It is now a thing of common knowledge that Windows 8 has no Start button (and consequently no Start Menu). Although Microsoft has tried to add a Start button in Windows 8.1, but succeeded in only adding insult to injury. The Microsoft’s new Start button in Windows 8.1 is a total farce compared to the Start button in Windows 7. As a result, Windows 8 and 8.1 users are seeking third party applications which may imitate the Start menu present in older versions of Windows. The Gigabyte Smart Switch is such an application that brings Start button back in Windows 8/8.1. It adds many options allowing you to easily shutdown, restart or lock your PC.
With Gigabyte Smart Switch you can,
– Boot straight to Windows Desktop instead of the Start screen.
– Pin start up options on your taskbar.
– Easily access all the power on/off options.
You can download Gigabyte Smart Switch from the Gigabyte apps website. The download is a setup installer of only 1.1 MB in file size. Using this installer, you can setup Gigabyte Smart Switch on your Windows 8 system. After the installation, it pins the Smart Switch shortcut to your taskbar. You can drag this icon to the left corner of the taskbar to give it a Start button like look.
If you click on this Smart Switch icon, it will show up a small window from where you can select to shutdown, shutdown faster, sleep, hibernate, restart or lock your PC. At the top of this popup you would see thumbnails of Windows desktop and Start screen. Clicking on either of these, you can choose whether Windows should boot straight into Windows desktop or show Start screen on startup.
The noticeable feature of Smart Switch is the fast shutdown button which reboots your PC using the fastboot mode. This helps your Windows PC to reboot faster, saving your battery life and enhancing performance.
You can download Gigabyte Smart Switch from http://www.gigabyte.com/WebPage/138/.