windows 8 start menu set up, windows 8 tricks

Windows users who still miss the good old Start menu in Windows 8 can revive it, courtesy of three handy utilities.

Okay, I confess. After all these months of testing and using Windows 8, I still miss the classic Start menu. Microsoft has attempted to lure me to the new Start screen, and I can see some clear benefits to it. But for me, the Start menu is still the easiest way to organize, locate, and launch my vast array of desktop applications.

If you're in the same boat, fear not. ViStart, Classic Shell, and StartMenu7 all do a good job of duplicating the classic Start menu with its folders, shortcuts, and easy access to common Windows locations.

Concerns surfaced that Microsoft would disable the functionality of such Start menu apps in the final version of Windows. But I tested all three utilities, and all worked just fine in the Windows 8 RTM edition unveiled last week.