Stardock Releases Start11 Beta
Anyone who is unhappy about the “fresh yet familiar” Windows 11 Start menu will want to check out Stardock’s Start11, which is now available in beta. It costs just $4.99.
“This first beta is designed to regain some of the lost functionality in the current Windows 11 Start menu,” Stardock CEO Brad Wardell said. “We have a lot of exciting new features planned to make the Start menu not just more accessible, but also more useful to companies and power users.”
That should be music to many ears, based on the feedback we’ve seen for the new Start menu, which is attractive and has some interesting new features but is not particularly customizable and has lost much of the functionality of its predecessor.
To that end, Start11 lets users restore the Start menu designs from previous Windows versions, and it will be extended during the beta to add what Mr. Wardell says is “a host of new Start menu ideas such as the concept of pages, tabs, minimalism, and features for enterprise customers.”
According to Stardock, key features of the current beta include your choice of multiple Start menu layouts, compatibility with both Windows 10 and Windows 11, integration with Stardock Fences, search, and the ability to add color and texture to the Start menu and taskbar.
But things will get even more interesting over time with significantly faster search and more detailed search results thanks to a new search engine, the ability to perform simple math problems in the search box, additional style options, enhanced productivity features, and improved configurability of Windows 7 and Modern modes.