MiniBar

MiniBar provides you with a reliable alternative to the Start Menu or the Start Screen in Windows 8, enabling you to easily and quickly launch frequently used application using a floating ribbon placed on the desktop.

The great advantage is that you can customize the ribbon content as you feel fit. MiniBar comes with a predefined set of tools that are accessed on a regular basis by any user (such as the command prompt, the Control Panel, the calculator etc.), but you can add new shortcut or remove existing ones and change their order.

MiniBar helps you store shortcuts to utilities, websites, folders and programs in a single place and thus avoid having a cluttered desktop. The application rests silently in the system tray, enabling you to control it from the right-click context menu and restore the ribbon with just a click. You can configure it to automatically hide or stay on top of all the other windows and restore the ribbon with just a click.

MiniBar can launch an application when you double click on the corresponding icon and hide itself once the target program is running, just to avoid having too many windows opened on the desktop. For your convenience, you can set it to run at system startup.

The concept that MiniBar approaches is rather simple, but the application can be of great use to those who often find themselves adding more and more shortcuts on their desktop in order to launch their favorite applications easier.

To sum up, MiniBar offers users a convenient method of managing their shortcuts and launching applications with ease. Since it can handle a maximum of 38 shortcuts, it almost eliminates the need to use the Start Menu, while also keeping your desktop clear and offering a more pleasant working environment.