XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11, alt.comp.microsoft.windows
From: MikeS@fred.com
On 07/02/2026 05:57, Maria Sophia wrote:
> Zaidy036 wrote:
>>>> ' I use(d) it on Windows 8.1, 10 and now 11. You don't have to use the
>>>> native Windows 11 Start menu at all if you don't want to.
>>>
>>> Frank brings up an interesting point, which is even though nobody ever
>>> needed Open Shell Menu in the past (yes, even on Windows 10), now it's
>>> actually needed on Windows 11 for the first time since pinned taskbar
>>> menus
>>> are (apparently) no longer allowed on Windows 11 (but they were on
>>> Win10).
>>> '
>>>
>>> For the first time ever, Open Shell Menu is needed (only in Windows 11).
>>>
>>> The good news is you can copy your Windows XP menus to Windows 11 and it
>>> "should" work but I haven't tested that yet but that works on Windows
>>> 10.
>>
>> Lots of free mods including Windows 11 Start Menu
>>
>
> Hi Zaidy,
>
> You've helped me a lot over the years so I very much appreciate that
> customization treasure trove which contains items such as a. Windows 11
> Start Menu (Classic-style tweaks) Adds more traditional layouts,
> spacing and behavior.
> b. Classic Taskbar Restores labels, ungrouped icons and more granular
> control.
> c. Classic Volume Mixer Brings back the old vertical mixer UI.
> d. Classic Alt-Tab Reverts to the compact list instead of the
> thumbnail grid.
> e. Explorer tweaks Restoring the ribbon, adjusting spacing or
> removing the command bar.
>
> Windows has never fundamentally changed, in reality, but Microsoft has
> visibly changed the Start Menu implementation something like five times
> since XP days in order to make it "look" like a different operating system.
> But the one thing Microsoft never removed until Windows 11, AFAIK, was the
> ability to pin a folder and let Explorer render it as a cascading menu.
> So my Windows XP start menu worked fine pinned as a toolbar to Windows 10.
>
> What I easily pulled off in the Windows'8 era was something only a tiny
> fraction users even realized was possible. Everyone else was panicking
> about the "death of the Start Menu," installing Classic Shell, Start8,
> StartIsBack, and a dozen other band-aids, while I just pinned my own XP-era
> menu tree to the taskbar and kept going like nothing happened.
>
>
> It's my understanding that Windows 11 is lost functionality in that
> A. We cannot add a folder toolbar
> B. We cannot pin a folder as a cascading menu
> C. We cannot recreate the XP-style accordion menu on the taskbar
> A the entire "Toolbars" subsystem (Address, Links, Desktop, custom folders)
> was removed so that Microsoft could claim a different operating system.
>
> It's my understanding that Windows 11 replaced the taskbar with a
> completely rewritten XAML-based shell component. The old Explorer-based
> taskbar (which supported toolbars) was removed. Because toolbars were
> implemented inside Explorer's taskband, the feature disappeared with it.
>
> Our C:\menu structure still works as a filesystem-based Start Menu
> replacement, but we cannot attach it to the Windows 11 taskbar the way we
> did in XP -> Vista -> 7 -> 8 -> 10 days, as far as I'm aware.
>
> As far as I can tell, unfortunately, Windhawk does NOT currently offer a
> mod that restores the Windows 10-style "folder toolbar" or XP-style
> cascading menu on the Windows 11 taskbar.
>
> However, I'm told tools like ExplorerPatcher or StartAllBack can restore
> the Windows 10 taskbar, and that version still supports toolbars.
I have used every version of Windows since 3.1 and tweaked each one to
my liking, sometimes adding free utilities. For example, an ancient
program (RUNit) in use from W95 to W11 provides me with a simple,
familiar cascading menu system which does much of what you lament.
The time you have spent complaining on Usenet would have been ample to
customise W11 to your specific liking.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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