Start8 Changelog

What's new in Start8 1.56

Aug 13, 2015
  • Minor updates and fixes

New in Start8 1.55 (May 6, 2015)

  • Enterprise Server only - Updated code signature certificate.
  • Enterprise Server only - Fixed deactivate issue where client licenses were not properly freed up on the server.

New in Start8 1.50 (Feb 11, 2015)

  • Added support for sleep function on Surface 3 and similar devices.
  • Added option to access a list of modern UI applications from the Start8 Start menu.

New in Start8 1.47 (Oct 28, 2014)

  • Updates for compatibility with Windows 10 Tech Preview
  • Updates for latest activation binaries

New in Start8 1.45 (Aug 7, 2014)

  • Added new SAS activation and trial code

New in Start8 1.41 (Apr 24, 2014)

  • update to fix resource leak and clipping of last item in list

New in Start8 1.40 (Apr 3, 2014)

  • Supports Windows 8.1 Update [April 2014]
  • Fix to allow clicking on section titles in search
  • Fix for issue with documents showing in most recent apps list
  • Fix to exclude desktop items from recent apps list
  • Fixed issue with touch to close on touch-enabled machines re-opening the menu

New in Start8 1.31 (Dec 5, 2013)

  • Added some additional strings to bundled language files for Windows 8.1
  • DisplayFusion fixes
  • Hid the advanced option to go to desktop when closing a metro app on Win8.1
  • Disabled the option for the user picture to hide the user picture when using a WB skin
  • Fixed an issue with custom themes and non English languages where the shutdown button would clip text

New in Start8 1.30 (Oct 16, 2013)

  • Updated for Windows 8.1 RTM compatibility
  • Added self-contained menu skinning for Windows 8/8.1(though WindowBlinds skins will still work globally). See the "Which theme do you want to use" dropdown for an example
  • The included Start8ThemeEdit.exe (in the application folder) can be used to create new Start8 menu skins.
  • New default Start button image. The Windows logo is no longer available as a default selection.
  • New features under Control for "Start button shows Windows 8 menu unless docked" and "Start button shows Start8 menu unless in tablet mode" for slate and convertible machines respectively. Users with those machines must manually select one of those options, if they wish to use them.
  • Windows 8-style start menu options are available on Windows 8.1 RTM. There are additional options for keeping the taskbar visible and defaulting to the Application view.
  • Additional fixes.

New in Start8 1.20 (Aug 22, 2013)

  • Updated for Windows 8.1 Preview build compatibility
  • Start8 allows customizing the Start button image AND provides a desktop Start menu
  • Added new prompt on first run to select a default button image. Upgrade installs will not see this prompt.
  • When running on Windows 8.1 Preview, respect the OS configuration for "boot to desktop"
  • When used with Stardock WindowBlinds, you can also override the Start button in use with the WB setting for "always use the OS" button
  • Options for showing the Windows 8.1 Start screen in other than full-screen mode are disabled in this version of Start8

New in Start8 1.17 Beta (Jun 28, 2013)

  • Updated for Windows 8.1 Preview build compatibility
  • Start8 allows customizing the Start button image AND provides a desktop Start menu
  • Added new prompt on first run to select a default button image. Upgrade installs will not see this prompt.
  • When running on Windows 8.1 Preview, respect the OS configuration for "boot to desktop"
  • When used with Stardock WindowBlinds, you can also override the Start button in use with the WB setting for "always use the OS" button
  • Options for showing the Windows 8.1 Start screen in other than full-screen mode are disabled in this version of Start8

New in Start8 1.16 (May 1, 2013)

  • Fixes for inconsistencies with right Windows key handling
  • Resolved blank share with menu and open with menu not showing all the right items (Open With issue)
  • Resolved a problem with jump lists and having a file in the list that was on a network location which was not avail
  • Resolved a problem with search where very rapid searches that only produced results in the files section would show no files found sometimes
  • Start8Tweak updated with setting to tell Start8 not to search inside files for content

New in Start8 1.15 (Apr 17, 2013)

  • optionally view the taskbar when using fullscreen Windows 8-style menu

New in Start8 1.14 Beta (Mar 29, 2013)

  • Updates for Windows "Blue" compatibility testing
  • Optimizations to icon loading code and frequently used apps list

New in Start8 1.12 (Mar 20, 2013)

  • Added support for bmp start buttons with alpha channels
  • Fix for a possible crash while searching
  • Fix for frequently used apps list not filtering out some pinned taskbar items
  • Assorted tweaks and performance improvements

New in Start8 1.11 (Feb 7, 2013)

  • Added Start8tweak.exe advanced configuration for extra options including enabling / disabling Start8 on a per account basis.
  • Added email category to search results.
  • Added support for Modern UI app closing to return to the desktop rather than the Windows 8 menu on advanced settings.
  • Added native support for the DisplayFusion secondary taskbar.
  • Added support for BMP files as start button. RGB (255,0,255) is permitted for transparency.
  • Added registry entry to control if hidden items should be included in the All programs list.
  • Added registry entry to control if the user picture should have a border or not in the default theme.
  • Added registry entry to control if the tree has a horizontal scroll bar.
  • Added support for Search the Internet button on search results via registry key.
  • Documents, Pictures, Music, Computer and Recorded TV places will use the name set in explorer for them if the user has renamed them.
  • Shutdown button menu will have an item selected when accessed via the keyboard.
  • Adjusted start menu sizing to prevent bottom item on the places list from being slightly clipped in certain circumstances.
  • Modified shutdown menu to prevent surplus separator line showing when the machine doesn't support sleep or hibernate.
  • Right to left language versions of Windows now show the user picture.
  • Right to left language versions of Windows now have icons rendered the correct direction.
  • Tweaked to prevent .lnk text showing in tree on occasion.
  • Tweaked code to better handle closing a docked Modern UI application when at the desktop when the charms bar is set to disabled.
  • Fixed an issue with right click on the places list
  • Jumplists close when you pin / unpin something / delete it

New in Start8 1.1 (Jan 17, 2013)

  • Added rename support in the tree
  • Added drag & drop including rearranging items in the all programs tree.
  • Added feature : Folders pinned to the startmenu allow you to view the first X items as a jumplist
  • Added opening Winkey+X menu option instead of start menu
  • Added feature : Custom places locations. Add a Dropbox location for example.
  • Additional language support
  • Search box now allows %appdata% etc
  • Improved go straight to desktop on login feature
  • Added option to disable multiple monitor corner stickiness feature of Windows 8
  • Added option to make right clicking the start button when at the bottom of the screen open the Win + X menu
  • Added support for automatically checking for updates every week (control from About page)
  • Added support for shell: link execution via search
  • Right clicking on empty areas of the Start menu shows the Configure Start8 option.
  • Modified custom places to support libraries
  • Tweaked pin to start menu code
  • Modified jumplist code to handle case of pinning an item resulting in the unpinned items disappearing sometimes
  • Modified jumplist code to handle the case of pinned items not showing after clearing recent docs lists
  • Tweaked jumplists code to handle jumplists not showing for all apps when recently opened programs option is disabled in the OS.
  • Modified config UI to grey out the inactive start menu style.
  • Tweak to resolve a rare race condition crash on guest account login.
  • Modified code to make recently run apps list update directly after launches rather than after the next time the menu is closed.
  • Menu key on keyboard now opens menu for selected search results.
  • Additional workaround for slow recent apps list population due to Windows defender bug.
  • Expanded the size of some UI elements to handle translations to more wordy languages
  • Jump lists now respect the OS setting for the number of entries shown
  • Shutdown button no longer ignores clicks if the mouse has moved
  • Start menu lines now appear correctly even in higher dpi modes
  • When at the bottom of the screen the startmenu no longer allocates space for one additional places list item
  • Added option to make custom places appear at the top of the places list.
  • Fixed issue with Putty and jumplist not showing blank entries which did not launch the right things
  • Fixed issue with Live Photo Gallery not opening images up in preview mode
  • Performance enhancements in the all programs tree to workaround a flaw in Windows Defender
  • Resolved a problem with the start menu position when the taskbar was on the right and there is a docked app
  • Send to sub menu now allowed on the tree right click menu.
  • UI supports translation via lng files. See \lang\en.lng file for info
  • When using the search box to view folders the performance is now improved
  • Tweaks to search to reduce memory usage slightly
  • Option to make places list entries take less room thus allowing more to show in less space
  • Rearranging pinned shortcuts is now faster
  • Places menus no longer select the first entry
  • Recent items list no longer includes folders
  • Deleting an item from the all programs list will delete it instantly from the tree vs waiting until the next refresh
  • Tree now includes hidden items
  • Added registry key option to hide tooltips in the startmenu.

