Fix Windows 11’s Start menu and search with Stardock’s Start11 v2

Stardock Software has released version 2 of its Start11 utility software, with three new Start menu styles as well as other visual features.

Start11, originally released in 2022, was designed in reaction to the Windows 11 Start menu, and the desire of some users to go back to the Windows 10-style interface. Start11v2 allows Windows 10 and Windows 11 users to tweak the interface as well as add folders to the taskbar, creating what appears to be a hierarchical storage tree.

The three new Start styles are Apps, Professional, and Launcher. The latter looks like the traditional Start menu. The Professional alignment allows apps to be grouped and even tabbed within the Start menu. The Apps layout leans more heavily into showing just apps, with a vertical column of applications as a right-hand navigational element.

Start 11v2 also allows users to pin any app to the taskbar and access it without the need to go into File Explorer.

“Also new with Start11 v2 is an updated search experience with native integration with the Everything search engine,” Stardock said. “Additionally, Start11 v2 introduces the ability to backup and restore your seÆ«tings from a file, improved animations when navigating within the Start menus, tinting for a unified icon experience, options for removing folders from the ‘all apps list’, and many more.”

The utility is $6.99, and can be either by itself or as part of its Object Desktop Suite.

Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor