Classic Shell Reviews

Magnificent! I played around with Metro for a while in W8 Pro and, though old school (I go back to pre MS-DOS days), I got used to it quickly. Some people have trouble adapting to new things; fortunately, I don't. However, there are two things I hate about Metro: 1. It's tedious to get at the list of Programs while in desktop. Desktop toolbar requires 2 additional steps of drill down to open a program (yeah, I know, big deal.. but it's still annoying) and scrolling horizontally in Metro (even with small icons) is also tedious and.. annoying. 2. It's forced on us. Microsoft should have at least provided the option for a normal Start Menu in the PRO version! Who cares about live tiles?!? I'd rather kill Metro and have those resources freed. Now that I've installed this utility and have my normal Start Menu back, I feel at home again and have no desire to experience Metro again -- unfortunately, we can't kill it completely.. I love how there are so many options for customization in this utility! I've played with most of them and haven't had probs. It looks good on old school CRT's, in case anyone's wondering (I prefer disabling font smoothing in options). The Skip Metro feature works perfectly -- unlike another bypass program I tried which killed all my apps, requiring a full reinstall of W8 Pro (none of the fixes I found online worked)! I was thus hesitant to try the bypass function of this program, but now I'm glad that I did. I also don't notice a delay to desktop (no hint of Metro appears, as is common with other bypasses), which is nice. According to SF, fewer than 132k people out of tens of millions who hate Metro have downloaded this utility (3.6.5 anyway). WTF? You need to work harder to get the word out. I'll do my part by telling others about it.

So good and I use it since 2006!!! updating each versions from xp to 8

Classic Shell 3.5.0: Restore some old Windows features

Thank you Great piece of app. One request is to remove all the theme / start menu style and only keep the Windows 7 start menu style, which is best usable and last modern start menu preferred by most of the users. Thank you. bcdalai

Cool software!

I wish to thank you for saving my 17 inch Acer laptop that I was about to destroy after upgrading to Windows8 Pro... Could not go back to windows 7 as everybody is finding out. Was so upset... Hope Balmer is on his way out. This Classic Shell gave me back my sanity Thanks again and would recommend to all my friends to download this program that saves your laptop Dan Montreal

It works great! I had to get used to this program!

Having migrated from WinXP to Win7 on one of my 5 (work) PCs -- I freaked at the unfamiliarity of the UI. After some cursing the "screen" I can see the need for increased "security" in Windows (it causes a lot of stress), but the rest of Win7 is pure bloat (rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic). Win7 interface looks like a childrens playground, and the start-menu is a monster, it hogs the screen. on my laptop. I think MS used an interior decorator to design start-menu and control-panel. "Classic Shell" is a life saver -- I have never paid for freeware but this is one I will shell-out for. (but where?) Excellent project for those of us who can read and use our PCs for a living.

Dave herseymax Saved my @#$%^#@ Didn't know squat about windows 8 but now can cruse through with ease. like I did with xp. A ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.

Great app for transitioning from any windows to version 8. It gives you quick access to configurations, At christmas time mom got a windows 8 pc, This app saved the holiday :) She is now flying between the old and new windows 8. Technically speaking this is a cool app! Very useful, fills a need, simple , and yet complicated. One of the hardest things to achieve. Make something easy thats complicated.

A new laptop purchase (w/WiFi) in response to a now dead laptop w/o WiFi provided an opportunity to right two wrongs. With the need for mobility and increased productivity windows 8 didn't provide the opportunity for either. I don't have the time or patience to relearn navigating the system via an android/OS X/ tablet interface windows 8 demanded. Initially I considered returning the machine, only because of windows 8. Classic Shell rescued the Toshiba Satellite and my sanity. Thanks!

The best way to rollback some "improvements" of W7!

Now I can sell windows 8 with out the headache that Microsoft created changing things do you think for just once Microsoft can consult with real computer users when they make changes to see how it will effect the people this product helps me sell there product it's great

Windows is annoying enough and with the Windows 8 changes, that just wasn't going to work for me or my clients especially given not a single person I work with has a touchscreen system (or even wants one) for desktop computing. Thanks to Classic Shell my clients and I can at least be productive and accomplish our work as needed in Windows 8 and after getting new equipment, it is one of the first five programs installed, preceded only by security software and updates.

A great way to restore a "start menu" to windows 8. Without it I had to google just to find out how to shut down a new laptop! Anyone with a regular pc and windows 8 will be thankful for this program, which restores some familiarity to the desktop. top marks for making something essential for those that get win8 pre-installed on their new pc.

Windows 8's Metro interface is the worst idea Microsoft has come up with for a computer. Classic Shell turns Win 8 into a useful system. GREAT piece of software. I love the fact that you can completely bypass the Metro screen and boot up the way Windows is supposed to look.

Files, files, and more files. I manage a small LAN, and just the ability to access the network and local files with the Windows Explorer GUI is worth the installation. And one would think it might seem to slow things a little, but is it even faster than the standard Windows 7 interface? And, of course, being able to quickly select the control panels, administrative tools, and those myriad obscure programs seldom needed is a huge improvement over the delivered Windows 7. Some of the computers on the network still use XP, so the familiarity when switching among computers is also a plus. What were the Microsoft people thinking? Did they assume most users simply wanted to click on a movie or something? I'm glad to see that Windows 8 is also supported, as there will come a time when the LAN computers will be forced to be acquired with this OS. Thank you for this effort. I've used other software developed through the MIT initiative, and this work adds to that tradition.

It is fantastic. Like someone said they were too old; me, I'm only 80 and started out with MSDOS in the early 70's and I LIKE THIS SHELL to make Win8 wonderful.

For an avid PC user this is great! The new Windows 8 start up menu with all the tiles was driving me crazy, just as the extra steps getting to it. Love this fix.

Epic to have the old feel of Windows back, it's very nostalgic, very easy to use, and I like it's uses on Win8. In short, epic, thanks for your work on such an epic thing!

This is an nice addition, but it would be even nicer if it came in an 64 bit version and had an hotkey for the run dialog like "alt+space" for quick launching of frequently used programs for all the programs in the start menu.

Fantastic. It makes Windows 8 work like Windows 7.1, making it quite usable on a notebook.

I went to Windows 8 and hated being forced to use the Tiles menu. Classic Shell allowed me to get my start menu back and is a major reason why I'm now enjoying Windows 8. I wanted the Windows key to still bring up the Tiles menu and Classic Shell made it a snap to bring it back. Great job!

Nice tool! Thanks!

The younger Windows Users will adapt to W8 but we older Windows User who started with Windows 95 through Windows 7 have contempt for the new UI. Older meaning 45 to 90 years old (you young people will say the same thing when your generation experiences changes in technology "you don't like"). OK. Here's the scoop. You Classic Shell is the best legacy modification to Windows 8 that I have tried to-date (November 30, 2012). I applaud your attention to detail and giving it your all to make W8 look and feel like prior versions of Windows. Now I feel much more confident about helping friends and family who missed the boat on Windows 7 and will end-up buying W8 when XP expires. (I help a lot of people). Kudos to you for creating the Class Shell. IMHO Microsoft should have given Desktop and Laptop users the option (after installation) to quickly find and activate the Start Menu and true Windows Desktop. I know this debate has gone on for along time but we shall see what happens with future versions of Windows. In the meantime. Thank you from me and a dozen other people who count on me to keep their systems "easy to use". KUDOS!!