A reader wrote to say she had been using a Windows XP computer forever. But recently she bit the bullet and bought a Windows 10 machine. Ouch! The wound still hurts. Mainly, she hates the clutter in ...

A reader wrote to say she had been using a Windows XP computer forever. But recently she bit the bullet and bought a Windows 10 machine. Ouch! The wound still hurts. Mainly, she hates the clutter in ...

Windows only: Start menu replacement utility Classic Shell adds back some of the missing features in Windows 7 or Vista that used to exist in XP—like the Classic-style Start Menu. During the ...

This powerful free/donationware utility adds the features back to Windows 8 and 8.1 that Microsoft should never have taken out. Classic Shell isn’t a me-too Windows 8 fixer. This free utility’s first ...

Most every longtime Windows user knows the sad saga of the lowly Start menu. Born as a button in Windows 95, modified in XP and Vista, and blossoming into its most usable form in Windows 7, the Start ...

If you miss the Start menu on Windows 8, try Classic Shell before spending a dime on commercial alternatives. You’ll probably want to stick with it. Windows 8 doesn’t have a Start button. If you don’t ...

The familiar "up" arrow from previous versions of Windows is missing from Windows 7. You can still head up to a higher directory with the Alt+Up keyboard shortcut, but if you'd like the button back, ...

Microsoft has a habit of tweaking the user interface of Windows every time the company puts out a major new release. Windows 8 replaced the Start Menu with a full-screen version called the Start ...

Windows 8 no longer includes the traditional Start Menu that Windows users have become associated with using. Instead they replaced it with a new interface called the Windows Start Screen that many ...

Change can be difficult to adjust to, especially when something has become routine for so many years. When Microsoft transitioned to Windows 8 years ago, users were outspoken about the removal of the ...

Although the Windows 7 Start menu provides a host of useful features, it tends to take up a lot of screen space when opened. If you want a compact Start menu for your Windows 7 computer, your best bet ...

A reader wrote to say she had been using a Windows XP computer forever. But recently she bit the bullet and bought a Windows 10 machine. Ouch! The wound still hurts. Mainly, she hates the clutter in ...