Shareware Today

Over time, the collection of applications on the computer is growing to the point when you find yourself drowning in a sea of shortcuts and program folders in Windows Start menu. If you find it difficult to spot an application in the Start menu, you might want to consider the installation of Vista Start Menu.

OrdinarySoft today announces Vista Start Menu 3.0, a desktop enhancement utility for Microsoft Windows XP, Vista. The program replaces the standard Start menu with a more functional, feature-rich and customizable menu that will help users to find and run a program quicker than before, organize menu items for convenient computation and give more opportunities to personalize the menu.

Vista Start Menu vs. standard Windows Start

Unique to Vista Start Menu is a fixed position of menu items. By default, the standard Start menu shifts the position of the applications when a new program is installed, or an old one is removed. When the change occurs, the user has to re-adapt to the new layout of the menu and search for an application. By contrast, Vista Start Menu keeps the position of the menu items the same, leaving empty spaces when a program is uninstalled. Empty positions are taken by new applications, when they’re installed. Fixed position of the menu items allows the user to find an application reflectively, without having to search for it all the way across the menu.

“When it comes to the physical world, we know that objects remain where we put them,” says Dennis Nazarenko, the author of Vista Start Menu. “For example, when you reach for a switch in the kitchen, you do it even without looking because you expect it to be where it is and not floating around the wall. We decided to apply the same “real-life” approach to the computer desktop. Now, Start menu items do not jump up and down the menu list, their position is fixed, and it helps you to find an app instantly as you open the menu.”

Another specialty of Vista Start Menu is that the menu items are organized into sections, each of which contains 9 programs. This helps to memorize the position of the applications too.

Resize the Start menu like a window

In the standard Start, many applications are buried somewhere inside the menu, and you have to scroll to find what you’re looking for. Vista Start Menu eliminates this annoyance. Its menu appears as a large pad that shows all menu items. In case the applications are still too many, the menu can be resized just like a window, or you can use menu tabs to extend the workplace and put more applications into the Start menu.

Browse and run applications with the keyboard

Users who like the keyboard more than the mouse will be pleased to discover that they can use quick keys to browse through the menu and run applications. As mentioned above, the menu items are organized into sections, each of which has its own identification key (for example, “A”, “B”, “C”). Nine applications inside a section also have their own keys (1-9). To run a program, you simply press the key of the section and the key of the program (”A” + “1″). After some time, you can memorize these key combinations and run programs, keeping hands on the keyboard.

Vista Start Menu has many other interesting features just waiting for you to try them out. It lets you zoom in (out) the menu for better viewing, reposition the menu to any part of the screen, use commands from the menu itself, add a scheduler to Reboot, Hibernate and Shutdown buttons, run computer-wide and Internet search.

Version 3.0 of Vista Start Menu introduces the ability to apply a variety of skins that give the Start menu a whole new look. Now users can also add tabs to any menu item, which allows you to put more information into the Start menu and arrange it for more convenient computation.

The product has two editions - Freeware and Pro, which has more features. Vista Start Menu Pro sells for $19.99.

Both editions can be downloaded at http://www.vistastartmenu.com.