Start Screen Editor

Start Screen Editor is a lightweight and portable application that enables users to seamlessly modify their Start Screen. Note that this tool only works with Windows 8 Developer Preview.

Since installation is not a prerequisite, you can drop the executable file in a custom directory on the hard drive and just click it to run.

It is also possible save Start Screen Editor to a USB flash disk or other removable device, in order to seamlessly use it on any workstation running under Windows 8 Developer Preview.

What's worth taking into consideration is that the Windows registry does not get updated with new entries, and files are not left behind on the hard disk after removing the utility.

The interface is represented by a small window with a straightforward structure, where you can change the main background colors for the Start screen, or use a background image from the computer.

Applying the new modifications is done by clicking the "Patch" button. There are no other notable options available. For example, Start Screen Editor does not provide a button for restoring settings to their factory values.

As expected, the tool has minimal impact on system resources, running on low CPU and RAM. It has a good response time and did not cause the operating system to hang, crash or pop up error dialogs throughout our evaluation.

Start Screen Editor supplies users with a simple solution to customizing the Start Screen in Windows 8 Developer Preview, by applying a handpicked color or picture.