Best Alternatives to Windows Start Menu
Feb. 16th, 2008 | by Shankar Ganesh |We have already covered how to make XP look like Vista or any other popular Operating System. This time, we want to focus only on Windows Start Menu and present a number of better Start Menu alternatives.
(1) Vista Start Menu
The name might sound strange, but this one works in most versions of Windows, not just Vista. Vista Start Menu might take you aback when you use it for the first time, but it’s worth it once you get used to it. It simply replaces your current start menu (even on Vista) with a more functional, feature rich and customizable menu.
You can organize your programs in tabs, use commands from the menu itself, and even zoom into the menu for better viewing. But beware, the program is known to consume a considerable amount of system memory, so go for it only if you have memory to spare.
(2) JetStart
JetStart is more of a suite, and can be considered an all-in-one replacement to your default Windows XP Start Menu. JetStart categorizes applications based on their use and purpose. It also has a search as you type feature that can locate the program you need in just seconds. Plus, there’s a JetStart toolbar to house your most used applications for quick launching.
Vista Start Menu Emulator replaces the default XP Start Menu with that of a Vista. Besides putting the Vista-like Start Menu on XP, this tool also gives a live search feature similar to the one on Vista.
(4) Launchy
If you’re bored of icons and menus for launching programs, give Launchy a try. Launchy indexes your drive for applications and visited webpages and lets you launch an application or some web address by simply typing couple of first letters. Saves you a lot of time, and can fully replace the Windows Start Menu.
(By) Shankar Ganesh, a 16 year old guy from India who blogs about computers and software at KillerTechTips
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You mentioned the first program using a lot of system resources; how do the others do?
We each had our own pc when we used w98, so I got used to my very own start menu, that was EASILY edited. Now that we’re sharing an XP machine, it’s a lot more challenging being able to edit the start menu, especially since there’s some things I can’t do from my acct, and if I do it from admin it could affect my husband’s acct.
I moved my mandatory icons into a desktop toolbar from the taskbar options, then I moved the rest of my frequently used shortcuts into the quicklaunch, which I dragged until they all showed. Then I turned off all icons from showing on the desktop, and then my hubby freaked at first because he didn’t know how to log me off when he wanted to log on. He’d ALWAYS started at the “start button”, so no difference there, but since the desktop LOOKED different, it through him off ROFL
Haha LOL thanks for sharing your story.
Launchy also sucks a lot of resources while running in the background.
It’s bad for laptop users like me.
You should try Enso Launcher too. A worthy addition IMHO.
Indeed it is
There are a few others that you can try - http://tinyurl.com/3xrur4
My wife has Vista on her laptop, and we deactivated the Vista start menu (switched to Classic) because it’s hard to use, non-intuitive, hogs system resources, and is slow. Why would I want to bring that experience to my XP machine?
Not all people hate that Search feature in Vista Start Menu, though.
In case you have some good RAM as well, and need that search, you could try the options I have mentioned.
I’m shocked to learn that there are people who find the the Vista Start Menu difficult to use. I respect your opinion, but it is wildly different than mine, which is that the Start Menu is arguably Vista’s strongest feature and the most compelling reason to upgrade.
As well, the live search feature in Vista pops up in various aspects of the Vista UI and has been the tipping point for me to recommend it to others. The Start Menu, Control Panel, and Windows Explorer in general all feel much more intuitive to me. I also like the way Vista has organized the user documents, which is different again from previous versions.
I suspect that someone with a lot of experience using the older Start Menu format may have trouble adjusting, but my belief is that once you do, it becomes a great asset.
When I tried Vista Start Menu a while back it kept feeling like an alpha-version that’s received alot of visual polish and no coding. The little I could glean off of it made it feel clunky and bothersome, although it’s a damned good idea with grouping.
Now I’d rather just customize the start-menu in XP myself, and I’ve made it similar to the JetStart one with 5 categories and the normal top used programs in the main window.
After getting used to that customization I found those programs redundant.
Hmm.. One thing seems to be true: everyone has his/her choices
Launchy is awesome. It’s not a Start menu replacement, and it shouldn’t be, since the Start Menu isn’t half bad. But, it’s a different concept, and a piece of software you can’t not love after you got used to it. I’d recommend it to anyone.
Of course it is awesome, and I believe it can fully replace your start menu. In essence, it ‘launches programs’ - just what the start menu lets you to do.
I’d love to recommend it to anyone as well. Anyone who wants to save a little time and be a little more productive should try Launchy.
Gnome start menu of Ubuntu is a way better than anything mentioned.
It is clean and logical as it should be on any production system.
Well, yes I have to say Linux organizes menus neatly, and they do save people some annoyance.
I love the way Gnome menus have applications categorized, like, in Ubuntu, we have ‘Accessories’, ‘Internet’, ‘Sound and Video’, ‘Office’, etc.
Linux FTW!
Forget about Launchy, I used it for 6 months, then stumbled upon Keybreeze and within seconds I switched. It is VERY good at what it does and most if not all of the extra features of the start menu are not needed anymore!
Regards.
These are cool, I’ve always liked the ability to customize things in Windows but don’t really care for the ones that cost money. I’m downloading the Vista Start Menu Emulator to check it out, the XP start menu is cool and works, but I do like the Vista one better…
humm…. how about the Mac OS X dock? hehhehe
hey! don’t loose your sense of humor!
I’ve always been fascinated by Docks, and I’ve previously used RK Launcher in XP to emulate the functionality. In case any one needs them, here it is: http://home.cogeco.ca/~rklauncher/
You have to also mention Google Desktop, which works a lot like Launchy, but in my experience uses less resources, is less buggy, and also indexes files and web history.
