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Sunday, July 8, 2012

mStartEX: Windows 8 Style Start Menu Replacement for Windows XP, Vista and 7

We are pretty much aware of the new Start Screen introduced by Microsoft in its upcoming OS Windows 8. Start Screen is a Start Menu replacement for Windows 8 which shows live tiles of installed programs and built-in tools in Windows. According to Microsoft, the use of big square tiles makes it easier to navigate through installed programs and launch them.
We have shared many free utilities which bring Windows 8 look-like Start Screen feature in earlier Windows versions such as Windows XP, Vista and 7. Some of them are Omnimo, Windows 8 Start Screen Full and Mosaic.
Today in this topic, we are going to share another utility for Windows XP, Vista and 7 which is a little bit different than others. You can consider it as a Start Menu replacement for Windows.
"mStartEX" is a free utility for Windows created by our friend "Solodev" which shows all Start Menu programs and pinned items in tile view similar to Windows 8 Start Screen.
By default it sorts them alphabetically but you can disable the sorting using its Settings. Its highly customizable. You can change background color, transparency level, tile mode, screen position and much more.
It also allows you to show a metro style clock on Desktop similar to Windows 8. You can enable it from its Settings.
mStartEX_Windows_Start_Menu_Replacement.png
If you want, you can customize the tile background and icon style from the "Tiles" tab of its Settings page. You can also change Start ORB image using Settings page.
It also shows user avatar in the Start screen which launches Control Panel upon clicking. You can customize avatar look using the Settings page.
To access the main screen simply move your mouse cursor to the bottom-left corner of screen similar to Windows 8 and the Start Menu will appear on screen. To close Start Menu, click on the shut down icon given at the bottom-left corner of Start Menu.
Although its a free utility but it also comes with a paid version which can be activated by purchasing the product for a very small amount of $1.25 only. The paid version comes with a few extra features such as more tile effects, full screen mode which makes it look-like Windows 8 Start Screen, invisible mode to remove background, random background color similar to Windows 8 Start Screen, skinned icons, no sorting, etc.
Currently its under beta testing and more features will be added in future releases such as plugin system.
You can download it using following link:
Download Link

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