How to use Windows 8 WITHOUT Metro - Classic Shell

Listen carefully, and there's not a trace of cynicism or sarcasm in this posting. Honestly. Here's the absolute-must tutorial showing how to use Classic Shell software to skip Metro and gain classic, standard menu and normal desktop functionality in Windows 8. You have to see this.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-8-classic-shell.html

Mods: move or merge as appropriate.


Regards,
Mrk

 

I totally agree that Classic shell makes Windows 8 worth using if one wants to use the latest windows in a computer.

 

This is perfect, thanks!

 

so does this integrate with windows shell or is it an app with a separate process ?

 

This looks like it's just an actual launcher app that you pin to the taskbar?

 

It's not a process. It's a shell.
You can call it a launcher if you will.
Mrk

 

I wonder how long Microsoft makes it cease to exist by way of a buyout or update patch?

 

Thats the ticket to make 8 looking like a real computer OS instead of tablet. Bravo

 

I enjoyed the "Conclusion" part lol

 

I hated the Windows 7 Start Menu and when I found Classic Shell, I knew I could restore a feature Microsoft removed because it thought users should be forced to learn a new menu. I liked the one I could revert to in Windows XP and Vista and having it gone from Windows 7 made me work harder on my PC than I had to! The new Metro Menu is even more senseless than the Windows 7 Start Menu. But that's not enough for purists - they want a hack that can remove not just hide the bloatware called Metro. I think people will wait until its offered before they upgrade to Windows 8. If enough people boycott Windows 8, I see Microsoft dropping it from the next Windows desktop. So this is at best an interim solution to a problem that should never have existed in the first place.

 

In Windows 7, it replaces the Windows 7 Start Menu with the classic Windows 95/98 Start Menu. No menu has really worked better or been easier to customize. Microsoft keeps trying to remove features in Windows people do want to keep and it keeps trying to force change on them they don't want. The Classic Shell does the same thing in Windows 8 - only you don't have to ever deal with the Metro interface that Microsoft decided is the only thing you must use by default in Windows 8 whether you like it or not.

As Mrkvonic pointed out in his Windows 8 RTM review - which is essentially the final version of Windows 8 for all practical intents and purposes, Microsoft couldn't make up its mind as to what kind of operating system interface it wanted for Windows and it bolted two incompatible desktop metaphors together and they don't look, feel or work well together. If you are going to design a new operating system make sure there is a logical and well thought out flow to the entire system so users know how to work on it. They didn't do this in Windows 8 and Metro is just not suited for the desktop.

Who knows, maybe next time they will get it right in Redmond.

 

Great post Mrkvonic, and thank you for the heads-up! I loved the conclusion on the linked article!