Yes, I agree that Google Desktop may replace Launchy as a ‘launcher’, but I’m afraid that I’ll have to disagree on the other point you’ve made. It’s pretty slow as far as I have tried.
Best Alternatives to Windows Start Menu | nerdd.net…
Take a look at a number of better Start Menu alternatives. I moved my mandatory icons into a…
Build your own with bb4win and bbinterface http://www.bb4win.org
I just tried Launchy and I love it. Thanks!
Nice article. I find the Vista menu very confusing though. I would not want to switch to that! I like the simplicity of the Windows Classic Menu. On XP i usually change the menu to look that way.
Since you prefer simplicity, I think you’ll prefer Launchy
You should look at enso.
Enso 2.0 is coming out very soon and is going to be amazing.
It’s from Aza Raskin, Jef Raskin’s son (maker of the macintosh).
Humanized is great at interface design (songza.com).
It definitely is a start menu replacement.
Yeah, Enso is doing pretty well and causing some waves recently.
I just downloaded it the other day, but unlike Launchy it’s taking me some time to get used to.
I use Launchy all the time and as a result, I hit my start menu once a month these days. I can definitely see why you need to keep the start menu, but Launchy works great for all your favorite apps.
you guys forgot RocketDock .. it’s a osx type menu for Windows.. works really well .. http://www.rocketdock.com
Yep, we indeed did miss Dock Apps
Thanks for the heads up on that.
You forgot StartMenuEx, from http://www.wickedorange.com/home.aspx?Product=StartMenuEx
It’s a great replacement, and so useful too.
Hey, that’s pretty. Thanks.
Can you send me an invite to Hulu? Thanks
Or, you can customize your start menu/task bar yourself. like I have on all my XP’s. My start menu/all programs has only 7 main folders (Accessories, AVP, Misc,Online,Safety,Startup, & Utilities), with programs categorized and moved into the forementioned folders. I also clear all desktop icons into the unused isons folder, then create a new sub-folder in there named “Shortcuts”, then create sub-folders in that one (AVP,Misc,Online,Safety,Utilities) and move all shortcuts into the respective folders, then create a new toolbar link to the Shortcuts folder on my taskbar. Along with using Desktop Sidebar, my taskbar, start menu, desktop is 97 percent clutter free.
Please send an invite to Hulu… Thx
Ugh. Isn’t this really just putting a new coat of paint on the outhouse?
[...] Best Alternatives to Windows Start Menu | MakeUseOf.com (tags: Freeware windows productivity) [...]
One of the best launchers doesn’t act like the Windows start menu. It is free at SourceForge - called LaunchMate.
http://launchmate.sourceforge.net/lnchmate.zip
[...] fonte:makeuseof [...]
[...] a look at a number of better Start Menu alternatives.read more | digg [...]
Personal favourite: slickrun.
Just like launchy but you can program you’re own commands. At first it takes a while to do, but in about an hour I had all my programs with memorable shortcuts (e.g. word: for openoffice writer, calc for calculator, fx for firefox) and I had ALT+Z (they’re VERY close together) bound to it. AND it had auto complete. So to start say skype (”skype”), I would have to type in ALT+Z, S, ENTER, and thats it…hardly a couple of seconds.
What kind of lame list is this…
OBJECT DOCK
better than what it once imitated, by far the best alternative for that pesky start button.
Its soo good i have the entire windows task bar hidden. Start becomes useless !!
I used to have a blast playing with Litestep. It’s a windows shell replacement that’s totally customizable. The litestep group had organizational issues a few years ago, but seems to be back up and running.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiteStep
http://www.litestep.net
[...] Windows only: Vista Start Menu offers an expanded, feature-rich Start menu for Windows 2000/XP or Vista, one in which program menus, power-off options, and a number of control panel items are available right from the first click, instead of requiring menu mouse-overs to unfold. Vista Start Menu runs as a system tray app and doesn’t touch a thing on your system—shut it down, and you’re back to your plain vanilla Start layout. It used a little over 7 MB of memory on my Vista Home Professional setup, which might be a steep price for the convenience for some, but for those who can’t get down with an alternative program-finder like Launchy, it definitely saves a little time. Vista Start Menu (basic) is a free download for Windows 2000/XP and Vista only. Vista Start Menu [via MakeUseOf.com] [...]
launchy is the shiz!
I preffer the classic menu.
A while back I tried to change the look of my Windows Desktop but the software I used kinda make my systems (AMD 2.0 ghz) slower. I recently installed ubuntu linux and was very pleased in part because it was easier on the eye. Here is a list of more about that, http://www.itsupportnotes.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-desktop-a-linux-os-for-everyone.html
In the long run though I think MS has plans to really scale back their OS to make it more portable so that basically the same software can run on a PDA, Cell Phone, In a car and on a PC. I’d rellylike to see how that effects the front end look and feel.
Executor, ya its very good and less resource taking.
i am using Executor at present.
its site: http://executor.dk/
thank for this.
[...] Fonte: MakeUseOf [...]
[...] Vía | Make use Of [...]
JetStart is the best for usability.
when you have a lot of installed proggies, WIN+S allows you to jump to the right icon by typing the beginning of its name. Unbeatable.
I use RocketDock, nice little utility
[...] Best Alternatives to Windows Start Menu | MakeUseOf.com - Synes du startmenyen i Windows XP er kjedelig eller lite effektiv. Her ramses opp flere alternativer XP-brukere har, enten det er til å pynte på grensenittet eller for å effektivisere navigeringen. [...]
What about . Free, open source, quick search, skinnable, intuitive interface, customizable. What more does it take to be on the list?
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