Start menu of Windows 7 ripped out and placed in Windows 8, plus no limits on reactivation on the same PC

 

I use Classic Shell

Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements

 

Tried a few and liked Classic Shell the most, all I wanted was it to behave like Windows 7 though so if you want fancier options then one of the others might suit you better. It's free too which is always nice!

 

What we need to know is if your wanting to make Windows 8 to a Windows 7 one should really consider sticking with Windows 7 rather then trying 3rd party software.

 

I used to use start8, but the background service is a mess imo. Later I switch to startisback and it works great.

 

Ditto. It's free, it works, it's nice.

 

Installing a ~10mb download on a new system is a lot easier (and much cheaper) than finding, buying and installing a copy of Windows 7.

 

+1

I find it strange that someone chooses Windows 8, changes its internals, and most things he can to make it look as close as possible to Windows 7, which performs better in every benchmark out there, be it an SSD benchmark, CPU, etc.

 

One doesn't look hard enough....that cheaper is introducing more security holes should a malware use your cheap 3rd party menu program to hack your computer.

 

I have tried all the free ones and ended up buying the "StartIsBack" as it works the best.

John.

 

StartIsBack+ 1.7 released a few days ago and now compatible with Windows 10

MOD EDIT: Do NOT link directly to .exe files. Instead link to the developer's product or home page.

 

One thing, if you are having a problem, or trying a few os, if you install StartIsBack more that 3 times in a month it blocks the key, I had to contact support and get it re-activated, it`s a pain so i now use a hacked version even though i have payed for it.

John.

 

Eh? Are you saying that installing Classic Shell compromises your system?

If so could you provide examples? Also you might want to tell the developers:
Classic Shell • Index page

Also why does something being free or cheap mean it is more likely to be malicious? I don't really understand the point of your post.

 

Strange, that was the reason I ditched Start8 and use StartIsBack,

as long as your PC NAME in computer properties doesn't change, you shouldn't have a problem bro

 

No saying that with windows itself and all the bells and whistle it has adding more on just to make it look like Windows 7 is a no brainer that one should stick to Windows 7 if they want Windows 7 menu. Also since that program isn't a part of the O/S itself a malware can exploit any potential flaws/security in the 3rd party software and get right by your A/V and infect your system. Remember the way the mass get infected is they don't keep their software up to date this is what virus/malwares looks for and find all the time. Savvy and Tweakers know about this and can do a far better job protecting themselves from it but the masses don't know about this and this is the group that gets botnet/zombie/DOS attacks. So for those savvy I have no problem but those just wanting to look like Windows 7 but forgot that they need to remember that software is no protection if they fail to keep software up to date.

 

You get a two computer licence, I think i wiped both of them a few times, maybe more than three i dont know but i was blocked as i said and had to email them to un-block my license, they dont cater for CPF members i use to wipe my computer 7 days a week some times

John.

 

welcome to the club, glad to know I'm not the only crazy one out there who does this.

when I'm bored, I format and start from scratch just to feel I have a new PC