Submitted by drew on

 

All of the people I've talked to who don't like Windows 8, don't like it because of the new start screen. You know, the tiled "apps" screen. A.K.A. "Metro" screen.

Maybe that sort of thing makes sense on a touchscreen device. Not on a desktop computer or standard laptop.

This free software brings back your start menu, like in Windows 7: ClassicShell. If you set it to start in desktop mode, you can say goodbye to the start screen! Here's how.

  1. Download and install ClassicShell.
  2. Right click your new start menu button  and select Settings
  3. Tick the option to show all settings
  4. Select the Windows 8.1 tab.
  5. Tick the option to skip the Metro screen
  6. Select "All" under "Disable active corners"
  7. Click OK.

Windows 8 settings

Tags
Windows

Timer

The timer can count up from a time in the past or count down towards a time in the future.

The timer's appearance and the format of the time (and text) is very configurable. You can hide it's border, it's background, set the color and glow effects.

Sound Recorder

This is a simple recorder that records directly to an MP3 file. Recording can be paused and resumed.

The recording window has a compact mode and can be set to stay on top of other windows, so it can be out of the way, yet still visible.

When done recording, you can playback the recording or upload the file to an FTP site.

Download

RocketDock with multiple bars\docks

Submitted by drew on

It seems there is plenty of interest about how to make RocketDock work with two or more docks or bars. Most answers say to use additional docking programs--one for each dock you want. Or use a commercial program that offers multiple docks. I think RocketDock is excellent except I want more than one. I finally figured out how to do it!

Let's first point out that RD is licensed under the Creative Commons license and it explicitly says "You are free... to Remix--to adapt the work." And also to redistribute.