Transforming Windows XP into Windows Vista’s Start bar.
It has been 7 years since Windows XP was launched. During its lifetime it has received many upgrades including 3 Service Packs. (Service Pack 3 being the latest). The Service Packs added many new and useful features to increase the life of Windows XP. After the release of Windows Vista many Windows Users wanted to shift to Windows Vista but could not because of the high system requirements. Soon after the release of Vista many transformation packs were launched, which transformed the looks of Windows XP to Vista giving the users of XP the feel of Vista. Even though these Transformation packs were not able to provide the performance of Vista ,they managed to copy the looks of Vista pretty well.
These transformation packs were able to copy all the eye candy of Vista except one – the start menu. There were many themes which copied the look of the task bar of Vista but failed to provide the same functionality. Being a Vista user myself, I can easily say that I really miss the Vista Start bar in Windows XP.
So today we at Computer Geek’s present to you Windows Vista start menu for Windows XP!
As you can see from the above image, Vista start menu provides functionality similar or better than Vista start menu can provide. The search box is similar to Vista’s start menu and it even saves your last search. When you search for any file/application via the search box given, the search begins instantly but it is little slow compared to Windows Vista Start Menu but not enough to irritate you. When you search for a file/application via the search bar and you type the full name of the application for example “paint”, the application also shows applications or files with similar name like Printers etc.
As you can see from the image, it even shows system files and folder. Also unlike Start menu’s in Vista and XP where you have to click on “Programs” to show you all the installed programs which you have in your PC, the Vista Start Menu opens the “Program” group or slide by default thus saving you one mouse click when you open an application from the “Program’s” menu. There is also a quick start group where you can put in all the applications that you access frequently. All the applications in the start menu have a shortcut, if you examine the previous images carefully you will notice that there is a small straight line passing through the applications menu after certain intervals.
These straight lines divide the “Program” menu into groups. The first group has “A” assigned as its shortcut so if you will press “A” you will be automatically taken to the first group and then all the applications in the first group will have a number assigned to them, pressing that number either launches that application or takes you to the sub group of the application. These shortcuts work only when you use the “Windows” key to access the start menu.
You can also move the Start Menu to another location! (Yes you read it right !) You can even resize the start menu. Amazing, isn’t it. To move the Start Menu all you do is hover your mouse near the “Get Pro Version” and then just drag the start menu to the location you want it . Now the next time you open the Start Menu it will open from the same position where you had it earlier.
The Bad Side-
After the good side comes the bad side. Sometimes when I used to click on the start menu, it just did not pop-up. I had to click multiple times before it would to pop up. Also searching via the Search Box is a bit slow compared to Windows Vista Start Menu. The additional memory needed for this is 11Mb -20Mb.
Conclusion-
In the end I would like to conclude that Windows XP users who can’t shift to Vista because of its high system requirements should download Vista Start Menu immediately but for Vista users I would say if you can cope with the slow searching time and the extra “11Mb RAM” I would say it’s worth it.
Computer Geek’s Rating – Very Good
Pro’s – an alternative to Vista Start Menu and for XP users finally a Vista style Start Menu
Con’s – Slow search box, Sometimes the Menu does not pop-up even after clicking the Start Button multiple times
Get The Vista Start Menu Here.
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