New in Start8 1.1 RC (Jan 11, 2013)

  • Added new start button images
  • Added option to disable multiple monitor corner stickiness feature of Windows 8 Added option to make right clicking the start button when at the bottom of the screen open the Win + X menu Modified custom places to support libraries Added support for automatically checking for updates every week (control from About page) Right clicking on empty areas of the Start menu shows the Configure
  • Start8 option.
  • Tweaked pin to start menu code
  • Added support for shell: link execution via search Modified jumplist code to handle case of pinning an item resulting in the unpinned items disappearing sometimes Modified jumplist code to handle the case of pinned items not showing after clearing recent docs lists Tweaked jumplists code to handle jumplists not showing for all apps when recently opened programs option is disabled in the OS.
  • Modified config UI to grey out the inactive start menu style.
  • Tweak to resolve a rare race condition crash on guest account login.
  • Modified code to make recently run apps list update directly after launches rather than after the next time the menu is closed.
  • Menu key on keyboard now opens menu for selected search results.
  • Additional workaround for slow recent apps list population due to Windows defender bug.
  • Added German and Chinese (Simplified) localization

New in Start8 1.0.9 Beta (Dec 3, 2012)

  • NEW - Folders pinned to the Start Menu allow you to view the first X items as a jumplist
  • NEW - Custom places locations.(Add a dropbox location for example).
  • NEW - Improved "Go straight to desktop" on login feature
  • NEW - UI supports translation via lng files. See \lang\en.lng file for info.
  • Added rename support in the tree
  • Added drag & drop including rearranging items in the all programs tree
  • Search box now allows %appdata%
  • Tweaks to "Search" to reduce memory usage slightly
  • Performance enhancements in the all programs tree to work around a flaw in Windows Defender
  • Resolved a problem with the Start Menu position when the taskbar was on the right and there is a docked app
  • "Send to sub menu" now allowed on the tree right click menu
  • Tree now includes hidden items
  • When using the search box to view folders, the performance is now improved
  • "Places" menus no longer select the first entry
  • Option to make "Places" list entries and take less room, thus allowing more to show in less space
  • Rearranging pinned shortcuts is now faster
  • "Recent Items" list no longer includes folders
  • Deleting an item from the "All Programs" list will delete it instantly from the tree vs waiting until the next refresh
  • Fixed issue with Putty and jumplist not showing blank entries which did not launch the right things
  • Fixed issue with Live Photo Gallery not opening images up in preview mode
  • Added registry key option to hide tooltips in the Start Menu. This is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\HideTips = 1

New in Start8 1.03 (Nov 16, 2012)

  • New Desktop page in config UI
  • New options to control which taskbar the start button appears on
  • New UI option to control if the bottom left hand corner hotspot functions
  • When disable all hot corners is disabled you can now select icons etc on the top 4 pixels
  • New UI option to hide Windows 8 Modern UI applications from the Windows 7 start menu
  • New UI option to use ctrl + winkey as an alternative for right winkey
  • New UI option to use shift + winkey as an alternative for right winkey
  • New UI button to recreate the pinned shortcut to the Windows 8 start menu if deleted
  • New option to toggle if the user picture should be visible or not
  • Highlighted folders lose their highlight once opened if they have no highlighted child items
  • Fonts rendering with the default theme with translucency disabled uses full cleartype now vs greyscale cleartype
  • Shutdown button and all programs button now have text for screen readers
  • Pressing enter on a jumplist shortcut now launches the jumplist item vs the application
  • Search items now have Open File Location menu item
  • Keyboard context menu button now opens the right click menus
  • You can now drag a shortcut to the start button (which opens the menu) and then onto the menu in order to pin something. For now it will add to the bottom of the pinned list. Once added you can rearrange it by dragging it to the location you want.
  • Items on the right hand list can be dragged onto the left side of the startmenu to pin them, or off onto other applications such as explorer windows and the desktop to create shortcuts. Jump list items can be dragged off the startmenu and into appli
  • Items on the right hand list now have Show on desktop option in their right click menus.
  • cations or explorer windows.
  • Most search result items can be dragged off the startmenu and into applications or explorer windows.
  • Tree items can be dragged out of the all programs tree and into explorer windows etc. They cannot be rearranged in 1.03, but this is planned for the next update.
  • v1.01 deadlock fix fully implemented as there was a bit missing in the previous version.
  • Empty folders in the all programs tree now have an (Empty) child to avoid confusion.
  • Blank lines in the Modern UI applications list no longer occur when you pin IE shortcuts to the Modern UI start menu.
  • All programs now looks at the \Start menu folder rather than \Start menu\Programs to ensure applications which install outside the normal folder tree are not missed.
  • Start button hot corner when in the Modern UI start menu will go to the desktop rather than opening Start8.
  • Start button hot corner when at the desktop and accessed via the left hand switcher no longer misses clicks at the bottom left.
  • Fake tile shortcuts added to the Modern UI start menu will not show in the Start8 menu.
  • Registry option to disable Pin to Start8 startmenu also now disables the menu in explorer windows.
  • Hovering over the all programs button and then typing in the search field will no longer confuses Start8.
  • Added option to search locations other than the default libraries to the UI.
  • Added option to make holding down winkey for more than half a second simulate a right windows key press.
  • Added new theme based on default theme but with black edges
  • Modified Windows 7 theme to pickup defined colours
  • Added new theme option for Windows 7 solid (non DWM style)
  • Modification to trial code to handle a situation where the trial would not start properly on some setups.
  • Holding down ctrl when clicking on Shutdown, Reboot or Sign out will add the force flags.
  • Holding down shift when clicking Shutdown will force a full shutdown vs Fast Startup shutdown.

