Hate the Windows Start menu? This half-price app is perfect for you.

Modern style Start menu on Windows 11
(Image credit: Stardock)

What you need to know

  • Stardock's Start11 app is currently on sale.
  • It's designed to enhance and improve the Start experience for Windows 11 and Windows 10 users.
  • Stardock has also discounted the fee charge on the Multi-device and Object desktop tiers.

Windows 11 has been available for close to two years now. And while Microsoft consistently ships new updates and features to the operating system, not everyone is happy about it. 

The Start menu on the OS, in particular, was received with mixed feelings. Our Managing Editor, Jez Corden, is also part of the Windows users who found the Start menu in Windows 11 to be a flop. And had the following to say:

"If you can't make it work for me, if you can't give me control over it, just let me bloody well turn it off, without punishing me with a passive-aggressive message and a pile of wasted Start menu space. It's straight-up bad design."

Luckily for him and many other users, there is an app that can enhance the Start menu's design and appeal. That is Stardock's Start11 app. It's designed to help improve and revamp the Start experience for Windows 11 and Windows 10 users. 

Start11 from Stardock $5.99 $2.99

Start11 from Stardock $5.99 $2.99

This program lets you customize the Start menu on Windows 11 or Windows 10 with different styles. For a limited period, you can get it at half the price.

Pros: Plenty of customization options, works on Windows 11 and 10.
Cons: It ships the live tiles interface from Windows 10 to Windows 11, but the live tiles aren't active.

Early Prime Day Deals

Amazon Prime Day deals from Windows Central

• Best deals: Our best (so far)
• Windows laptops
• 
Gaming laptops
• 4K and ultrawide monitor deals
 Gaming monitors
• GPU dealsAMD & NVIDIA
• Motherboard deals: Intel & AMD
 NAS dealsNetwork-attached storage
• Routers

Stardock has placed the Start11 app on sale. And for a limited period, you'll get it for $2.99, down from $5.99.

Our Senior Editor reviewed the app a while back and shared the following sentiments:

"The big selling point of Start11 is that it introduces a more customizable and feature-complete version of the new Windows 11 Start menu. With a similar UI, you can now arrange apps anywhere in the grid, which is no longer limited to just three rows of six icons. You can have as many rows as required, and you can even resize the menu to make room for more."

Why you should hop on this deal

You might be wondering, what will Start11 get me? For starters, it ships with more customization options and unique features, including folder support. 

Therefore, if you're a huge fan of the classic Start menu layout on classic versions of Windows like Windows 7 and Modern, Start11 will help you replicate this experience in your Windows PC. 

Additionally, if you like Windows 10's Taskbar over Windows 11's, Start11 can help you bring this experience back, including the capability to move the Taskbar back to the top of the display. You can also use it to adjust the size of your Taskbar, though our Senior Editor, Zac Bowden, experienced some issues while the Taskbar size was set to large.

Start11 Start Menu

(Image credit: Stardock)

Zac stated that Stardock's Start11 app is headed in the right direction, but there's room for improvement:

"Overall, I really like what Stardock has done with Start11. This is a company that steps in to do things right when Microsoft seemingly can't. I will say the app can sometimes lack animations and "polish" from a visual perspective, but that's a rare case, and is something that can be fixed in future updates. For the most part, Start11 feels like it's part of Windows, and that's a great thing."

Likewise, it's now possible to update your old Windows versions via third-party updates via the Windows Update Restore website. Notably, the website only restores the Windows Update website, not the Automatic Updates feature.

TOPICS
CATEGORIES
Kevin Okemwa
Contributor

Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You'll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.

Read more
Start11 runnning on Surface Pro X
Best apps to customize the look of Windows 11
Windows 11 Start menu customization settings
How to manage Start menu settings on Windows 11
Windows Start menu evolution
How has the Windows Start menu evolved? Looking back in time as Microsoft turns 50
Start11 option to use vertical taskbars on Windows 11.
How to use a vertical taskbar on Windows 11
Windows 11 Action Center calendar
I can't believe I just paid to bring this Windows 10 feature to Windows 11
This is fine meme with the Microsoft logo on the dog surrounded by flames.
Microsoft News Roundup: Nightmare week of price hikes, rebrands, and remembering how Bill Gates lost $400 billion
Latest in Software Apps
Office 365 on Razer laptop
Microsoft Office apps are about to get a speed boost
Photo of Microsoft's new sign-in page for Xbox.com using the Microsoft Edge browser.
Over one billion users will get a new Microsoft user experience, and it has a dark mode
Windows 11 answer file
How to easily create an unattended answer file for Windows 11
ChatGPT logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen next to a laptop keyboard.
I love ChatGPT-4o's unhinged image-generation capabilities — but I'm afraid imminent censorship by OpenAI lurks on the horizon
Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, delivers a keynote speech on the closing day of the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
Bill Gates says "AI will replace humans for most things" — Rendering doctors and tutors obsolete within a decade
Artificial intelligence mobile apps for DeepSeek, ChatGPT and Google Gemini arranged.
Google says its latest reasoning model is its "most intelligent" — but Microsoft's CEO claims Google already fumbled its AI opportunity
Latest in Deals
Lenovo 16" IdeaPad Laptop on a man's lap and displaying a video call.
Today only, this 16" Lenovo laptop is more than 50% off and comes with Microsoft 365 — Access Word, PowerPoint, and more
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
This 1080p gaming CPU is down to $76 — it doesn't get much better for budget PC builders
Crucial T500 1TB SSD with heatsink on a mechanical gaming keyboard.
I just bought this 34% off 1TB SSD for my gaming PC because it's fast, cheap, and well-rated — Now I can finally upgrade my gaming PC
ROG G22CH front side.
This tiny RTX 4060 Ti pre-built PC is now $400 cheaper
Alienware AW2725DF Baldur's Gate 3 Party.
Save $300 on Dell's amazing 27-inch, 360Hz, QD-OLED gaming monitor with this coupon code
ASUS Vivobook S 14
I'm recommending this $499 OLED laptop deal to anyone worried about the end of Windows 10 support