A New and Improved Start Menu with StartMenu7

In September of 2008, Keith wrote about a Windows Start Menu replacement called VistaStartMenu. The author of that program has created a new alternative based on the Windows 7 menu. If you are running an older version of Windows, and you have a slight case of feature envy, StartMenu7 may be an option you’ll enjoy adding.

I recently tried StartMenu7 and took a few screenshots. I’ll share them with you here and add a few comments on some of the features.

This screen-shot is from the author. It shows the default skin.

If your system supports it, portions of the menu are transparent.

This menu has a search box at the bottom, like Vista and Win7. It works pretty much the same. Typing into it searches your Start Menu for programs or actions. Also across the bottom are buttons for PC power control and options. Just above the power buttons are three tabs labeled “All Programs”, “Quick Start” and “Autorun”. The “All Programs” is the default view and it shows all of your programs. The “Quick Start” menu can be populated with items that you add to it through the Options.

Here’s another skin called “Classic” …

… and another skin called “Windows”. I liked this one the best.

At the top of StartMenu7 are two buttons for adding and removing program shortcuts. There’s a third button for access to a custom “Run” menu with several interesting features.

Shown above is the “Run” sub-menu called “Commands” and below is the sub-menu for “Folders”.

StartMenu7 is installed like most other applications and can be removed using the Windows Add/Remove applet. You can launch StartMenu7 normally or you can set it to automatically launch when Windows boots up.

There are many options that I haven’t explored. Here are a few that are listed on the program’s website.

• The list of menu items is alphabetically sorted, so you can easily find any program or command by its name.
• Open any location on your PC with a single click.
  You can create, modify, and reorder items in Start Menu 7. So it’s easy to create a list of the most used locations, popular directories, and virtual folders to access them with a single click.
• There is a special Run button to access seldom used locations without adding them into menu.
• Start Menu 7 has a customizable Power Buttons panel.
• With Power Timer feature you can delay any of power management operations.

Download StartMenu7 (Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 7)

Techie Buzz Verdict:

I don’t use many addons like StartMenu7. I like to keep my resources free and I’m also a big fan of “Classic” menus. That said, I’m very tempted to add StartMenu7 to my Windows XP machines. While I was using it, it seemed bug free and didn’t slow things down one bit. I really did like all of the extra features it adds.

Techie Buzz Rating: 3/5 (Good)

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