The Metro interface, while great for touch is not the best interface for traditional mouse driven PC’s and workstations.
I admit to installing Classic Shell instead of persevering with Metro but my excuse is that I need high productivity on my work machine. But I do tend to use Metro over Desktop when I use a tablet.
There are an increasing number of “bring back the button programs” so here are a few with a brief overview of some of the more interesting ones.
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Classic Shell. Free proven open source project that works as promised. Returns the Start button, gives you Classic, Windows XP or Windows 7 style start menus and improves Windows Explorer functionality. I like the way it classifies the Start Menu into Programs and Apps (basically Metro Tiles). Works on Windows Vista or later 32/64 bit Windows server 2008 and 2012. Authors freeware choice.
Start8 US$4.99 and more fully featured Object Desktop $49.99. Gives Windows 7 style Start menu and optionally allows you to disable Windows 8 “hotspot” corners.
Power8 Free open source (still in beta). Runs on Win XP or later using .Net Framework. No installation – just runs as an executable. Shows promise.
Pokki Menu Free. Interesting concept in turning your PC more into a smart phone environment with quite different menu styles (not sure about the benefits of this so consider it an experiment).
StartIsBack US$3 for 2 PC’s. “A native, lightweight, zero privileges program” that allows boot to desktop, Windows 7 start menu. Has potential but it is becoming an overcrowded market.
RetroUI (pictured) US$4.99. This tries to make a hybrid Start menu on the desktop using tiles. Could be the answer to using Desktop on Touch screens using a new format called TabletView and has multi-monitor support.
There are many more programs – the one featured above have been tested by the author and unlikely to cause harm to your System.
