Skip to main content

This app reverts controversial Windows 11 Start Menu back to classic form

Windows 11 caused an uproar with major changes made to the beloved Start Menu. But popular Windows utility developer, Stardock, has a beta version of an application that makes Windows 11 feel a bit more familiar.

Microsoft doesn’t currently let you revert back to the “classic” Start Menu in the beta versions of Windows 11 — to the dismay of some. But that’s where Start11 comes in, which allows you to do exactly that.

Start11 includes an old style of the Windows Start menu.
screenshot / Digital Trends

Once installed, Start11 gives you the ability to change the appearance of the Windows 11 Start Menu and revert back to its classic version. And when we say “classic,” we don’t mean Windows 10. The beta version of Start11 brings back the design of the old Windows 7 Start Menu.

Recommended Videos

Stardock has long provided many PC desktop enhancement utilities that are designed to enable you to control the way Windows looks, feels, and functions. The StartX family is one of the most popular customization tools for Windows that Stardock released, which offers the Windows 7 classic Start Menu for those on Windows 10.

Today, Stardock released a beta version of Start11 that gives you the option of making your Start Menu look like that of Windows 7, with a list of your apps on the left and some settings on the right. The app gives you the option to revert to the Windows 7 Start menu or opt for a modern look. The latter has more or less the same features but is built with elements of the newer Windows 11 design language, such as rounded corners.

The recent release consists of quite a few features for the Start menu. It includes options to customize colors, fonts, shortcuts, and icon sizes. The taskbar even supports tweaks such as custom textures, transparency settings, blur effects, and more.

For now, this is only a beta version, though. According to Stardock, it doesn’t host all the features it’s going to offer in the future. Stardock plans on adding updated pages or tabs, and new features for enterprise customers. Stardock CEO Brad Wardell says he plans on adding much more functionality to the app.

Start11 costs $5 with special upgrade pricing if you have a previous StartX license, and works with Windows 10 as well, so you can buy it even if you’re not planning on upgrading to Windows 11 anytime soon.

Windows 11 is set to release later this year, currently in beta through the Windows Insider program. It’s a full refresh of the operating system, though the changes to the Start Menu have certainly commanded the most attention from potential upgraders.

Dua Rashid
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Dua is a media studies graduate student at The New School. She has been hooked on technology since she was a kid and used to…
Whatever you do, don’t install the Windows 11 September update
Windows 11 logo on a laptop.

Microsoft has warned users in a post on its support blog that the September KB5043145 update, released on Thursday, is causing some Windows 11 PCs to restart multiple times, show the blue screen of death, or even freeze.

The problems in the recent update affect those on the 22H2 or 23H3 version of Windows 11. However, Microsoft said it is investigating the issue and will provide more information when it's available. Microsoft confirmed: "After installing this update, some customers have reported that their device restarts multiple times or becomes unresponsive with blue or green screens. According to the reports, some devices automatically open the Automatic Repair tool after repeated restart attempts. In some cases, BitLocker recovery can also be triggered."

Read more
Launching Windows 11 apps could get up to 50% faster thanks to this new tech
Microsoft Store Ads on a Dell XPS Laptop.

Windows Latest has spotted a recent support document post from Microsoft confirming native Ahead of Time (AOT) support has been added to the Windows App SDK. According to Microsoft, this could bring major improvements to the launch times of Windows 11 apps. In its own testing, Microsoft has measured a 50% reduction in start times and around an 8x reduction in package size.

The Windows App SDK exists to help developers use classic desktop app frameworks to make apps with access to modern APIs that can be used across all kinds of Windows devices.

Read more
A forced Windows update is coming next month
Windows 11 logo on a laptop.

Windows 11 version 22H2 will reach its end of servicing next month, and Microsoft has announced a forced update to 23H2 for October 8. This means machines running 22H2 (Home and Pro editions) will stop receiving updates after next month, leaving them vulnerable to security threats. Enterprise, Education, and Internet of Things (IoT) Enterprise editions running version 21H2 will also receive the automatic update.

In a post on the Windows Message Center, Microsoft urges users to update before October 8 or participate in the automatic update to keep themselves "protected and productive" since the monthly Patch Tuesday updates are "critical to security and ecosystem health."

Read more