Windows 8 best 3rd party start button\customization program

[gregathit]

So...........what is the "best" option for bringing back the start button\booting to desktop for Windows 8?

 

I was looking at: http://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/

 

The money doesn't bother me as I am not really looking for something "free" but rather something that is feature rich, stable and has lots of customization options.

 

I've looked at some of the free or very cheap options like classic shell, but it just seemed too......simple.

[...0...]

So your not looking for this becouse to me it seems ok shell?

 

http://www.classicshell.net/

 

On a side note in my humble opinion MS have made win8 with no respect for desktops.

 

So if i would buy windows 8 i would surtenly not spent money to change it even tho i can easly cough up the money its a principle i won't cross.

 

For to change win8 is free way or no way

 

I have btw no win8 im still happy camper with my win7 ultimate and won't change untill windows 9 next year and DX12, so i'll stick to win7 untill then.

[gregathit]

So your not looking for this becouse to me it seems ok shell?

 

http://www.classicshell.net/

 

Correct, I am looking for something more.  I used to use Rainmeter with win 7 and that combo blows the doors off of win 8.  I was looking for something a bit more flashy and that had more tools than classic shell.

 

Clearly I just made the plunge into win 8, mainly due to my win 7 installation being so fucked up it was time to clear the slate and reinstall.  Been a good run, that build lasted me 3 years with only a couple of restore points.  

 

The start dock deal allows a shit load of customization and comes with some of the features that Rainmeter had.  

 

Right now I am just trying to see what most folks are using and have found to be reliable.  Flashy and tool rich are useless if BSOD is a common occurrence.......

[blabba]

Win 8.1, free update and it includes a free boot-to-desktop so you *almost* never have to look at the annoying Metro Start UI again...

 

Also you get the 'start' button back in the update, but it still takes you to the metro UI stuff.

 

Honestly, metro doesn't bother me TOO much after you take some time to get used to it <.<, k a LOT of time....

 

Biggest thing I hate about the third party solutions is that it's an extra process that unnecessarily eats up resources (well in my mind anyway)

 

P.S. I still use Rainmeter, works pretty well for me

[Lagoon0654]

I used classic shell but that's cause I just wanted a basic menu replacement. If you want more    customization then not  sure what to suggest.

[Guest endgameaddiction]

I don't have win8, but I use IObit products. This might suit your needs: IObit Start Menu 8 for WIn8.

 

 

I can't find a direct link for rocketdock for win8 i think cnet has one, but don't like downloading stuff there because they support babylon and I hate babylon...

[Womb Raider]

Don't download any 3rd party nonsense right now. Microsoft is breaking under pressure and they've decided that they're going to back pedal and reintegrate the windows start button. I work in a tech department and trust me the news has spread like wild fire. Microsoft rep confirmed it last Friday

[legendarytoyou]

So your not looking for this becouse to me it seems ok shell?

 

http://www.classicshell.net/

 

On a side note in my humble opinion MS have made win8 with no respect for desktops.

 

So if i would buy windows 8 i would surtenly not spent money to change it even tho i can easly cough up the money its a principle i won't cross.

 

For to change win8 is free way or no way

 

I have btw no win8 im still happy camper with my win7 ultimate and won't change untill windows 9 next year and DX12, so i'll stick to win7 untill then.

Same.  Currently there is little reason to get Windows 8 unless it's already installed on a system and update so it auto-defaults to the desktop on startup.  It seems Microsoft keeps making the same bad decisions one after another only to fallback.

 

Windows Vista = Big fuckup followed by Windows 7 for damage control

 

Windows 8 = Massive fuckup with Windows 9 AGAIN doing damage control.

 

Some people just never seem to learn.

[gregathit]

Updated to 8.1 and leaving it at that.  The start button is back (you just right click instead of left) and all is well.  Thanks.

 

As to "running" Windows 8 - I'd have to say thus far it is noticeably faster at damn near everything.  From startup to shutdown and I haven't had a single software blue screen yet.  Been running it for a month now.  Course, microcrap has worked out a shitload of bugs since platform release.  While I wouldn't recommend rushing out and willy nilly upgrading to Win8, I definitely would say there is no reason to avoid it anymore.

