14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft brought back the Start menu in Windows 10, but some of those who were hoping to get a design similar to the one in Windows 7 might get a little bit disappointed.
The Start menu available in Windows 10 has a more modern and fresh design that's based on live tiles, so in case you were looking for a familiar design, you might only get it after spending some time tweaking and customizing the existing appearance.
Fortunately for those who want the exact same Start menu in Windows 10, there's now an app that does just that and replaces the new design and features with the ones previously offered in Windows 7.
Start10 is an application developed by Stardock and which comes with a familiar interface but also with options that would make you feel like home when searching or looking for installed programs.
Classic and modern skins
The new third-party Start menu, which is actually the first app of its kind that's specifically designed to run on Windows 10, comes with both classic and modern skins, so you can go either for the previous look of Windows 7 or choose the new and modern one for additional features.
There's a new search feature that allows you to search for apps, settings, and files, as well as tools to access desktop and Modern apps straight from the Start menu.
But what's more important is that the Start menu not only that looks just like the one in Windows 7 but also comes with skin support for the Start button, so you can change its design as you wish.
There are several configuration options to enable transparency, change colors, and configure its behavior, so yes, this could be the right replacement for the built-in Start menu.
And now the bad part. Start10 is not offered free of charge, but only as part of an offer than includes a $4.99 (€4.10) subscription for ObjectDesktop. It requires Windows 10 build 9926 and cannot be installed on any other OS version.
Microsoft also working to add similar features
What's interesting is that Microsoft itself is working to add some of the features that are part of Start10 to its own Start menu.
For example, a unified search feature is very likely to be implemented in the Start menu in future builds, while transparency has already been confirmed as a sure thing in the final version of Windows 10.
So, with Microsoft bringing most of the features in its own Start menu, is it really worth spending a few dollars and running a third-party app all the time to get just a few more options?
