StartIsGone is here to make Windows 8.1 look like Windows 8

Sep 12, 2013 23:51 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft indeed brought back the old Start button in Windows 8.1, but instead of launching a Start Menu, it actually gets users to the Start screen with just one click.

That’s why Sergey Tkachenko, the developer behind WinAero, has decided to create what he calls StartIsGone, a very simple application that does nothing more than to remove the Start button completely from Windows 8.1 RTM.

“StartIsGone is my latest application which allows you to remove the Start Button in Windows 8.1 and get the extra space on the taskbar. It is freeware, portable application which does not require .NET Framework or installation,” the dev says in the app description.

The program places an icon in the System Tray, but if you place its executable file in the startup folder, the Windows 8.1 Start button is gone forever.