[realmusicians] OT: Getting Your Classic Start Menu Back In Windows 7

From: "Phil Muir" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'JSonar -- JAWS Scripts for Sonar list'" <jsonar@xxxxxxxxxx>, <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <realmusicians@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <midimag@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2010 13:49:51 +0100
Hi all!

Wouldn't normally post OT messages however, found an excellent utility to
get you're classic start menu back in Windows 7 and best of all, it's free!
Tested it here and it's fab!  You can get it from:

http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/    

Information from that site, written by Ivo Beltchev.  Just given you the
main highlights.

Classic Shell: Features  

Classic Start Menu 
Classic Explorer Toolbar 
New Copy UI 
Alt+Enter 
Status bar 


 Classic Start Menu


Classic Start Menu is a clone of the original start menu, which you can find
in all versions of Windows from 95 to Vista. It has a variety of advanced
features:

Drag and drop to let you organize your applications 
Options to show Favorites, expand Control Panel, etc 
Shows recently used documents. The number of documents to display is
customizable 
Translated in 35 languages, including Right-to-left support for Arabic and
Hebrew 
Does not disable the original start menu in Windows. You can access it by
Shift+Click on the start button 
Right-click on an item in the menu to delete, rename, sort, or perform other
tasks 
Available for 32 and 64-bit operating systems 
Has support for skins, including additional 3rd party skins 
Fully customizable in both looks and functionality 
Support for Microsoft's Active Accessibility

And last but not least - it's FREE! If you have used the start menu in older
versions of Windows you'll feel right at home:

Pick from 8 default skins, download more from the Internet, or make your
own!

Classic Explorer


Classic Explorer is a plugin for Windows Explorer that:

Adds a toolbar to Explorer for some common operations (Go to parent folder,
Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Properties, Email). More buttons can be added
manually 
Replaces the copy UI in Vista and Windows 7 with the more user-friendly
"classic" version similar to Windows XP 
Handles Alt+Enter in the folder panel of Windows Explorer and shows the
properties of the selected folder 
Has options for customizing the folder panel to look more like the Windows
XP version or to not fade the expand buttons 
Can show the free disk space and the total file size in the status bar 
Can disable the breadcrumbs in the address bar 
Can display an icon overlay for the shared folders in Windows 7

Toolbar in Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer in Vista doesn't have a toolbar like the one in Windows XP.
If you want to go to the parent folder you have to use the breadcrumbs bar.
If you want to copy or delete a file with the mouse you have to right-click
and look for the Delete command. The right-click menu gets bigger and bigger
the more shell extensions you have installed, and finding the right command
can take a while. 
To solve the problem, the Classic Explorer plugin adds a new toolbar:

Right-click on the button to bring up the Classic Explorer settings.

New copy UI
In Vista when you copy files and there is a conflict you are presented with
this:

Phil interjects, this is that offal copy and replace dialog box.

Back to the Classic shell highlights:

Ivo continues: What's wrong with it? The keyboard usability is awful. To
tell it "yes, I know what I'm doing, I want to overwrite all files" you have
to press Alt+D, up, up, up, Space!  The Classic Explorer plugin brings back
the simpler dialog box from Windows XP:

It is immediately clear what is clickable (clue - the buttons at the
bottom), there is easy keyboard navigation (press Y for "Yes", A to copy all
files) and you can still see which file is newer and which is larger. And of
course just like in Windows XP, holding down Shift while clicking on the No
button means "No to All" (or just press Shift+N). 
If you click on More. you will get the original dialog from Windows. From
there you will see all the details and you'll get an extra option to "Copy,
but keep both files". 
Important Note: Only the UI is replaced. The underlying system that does the
actual copying is not affected. 

Alt+Enter in the navigation pane
Alt+Enter is universal shortcut across Windows to bring up the properties of
the selection. But in Vista and Windows 7 it doesn't work in the left pane
that shows the folders. It works fine on the right where the files are. This
is broken compared to Windows XP where Alt+Enter works in both places. 
To solve the problem, the Classic Explorer plugin detects when you press
Alt+Enter and shows the properties for the currently selected folder.

Status bar
In Windows 7 the status bar in Explorer doesn't show the free disk space and
the size of the selected files. Classic Explorer fixes that:

When no files are selected the total size of all files in the folder is
shown.

Copyright 2010, Ivo Beltchev
All right reserved.

 
Regards, Phil Muir
Accessibility Training
Telephone: US (615) 713-2021
UK +44-1747-821-794
Mobile: UK +44-7968-136-246
E-mail:
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
URL:
http://www.accessibilitytraining.co.uk/
[realmusicians] OT: Getting Your Classic Start Menu Back In Windows 7

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