Calling all Classic Shell users to test new beta 4.2.7

[MS Bob 11]

Those who use Classic Shell on Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 7 and are interested in trying out the newly released beta can do so by downloading it from the official website at www.classicshell.net

 

The change log follows below:

 

And everyone else who don't use it and are happy with the stock Windows UI, no need to comment here and waste your time. This post is to gather the feedback of as many interested active users of Classic Shell as possible to deliver a stable final release. 

 

Major new features in 4.2.6/4.2.7 Beta:
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● Classic Start Menu supports fade, slide and random animations also in Windows 7 style
● New feature to select the text color for the taskbar on Windows 7, 8, 10
● New feature to set a texture for the Taskbar and Start Menu for Windows 7, 8, 10!
● Settings to set taskbar color and transparency for Windows 7, 8, 10
● Metro Settings in search results have a "Pin to Start Menu" right-click command
● New Explorer toolbar commands to toggle hidden files, system files, file extensions, open Folder Options and create a ZIP file
● New setting for the font of the Explorer status bar (Windows 8 and up)
● Many new skin features
o Skins can use PNG and JPEG resources
o Textures are supported in Start Menu skins, up to 4 with tiling pattern and a mask
o Skins support logos/emblems drawn on top of the menu background, up to 10 emblems, first 4 can have a mask
o Menu shadow can be disabled as a skin setting
o All Programs tree in Windows 7 style can be completely transparent and use the background from the main menu
o Skin options are completely rewritten and now support colors, bitmaps, and more
o New "Metallic" skin that showcases the new skin features

Minor new features and changes:
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● Compatibility with Windows 10 Redstone 1
● New setting to set hover sound for the Start button
● If a menu item's Label field has a user-defined accelerator key using an amperstand (&) character, it will be executed when you press the key, ignoring other items that begin with that letter
● You can hide All Programs item in Windows 7 style menu from Settings UI (previously only as a Group Policy)
● Some Start Menu commands are now available from cmd line. e.g. ClassicStartMenu.exe -cmd restart. Other commands include confirm_logoff, advanced_boot, update_restart, update_shutdown, hybrid_shutdown
● New setting to select the last item in the shutdown menu instead of the first
● The Shutdown menu has separate items for shutdown/restart without installing updates
● The Invert Metro Icons setting now works without a restart of the menu
● Metro icons correctly update their color when the system color changes (Windows 10)
● The search thread runs at normal priority instead of "idle" so even if the CPU is busy at startup or doing long-running tasks like video encoding, the search will be fast
● Corrupted/damaged Metro Apps are hidden from the Apps menu

Bug fixes and minor changes:
*******************************
● Recent documents will not show redundant items with full path
● Fixed a bug where you can select two radio buttons in the skin settings

 

Update: A crash was discovered with version 4.2.6 and 32-bit Windows 10. Use the new beta version 4.2.7. Other than the crash fix, both beta versions are identical. Don't worry, even if it says beta it is tested before and won't crash your Windows.

 

Another thing to clarify for those who don't know and might be hesitant to try it: Classic Shell does everything in-memory and using its own code. All its modifications are optional and can be completely undone when you exit it or disable it. It does not modify Windows system files or Registry settings and make any permanent modifications to Windows which cannot be reversed.

[Danielx64]

While I use startisback I'm going to download this and see if this going to be any good to deploy at work when we upgrade to windows 10. While I would have pushed startisback, our bill is getting a little too big so it would be nice to save some cash

[MS Bob 11]

Just be sure to uninstall or at least disable your other Start menu replacement before installing Classic Shell or Explorer.exe might crash. Here's a comparison of StartIsBack, Stardock's product, Classic Shell and the stock menus: http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2399

[Danielx64]

4 minutes ago, UXGaurav said:

Just be sure to uninstall or at least disable your other Start menu replacement before installing Classic Shell or Explorer.exe might crash. Here's a comparison of StartIsBack, Stardock's product, Classic Shell and the stock menus: http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2399

Thank-you for the link, I'm taking a look now

[Newinko]

I only wish new versions of Classic Shell worked like previous versions, where the Search box aggregated all results instead of dividing them as Programs / Settings / etc. It makes searching much slower by having to use the Up/Down arrows instead of just knowing the first selected result will be the most relevant one.

[MS Bob 11]

@Newinko, try asking for this in the official forum and if enough users ask for it, Ivo might listen. I recollect someone else in the forum asking for the same.