Despite Windows 10, Third-Party Start Menus Will Live On

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  1. Posts : 630
       #20

    Mystere said:
    I recall seeing recently that Classic Shell, one of the largest free start menu replacements only had 25 million downloads (I think this was in April). Since this number almost certainly includes multiple downloads (each new version is downloaded by the installed base), and there have been 57 releases... let's be generous and say that even if this accounts for 5 million users, that's still only 5% of the total Windows 8.x market. Now, you might argue that this is only one vendor... but the fact is, most users will try out multiple replacements to see which one they like, and it's likely that most users would try Classic Shell, even if they don't use it, so at least a large percentage of those users would be accounted for in other replacement products. So even if we are generous and double it to 10 million. That's only 10% of the users.

    Yes, this is all speculation. But the fact of the matter is, most users are not technical... They don't know start menu replacements exist... If you deal with real end users on any regular basis you would know this.


    Windows 8.x currently has 11.16% of the market of almost 900 Million PC's. Or, roughly 100 Million.
    I am not certain that, that is an accurate reflection. Personally, I use Start8, loaded it on at least 10 different systems, and that I think is the most popular since Stardock has been around for years, and had a built in customer base. There are a couple of others. I didn't even know Classic Menu existed until reading about it here. In many of the article I read about menus, Start8 is the one most mentioned.

    So, I believe the numbers may be skewed just a bit. I think 3rd party menus have a substantially larger usage than one might think.
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  2. Posts : 3,257
    Windows 10 Pro
       #21

    Trust_No1 said:
    I am not certain that, that is an accurate reflection. Personally, I use Start8, loaded it on at least 10 different systems, and that I think is the most popular since Stardock has been around for years, and had a built in customer base. There are a couple of others. I didn't even know Classic Menu existed until reading about it here. In many of the article I read about menus, Start8 is the one most mentioned.

    So, I believe the numbers may be skewed just a bit. I think 3rd party menus have a substantially larger usage than one might think.
    That's why I doubled the number, to account for some percentage of users who have replaced their start menu but did not try Classic Shell. I think that's a fair estimation, but you are free to believe whatever you want.
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  3. Posts : 83
    Windows 10 TP x64
       #22

    On Win 8 I have used Start8 - but in Win8 style, which is more or less what Win 10 Start Menu is now, and even then it is only for checking live tiles, go for Settings or search for anything. The same was in Win7 - Control Panel, search. No Programs folder drilling...
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  4. Posts : 7,254
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
       #23

    You guys know you can remove all the apps on the menu by selecting unpin from start. Then your just left with the menu itself. No distractions.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 22,740
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #24

    swarfega said:
    You guys know you can remove all the apps on the menu by selecting unpin from start. Then your just left with the menu itself. No distractions.
    Yup.. I did that and it's great..
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  6. Posts : 93
    Windows
       #25

    We've talked to several Start menu developers in the last few weeks, and most of them said pretty much the same things: users need more choices and the familiarity offered by the Windows 7 menu.
    Bring back ProgMan!



    allow users to change the look of the Start menu, pick a different color, change colors, replace the default Start button with a new one, and tweak pretty much every single key feature to make it better fit your desktop.
    Too many options/choices/customization has always proven to be a bad thing in the past.
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  7. Posts : 22,740
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #26

    dmex said:
    Bring back ProgMan!

    Too many options/choices/customization has always proven to be a bad thing in the past.
    How?? When a third party start works why is that a bad thing??
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       #27

    Stardock has a 30 day trial of Start10 available. I'm using it and like it but then I liked and use Start 8u on Win 8.1 as well.

    I wish this Start Menu / no Start Menu would just go away. Let people use what they want and stop denigrating one or the other. Both ways are useful so let people decide what they want to use.
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 630
       #28

    Ztruker said:
    Stardock has a 30 day trial of Start10 available. I'm using it and like it but then I liked and use Start 8u on Win 8.1 as well.

    I wish this Start Menu / no Start Menu would just go away. Let people use what they want and stop denigrating one or the other. Both ways are useful so let people decide what they want to use.
    Yes, I tried it also. But, on mine it caused problems, double entries on File manager and some other things. I took it off, it is still to early to even try and produce something. Microsoft doesn't even have a clue how it will finally end up.

    Even if there is a 3rd party menu, I doubt seriously our household will ever use Windows 10. Just stripped out to many things, and Project Spartan, that is just about useless, you can't even edit book marks. There are so many other bugs, I doubt this will be ready by July.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1,778
    Windows 10 Pro,
       #29

    Trust_No1 said:
    Are there facts that support this? or just opinions?

    Everyone that is a Windows 8 user (not many) that I know, all use a 3rd party menu.

    I personally know about 100 or more people using Windows Eight, and zero of them use a 3rd party start screen. Me and my entire family use Windows Eight religiously and love the Microsoft start screen.
      My Computer


 

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