Windows 7 Classic vs. New Start Menu

[Brunoooh]

I managed to test last night... it worked fine, thanks again

But I had looked a little too fast at the screenshots, I thought you had managed to make your start menu replace the original win7 start menu

So now I have pinned your program just at the side of the start button, and I wonder :

- if it was simple to put your menu on the "real" button, I guess you'd already have made it...
- is it possible to "hide" the windows 7 start menu button... so that your program is at the bottom left corner ?

 

[thomasw234]

Yeah I can't make it replace the real button. I never thought of hiding the start button though - good suggestion.

I'm on XP at the moment, but Link Removed - Invalid URL looks like it can hide the start button for you!

Thanks, Thomas.

 

[@thehop]

I relax my eyes + expand the clarity with handy Classic ... ^^

Emulating classic start menu in Windows 7 Link Removed

 

[thomasw234]

Version 0.7 is now uploaded. It fixes a bug which caused a crash when programs was hovered over sometimes. Also, when Shut Down is pressed, the proper Windows 7 shutdown dialog appears. Both installer and normal version are updated. See the first post of this thread.

Thomas.

The file attached to this post is a debug version. Please see the first post of this thread to download CSMenu.

 

[Radenight]

Too give them any value, Polls are supposed to have a conclusion. With a heavy vote in favour of the new menu, and increasing, I think the poll, and the thread, has run it's course.
It has now become a flaming match, with several posts in rather bad tastes, others heavily prejudiced towards the posters own preference.

Perhaps we should start another Poll. "Should this thread be locked"

Agreed Dave, unless there is a very valid reason to not close this thread, I will close it once enough of the mods agree..

 

[zpaolo]

I think I understand now. The "New" start menu is just the old XP start menu thats new to everybody now because they disliked it back in 2001 and used the classic one instead.

It's not just a matter of XP and classic: i LIKE the XP Start menu, i DON'T LIKE the Vista start menu, that's subtle I know... I'd rather use the classic start menu instead of the Vista one, being that the "XP" nuance will not be reproposed...

As for organising shortcuts the way I want them, well, I'll stick with FreeLaunchBar all the time

 

[Hoffak]

It's not just a matter of XP and classic: i LIKE the XP Start menu, i DON'T LIKE the Vista start menu, that's subtle I know... I'd rather use the classic start menu instead of the Vista one, being that the "XP" nuance will not be reproposed...

As for organising shortcuts the way I want them, well, I'll stick with FreeLaunchBar all the time

What's the difference between the XP and the Vista menu ? Or those and the Windows 7 menu ?
I won't be needing Freelauncher as I'm moving off this fluffy dinky toy OS for good. Vista was a blow but I could take it once. A second blow is just to much. Windows is good enough for the really brain dead crowd but I want something that doesn't look like it was intended for the sole purpose of sharing foto's and music.

 

[dam89]

the new start-menu is sooooo much cleaner than the older one which i never really like especially when it expanded across the monitor, i know i could put everything in folders but that was just another menu that needed to load. Even in xp it was still irritating it was about time for change with vista, but in 7 it has been improved, like by adding videos and downloads to the menu.

 

[Brunoooh]

ok, I've installed the latest update, and the start button killer you suggested...

the excellent news is that it does the trick !!
(BTW thanks for changing the program icon for a real start button look-alike, even though I'd like it just a little bigger)

the little down thing is that I do not get french localization neither in 0.7 or in the previous versions
I've simply translated the names of the ini files (i.e. 1Programs to 1Programmes) : the french word appears, but the icon on the left is completely wrong

oh, and the shutdown button doesn't seem to work (even before I tweaked the filenames)

anyway it's the closest thing to the startmenu I've been missing, so thank you very much and please keep up the good work

 

[larsbrenner]

the new start-menu is sooooo much cleaner than the older one which i never really like especially when it expanded across the monitor, i know i could put everything in folders but that was just another menu that needed to load. Even in xp it was still irritating it was about time for change with vista, but in 7 it has been improved, like by adding videos and downloads to the menu.

In the Classic Menu can add _anything_ to the menu without having to wait until Microsoft does it for you. Conversely, in the new menu videos and downloads etc. actually are just folders. And you can have them folding out as menu or opening as a link. It's no different in the classic menu. The only thing that is different is that if you have a folder called My Dinky Toys you can't add it to the menu in Win 7, which you can in the Classic Menu. Of course people who use the Classic Menu don't have folders called My Dinky toys like you lot. They have folders with names such as WAIK, Sun xVM and vLite. But they can't be placed on the menu that easily any more.

