When Microsoft decided to do away with the Start Menu in Windows 8, people didn’t like the idea of a Windows version without any Start Menu. That is when a great software called Classic-Shell was created that brought back the missing Start Menu into Windows 8. But after eight long years of development, Ivo Beltchev, the creator of the software has decided to stop any further development. But one thing he has done before halting the development is that he has released the source code of Classic-Shell.
As a consequence, a fork of Classic-Shell is now available on Github known as Open-Shell. At the moment, Open-Shell seems to be just like Classic Shell without any new features added to the old code. But if you look at the Github log, there are some fixes to the old code so that it keeps working on the newer updates of Windows 10. Otherwise, Open-Shell works exactly like its predecessor Classic Shell before it.
Open-Shell developers haven’t even bothered to change the links to the Classic Shell website. In fact, one of the developers of Open-Shell is the same original developer of Classic Shell. As you install Open-Shell on your Windows computer, it gives you options to install four-components – Open-Shell Menu, Classic Explorer, Classic IE and Open-Shell Update. For the Start Menu alone, you can uncheck everything else except Open-Shell Menu.
After the installation is done, Open-Shell displays options for the classic Start Menu. You can choose classic, classic with two columns and Windows 7 style Start Menu. You can also choose to replace the Start icon that is displayed near the bottom-left corner of your Windows desktop screen.
Nothing has changed with the fork Open-Shell, it still is the same good old Classic Shell. But as time passes, perhaps it will begin to look more different from now defunct Classic Shell.
You can download Open-Shell from https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/releases