New in Start8 1.02 (Nov 8, 2012)

  • Added typing "C:" in the start menu will launch Explorer to that location.
  • Fixed backspace on empty search box causing the search screen to show blank
  • Fixed non 100% dpi settings causing the start menu to appear too large
  • Fixed Metro apps icons not scaling with higher dpi
  • Fixed occasional corruption of All Programs tree icons on some machines
  • Fixed timing issue sometimes causing explorer to restart if you rapidly clicked the start button

New in Start8 1.01 (Nov 5, 2012)

  • US English installs with a language pack installed now pickup the correct language rather than US English.
  • New option for when in a modern UI application to have the Windows key switch to the Windows desktop vs the Start8 menu or Win8 menu.
  • New option for when on the desktop for the Windows key to switch to the last active Modern UI application. If none are running then nothing happens.
  • The height of the start menu now adjusts instantly when you add lots of shortcuts on the right hand side list.
  • Recent Items and Favorites shortcuts now load the translation correctly.
  • Search now shows full results for program search on non English installs.
  • RTL languages like arabic now show the start menu in the correct orientation and position.
  • Fix for all programs text being backwards with RTL languages. Added registry key to enable bottom left corner Modern UI start menu hotcorner. This is enabled by setting AllowStartHotCorner to 1 in the usual Start8 registry keys location.
  • Added registry key to enable winkey + ctrl to emulate right windows key. This is enabled by setting CtrlWinKey to 1 in the usual Start8 registry keys location.
  • Added support for command line parameters via the search field.
  • Made the shutdown button menu auto show on hover on the arrow.
  • When hotspots are disabled the upper right hand pixel is now clickable.
  • Some applications did not remember their maximized window state on launch. This is now resolved.
  • On some machines search could show missing results at the top of the list on slow painting, fast searching machines. This is now resolved.
  • When the taskbar is positioned on the right hand side of the screen the start menu now correctly expands left on jump lists rather than right.
  • With languages where items on the right hand side are exceptionally long, additional space is now allocated to stop them truncating.
  • Fixed a small bug with accessing the Run and Desktop from the Win + X menu when accessed via right click.
  • Separator lines on the right hand side of the list were misaligned when the taskbar was not at the bottom of the screen. This is now resolved.
  • Drag & drop sorting of pinned shortcuts would produce the wrong order with more than 10 pinned items as well as on some quick machines. This is now resolved.
  • Attempting to drag icons using the right mouse button will no longer cause Start8 to wait for escape to be pressed.
  • Right clicking on items in the all programs tree view and adding them as a link no longer causes the tree to refresh and close open folders.
  • Items in the all programs tree view now pickup the native OS translation such as Editor for Notepad on German installs.
  • Tweaks to improve going straight to desktop after login feature.
  • Fixed an issue causing a crash on load due to a modern UI icon parsing issue.
  • Small tweak to all programs tree icon loading.

New in Start8 0.95 Beta 2 (Sep 27, 2012)

  • Adds a completely new UI:
  • control start button actions, winkey
  • control what appears in the right menu pane, icon size, number of icons, power options (including quick startup)
  • Pinning support for jump lists
  • New default theme:
  • options to colour the start menu
  • defaults to disabled translucency, but this can be toggled
  • New start button:
  • can change the start button
  • Metro/Modern apps have their own "Modern UI Applications" folder under All Programs
  • Search now searches Control Panel
  • Search now adds directory and UNC path browsing
  • Shift + right-click shows RunAs option
  • Ctrl + shift when launching an app will launch elevated
  • Tree mode in the All Programs menu closes the tree when you launch something
  • Fix for auto-hide taskbar
  • Fix for some elements that were not translating properly

New in Start8 0.87 (Jul 12, 2012)

  • Automatically load your Windows desktop on login (vs the start screen)

New in Start8 0.86 (Jul 12, 2012)

  • Adds control over the "Start" menu size on the Explorer desktop
  • Adds option for the "WinKey" to show fullscreen "Metro" desktop