[Rokabur]

So your not looking for this becouse to me it seems ok shell?

 

http://www.classicshell.net/

 

On a side note in my humble opinion MS have made win8 with no respect for desktops.

 

So if i would buy windows 8 i would surtenly not spent money to change it even tho i can easly cough up the money its a principle i won't cross.

 

For to change win8 is free way or no way

 

I have btw no win8 im still happy camper with my win7 ultimate and won't change untill windows 9 next year and DX12, so i'll stick to win7 untill then.

 

Of course Windows 8 has no respect for desktops. Windows 8 was made as a tablet OS, wasn't made to be used on regular PC's but they did it anyway.

[...0...]

I'll wait for win9 suppose to be like win7 again.

 

Have not much hope anymore for windows and desktops anymore.

 

Future looks very bad for dekstops and gaming

[ActOfAnger]

I don't know what's so bad about Win8/Win8.1 compared to WIn7. I'm running Win8 on my Desktop because right now my system partition doesn't have enough space left and I'm running Win8.1 on my Laptop. The interface may get some time to get used to but when you get the hang of it Win8 certainly wouldn't lose to Win7. Generally I would agree with gregathit and say that I wouldn't rush out of Win7 but there's really no reason to avoid Win8/Win8.1.

[...0...]

 

I'll wait for win9 suppose to be like win7 again.

 

Have not much hope anymore for windows and desktops anymore.

 

Future looks very bad for dekstops and gaming

You lost me a little there, what does desktop have to do with gaming?

 

 

I switched from Win 8 to 8.1 only because my new MOBO invalidated my old copy of win8 so i had no choice but to update. The UI is slightly better but that isn't saying much, you can't play .gifs anymore in photo, and when i tried to update win8.1 right after installation it ended up with a missing Win launcher so it just made my screen flash on and off until i had to go into safe-mode and roll back to my invalidated Win 8 copy (which is why i'm guessing bestbuy had it on sale considering it had one and ONLY one DRM validation key) then re-install Win8.1 all over again (7 hours total) i got all the updates right up to the on that shafted my system and i don't think i'm giving windows another chance to screw my PC until 9 comes out. 

 

 

What i mean with gaming is there is not realy another choice then windows, linux is badly suppoerted for games and i will never in my lifetime buy anything apple related. So for gaming im stuck with windows.

 

[chevyowner]

 

I'll wait for win9 suppose to be like win7 again.

 

Have not much hope anymore for windows and desktops anymore.

 

Future looks very bad for dekstops and gaming

You lost me a little there, what does desktop have to do with gaming?

 

 

I switched from Win 8 to 8.1 only because my new MOBO invalidated my old copy of win8 so i had no choice but to update. The UI is slightly better but that isn't saying much, you can't play .gifs anymore in photo, and when i tried to update win8.1 right after installation it ended up with a missing Win launcher so it just made my screen flash on and off until i had to go into safe-mode and roll back to my invalidated Win 8 copy (which is why i'm guessing bestbuy had it on sale considering it had one and ONLY one DRM validation key) then re-install Win8.1 all over again (7 hours total) i got all the updates right up to the on that shafted my system and i don't think i'm giving windows another chance to screw my PC until 9 comes out. 

 

 

I don't have experiance using windows 8, but I do know that it is the standard for copys of windows to only have 1 key.

As long as the key is only in use on one pc you can use it as many time as you want, but you will end up calling microsoft a lot to explaing that it is not on more then one computer and why the system being reported has changed.

 

[...0...]

For those who are experienced with win 8.1 how those it work when you don't EVER wanne see metro look but perma desktop is that easy when first install or do i have to first go through this bloody need metro build before i go dekstop and never see those tiles again?

 

Win7 can't ativate anymore my third mobo so have to change to win8.1 bloody hell:(

[gregathit]

8.1 actually runs very well.  You can boot straight to desktop and pretty much get all your classic look\functions back.  

 

[LordZulten]

At Staples we use classic shell. It turns 8 back into 7, and you always have the option to go back to the app menu.