14 DAY TRIAL // A Windows 11 build leaked to the web earlier this week, therefore allowing Microsoft enthusiasts out there to try out the new operating system early.
And needless to say, this build is more or less a confirmation that Microsoft is indeed planning to replace Windows 10 with Windows 11, which means the company would no longer release any new feature updates for the current operating system.
Windows 11 comes with a pack of modern features, some of them borrowed from Windows 10X, the dual-screen operating system that has already been ditched.
The Start menu, for example, is the one that was part of Windows 10X, with Microsoft also realigning the taskbar icons to the center, therefore responding to the feedback it received in this regard.
But as it turns out, this leaked Windows 11 build still allows users to restore the original Windows 10 Start menu and align the taskbar icons to the left. And to be honest, this isn’t necessarily surprising, as the current version of Windows 11 is actually Windows 10 on steroids.
Rafael Rivera shared a method to restore the original Start menu on Twitter, explaining that it all comes down to a simple registry hack that takes only a minute to do.
How to restore the original Start menu
First and foremost, you only need to open the Registry Editor and then navigate to the following path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\
Create a new DWORD entry that is called:
Start_ShowClassicMode
And then set its value to 1. Close the Registry Editor and now the original Start menu should be back in Windows 11.
Of course, this method currently works in the recently leaked build, but there’s no proof Microsoft plans to keep it around when the new operating system reaches a more advanced development stage.