Windows 8 Start Screen

The launch of Windows 8 brought users a brand new, modern-looking Start Screen filled with tiles that allow the quick launch of installed applications, along with other enhancements. Although the public reception was not quite positive at first, the new version of the popular operating system was intriguing enough to raise the interest of many users who wanted to experience the new features on their home computers.

Fortunately, there are plenty of applications out there that function as transformation packs and thus can be used for experimenting with Windows 8 before actually purchasing a copy of the OS. Such a tool is Windows 8 Start Screen, created to provide you with a comfortable method to launch frequently used apps, while allowing you to test the start screen.

Once installed, the application resides silently in the system tray, enabling you to open it using the right-click menu. The start screen includes shortcuts to various applications, folders and other tools that users access on a daily basis, such as My Computer, the Control Panel or the mail account.

Aside from this, you can use it to launch Tweet@rama for Twitter and Socialite for Facebook, Windows Media Player, the calculator or Windows Explorer, create and save notes and open frequently used folders, such as ‘My Music’. Windows 8 Start Screen displays the top rated videos on YouTube, allows you to access PicStream and comes with a built-in music player.

On the downside, the application crashed during our tests when clicking some of its tiles (for instance,PaintPlay) and some of its features (weather forecast) did not work at all. Some of the shortcuts included in the package are just fast ways to access some websites, while each game included in the panel opens a webpage with an expired domain.

Despite the fact that some of the shortcuts and tools that this package comes with are totally useless, Windows 8 Start Screen provides a comfortable way to launch certain applications and URLs. Although some of its tiles don’t work properly, at lease it gives you a taste of the look and feel of Windows 8.