Comparison of start menus

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SYSTEM
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Comparison of start menus

#1 Post by SYSTEM »

Note: the comparison is written by a tester of Classic Shell, so it may be biased.

http://classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic ... 99&p=11787
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Midas
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Re: Classic Shell

#2 Post by Midas »

  • Although it's not portable, I use Classic Shell in my Windows 7 Pro x64 SP1 -- portability is but a minor issue with such deeply grafted system enhancements...

    Anyway, for a comprehensive Classic Shell rundown (v1.x!), look to Code Project: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/45430/.

TP109
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Re: Comparison of start menus

#3 Post by TP109 »

Very useful and a must-have for me. Didn't know about this until I saw it here. In the process of moving from XP to Win 7 at this time.

billon
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Re: Comparison of start menus

#4 Post by billon »

Midas, TP109, no, only not you!
Will i stay the last here on beloved XP?

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Midas
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Re: Comparison of start menus

#5 Post by Midas »

billon wrote:Midas, TP109, no, only not you!
Will i stay the last here on beloved XP?
  • Fret not, mine is a dual use situation. My trustworthy daily driver laptop stays with XP, while my backup has had Windows 7 Pro x64 since its beginnings -- but I'm still wrapping my head around how sluggish and convoluted it feels to operate... :|

TP109
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Re: Comparison of start menus

#6 Post by TP109 »

Will i stay the last here on beloved XP?
Not moving away from it entirely, at least for now. But as more SW stops being supported for XP, the risks increase and the upgrade becomes more necessary rather than optional. Also, the processing power between my Win 7 and XP systems is very noticeable.

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Midas
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Re: Comparison of start menus

#7 Post by Midas »

TP109 wrote:Also, the processing power between my Win 7 and XP systems is very noticeable.
  • Yes, but will it really make a difference?

    E.g., take the two machines I mentioned above, both (2nd hand) Lenovos: one's a 8 year old Centrino (ICH8) Core 2 Duo 2GHz, with 4GB of DDR2 of RAM and two levels of secondary cache (amounting to a grand total of 4224KB), Intel 965 chipset graphics and a Seagate HDD -- it just flies, most of the time; the other's a Sandy Bridge (QM67) Core i7 800-2700GHz, with 4GB DDR3 RAM and 3 levels of secondary cache (for a total of 4480KB), Intel HD 3000 graphics and Intel M520 248GB SSD (and it wouldn't be easy to top that 2 years ago), that runs like molasses... :evil:
Last edited by Midas on Sat Dec 20, 2014 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

TP109
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Re: Comparison of start menus

#8 Post by TP109 »

No doubt that the HW/SW combination makes a difference. Not claiming it's entirely due to the OS. The XP system is an 8 year old machine (Compaq); the Win 7 one is a few weeks old (Lenovo).

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Re: Comparison of start menus

#9 Post by Specular »

It's a fairly decent table. I use StartIsBack, as I tried others and preferred the native skin of SIB and for $2 was worth it.

Some clarifications in the table from my own use:

Can use Windows Start Button should be 'Yes'
Adjust Start button size should be 'Yes' when customized
Search partial word matches (substrings) should be 'Yes' when used with wildcards (eg: '*bar' for 'foobar')
Customize icon size of main menu & submenu items should be 'Partial' in that large/small icons can be selected for the main menu
Number of skins / styles / themes should be 'Default number of skins' as more can be added.

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Midas
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Re: Comparison of start menus

#10 Post by Midas »

Quick note for gloomy news: Ghacks.net revealed that Classic Shell development is being abandoned...
So it looks like Classic Shell v4.3.1 will be the last official release. :(

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