 

[reghakr]

First of all, we don't need derogatory comments on either side of the issue as in Radenight's post

Too give them any value, Polls are supposed to have a conclusion. With a heavy vote in favour of the new menu, and increasing, I think the poll, and the thread, has run it's course.
It has now become a flaming match, with several posts in rather bad tastes, others heavily prejudiced to wards the posters own preference.

I am going to attempt to summarize this whole thread.

I believe the people voting for the New Start Menu are typical home users who use their computer for daily tasks such as creating documents, checking e-mail and surfing the Internet. As they are already familiar with the New Start menu (which is installed by default) they might not even know the Classic Start menu existed. So their vote, of course, is the New Start Menu

On th other hand Sysadmins, power users and people who love to customize Windows are most likely aware of the Classic Start menu (and they probably changed it back to The Classic Menu immediately). So, these people are used to the Classic Menu.

In other works I think the poll is skewed because of the vast amount of people posting who are the typical computer users. In other words there are more posters here that fall into the typical users category.

Maybe there should be another poll with 2 radio buttons:

1. Do you administer any computers in a small to large company or consider yourself a Poweruser?
2. Do you use your computer for daily tasks such as e-mailing, creating documents, and surfing the Internet?

 

[Radenight]

Very well put Reghakr! Sums it up beautifully..

Just a little confused though, are you saying my post was the derogatory one or is it the post you quoted that's the derogatory one? ...

 

[dam89]

wtf

In the Classic Menu can add _anything_ to the menu without having to wait until Microsoft does it for you. Conversely, in the new menu videos and downloads etc. actually are just folders. And you can have them folding out as menu or opening as a link. It's no different in the classic menu. The only thing that is different is that if you have a folder called My Dinky Toys you can't add it to the menu in Win 7, which you can in the Classic Menu. Of course people who use the Classic Menu don't have folders called My Dinky toys like you lot. They have folders with names such as WAIK, Sun xVM and vLite. But they can't be placed on the menu that easily any more.

i wasn't refering to the classic menu when I said that you can now add video and downloads and i know that you can add any folder to the classic menu. I was simply saying windows 7 has made an improvement on vista's menu by adding them options. + what makes you think that i don't have folders such as WAIK or vLite.

edit : i'd also like to apologise to everybody that has read a useless or annouying post.

 

[reghakr]

Radenight,

NO, not at all. I was pointing your post out to try to prevent all the fighting that goes on in this section

 

[Radenight]

Ah, I see now.. lol I was just reading it the wrong way.. Easy to do when your posting while at work.. my bad..

 

[reghakr]

Ahh,

Hit the Boss key, They’re Coming for You, Neo....I mean Radenight

 

[Radenight]

Ahh,

Hit the Boss key, They’re Coming for You, Neo....I mean Radenight

hahahaha, I believe I'll take the red pill... Seems like it will be more fun that way.. hehehe Or wait, was it the blue pill that he took, it's been ages since I've watched those movies I can't remember now..

 

[reghakr]

I'm not sure which one takes you down the rabbit hole either

I want to discover the truth.

Check out this video for a laugh:

Make sure you continue to watch after the creditd roll.

 

[thomasw234]

(BTW thanks for changing the program icon for a real start button look-alike, even though I'd like it just a little bigger)

I agree, I would like to make the icon bigger, but it would appear that quicklaunch programs have a limited icon size, and I can't make it any bigger.

the little down thing is that I do not get french localization neither in 0.7 or in the previous versions

Strange, when I go to "Region and Language" in the Conrol Panel, change my display language to French, everything beyond the first menu appears in French See the attached screenshots!

I've simply translated the names of the ini files (i.e. 1Programs to 1Programmes) : the french word appears, but the icon on the left is completely wrong

This is easily fixed. The program finds <Menu Item Name>.ini, and then looks for <Menu Item Name>.ico (the icon to display next to it). If you go to wherever CSMenu is installed, go to the icons folder, and rename to programmes.ico, your icons should re-appear.

oh, and the shutdown button doesn't seem to work (even before I tweaked the filenames)

Does the shutdown button do anything at all? On both my desktop and laptop it brings up a Vista style shutdown dialog. On my laptop, though, once I select an option, it doesn't always seem to do anything. If this is the case with most people, I will rewrite the shutdown dialog and include it in a future version.

anyway it's the closest thing to the startmenu I've been missing, so thank you very much and please keep up the good work

Thanks for helping me improve it , it's hard to test it with only 2 computers!!

Thomas.

 

[thomasw234]

Version 0.71 is now uploaded.

Has a bugfix which brought up a permissions error if you had more than 20 items / folders on a menu.

Sorry if it caused you problems!

Thomas