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With Windows 10 seemingly simply around the corner, Microsoft plans to set up one of its most egregious mistakes with Windows 8: the missing Get-go menu. By at present you may know the story, as the visitor has gradually backtracked throughout various updates since the OS launched in late 2022. And Windows 10 will bring the real matter back, albeit in an enhanced fashion that doesn't depend on fiddly per-user shortcuts and extra folders.

The thing is, unless you lot're willing to experiment with Windows x Technical Preview, the new version won't help you yet. For several years at present, every Windows desktop and laptop sold in a store comes with Windows 8. While Windows eight.1 Update somewhat improves the situation, information technology's however no Windows 7 when it comes to ease of utilize.

Here'due south the problem, in a nutshell: Let's say you've but installed Windows 8.1 for the first time, or mayhap bought your first Windows 8 PC. Subsequently poking around for a bit you've finally found your way to the desktop. In the bottom left corner, you'll see what looks like the Start button, simply when you click it, you'll be rewarded with a hideous new Get-go screen, not the Starting time carte du jour that you know and dearest from Windows 7 and Vista. For some reason, despite the aforementioned series of updates over the terminal ii years that are meant to make Windows 8 more user friendly for mouse-and-keyboard users, Microsoft is still forcing us to use the Metro interface instead of a real Offset card.

The good news is, despite Microsoft's best efforts to ensure that the Start button and menu remain banished from its new Os, in that location are a agglomeration of third-party Windows 8 Start menu replacement apps that you can download today. Really, it goes to show how devoted the existing user base is. Microsoft completely stripped out the underlying Start menu lawmaking to quash potential Luddite revolutionaries, and yet now there are dozens of Start card and Start button replacements — some of which are even superior to Microsoft's own Windows 7 Start menu.

If you're running Windows 8.one today and want the Beginning card back, take a expect at our list of the best, to the lowest degree expensive, and most accurate Windows 8 Start carte replacements.

Windows 8 Commencement button and card replacements

Start Menu Reviver

Start Menu Reviver two

Commencement Menu Reviver 2 is a bear on-screen-friendly choice — i of the few that is, considering most people desire the original Showtime menu back because they're used to a keyboard and mouse. In this instance, the new version is nicer, with plenty of sizing options and the power to create shortcuts for documents, music, video, websites, and other tasks. It also embraces the Windows 8 tile design, without completely taking over the UI the way Windows viii Metro does. It now includes scrolling tiles and a Windows 7-like mode as well.

Download Starting time Carte River 2 (free)

ViStart

ViStart

ViStart is i of the near customizable Get-go menu restorers for Windows eight, and lets y'all choose from a variety of skins. ViStart includes a blurred, translucent menu that integrated well with Windows 8, as well every bit a Windows 7-like Start Bill of fare skin that we imagine some people will want to caput direct for. It too speeds upwards plan launches thanks to built-in indexing, and advertises a faster-than-Windows-7 search selection for your local PC.

Download ViStart (free)

Windows 8 Start menu replacement: StartIsBack

StartIsBack

If y'all want a Windows 8 Offset carte du jour replacement that looks exactly like Windows vii, StartIsBack is for you. You get the aforementioned First button orb icon, the aforementioned Start carte search box, the same jump lists, and — for better or worse — even the same Aero transparency. As you can run across in the screenshot to a higher place, StartIsBack even detects if your system needs to restart to apply some patches; it really is just like the Windows 7 Start menu. Where StartIsBack diverges from the Windows vii Start menu, though, is configurability: You tin adjust which hot corners are enabled, brand your PC spring straight to the Desktop when it commencement boots up, and configure a key philharmonic to evidence the Windows viii Start screen (Win+Ctrl by default).

Download StartIsBack ($3, costless 30-day trial)

Windows 8: Pokki Start menu replacement

Pokki

Where StartIsBack tries to replicate the Windows of yesteryear, Pokki (complimentary) is very much its ain fauna — and as much as we honey the Windows 7 Get-go menu, we have to admit that Pokki is probably even better. It utilizes a neat "pinning" system that isn't unlike the home screen of your smartphone or tablet. You tin can likewise add together widgets to Pokki, such every bit Gmail or Facebook, which display your latest email or status updates. By default, Pokki will configure your Windows viii system to kick straight to the Desktop — and there is an option that will but completely disable the hot corners, if yous then want. (Recollect, Win+C pops open the Charms carte, if yous need.)

Download Pokki (free)

Next folio: A few more Windows eight Start push button and menu replacements

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