If you don’t like the new Windows 8 Ribbon UI (Explorer) and Metro UI then there are two little applications that help you to solve the problem. Best of all, they are both free & portable!
1. Menu Controller (266kb)
- Download it here: http://winaero.com/download.php?view.15
- Run MetroController.exe to start
- There are 3 options:
+ Disable all new features: this will disable all the new features of Windows 8 such as: Metro UI, Ribbon UI (Explorer), etc … You need to logoff for the changes to take effect
+ Disable only Metro features: this will disable only the Metro UI but keep the Ribbon UI in Explorer. You need to restart the computer
+ Close this window: Well, close the application!
- To restore back, you need to run the application again and choose:
+ Enable all new features
OR
+ Enable only Metro features
2. Windows 8 Start Menu Toggle (15kb)
- Download it here: http://www.deviantart.com/download/258422929/windows_8_start_menu_toggle_by_solo_dev-d49uwep.zip
- Very simple to use, click on the “Use classic start menu” to use classic start menu & explorer like you do in Windows 7. You do not need to log off or restart the computer
- To restore back, run it again and click “Use Metro start screen”
Related posts:
Microsoft removed the Start Menu and the Start Button completely. If I wanted to do all my office work on a tablet, I would have gone and bought myself a new iPad (which I still might do, if I’m forced to choose between a Windows tablet and an iPad). Why can’t we just leave the tablet market to Apple and the PC market to Microsoft? Don’t get me wrong, I like Windows 8 in general, but what happened to freedom of speech and choices. In Windows XP we had the choice to switch back to the Classic Start Menu and in Windows 7 we have XP Mode.
It looks like in Windows 8, the only choices we have are to tablet or not to tablet. Rizonesoft started a petition to ask Microsoft to at least give us a choice between the interfaces and bring the Start Menu back. Go here for more information about the petition. Please help Rizonesoft accomplish this almost impossible task by signing and sharing this petition.