Vista Start Menu - User Review

If you use Windows Vista, then you've been here: you just downloaded a file (or a game) and you are desperately searching through the start menu to find it. Only, the start menu in Vista is so foreign to you that you have no clue where to start looking or how to really even look through it at all. So, you spend so much time searching, until you finally find your program and now you find that it's lunch time or time to head home. Well, this is where Vista Start Menu comes in. This program was designed to help users actually use the start menu in Windows Vista to their advantage instead of fumbling through it as it stands now. But, the program isn't only for Vista, you can actually use it with any of the following Windows platforms:

• Windows XP
• Windows 2003
• Windows 2000
• Windows NT

Instead of doing my overall rating at the end of this article, I'm doing it here, and then I will go through the different areas of the program and rate them as well for you to learn a bit more about it and what all it does. Overall, due to the ease of use and other perks that this program offers users, I give it a solid 5 out of 5.

Let's start with the download of the program. It was probably the easiest download and setup that I have seen on a program in a while. Just a few clicks, and the software installs itself - no hard set up, no finding where it went. You simply download, enter your product key when prompted and your Vista Start Menu is ready for action on your computer. I have to admit that this was an awesome way to start out using the program, as there are too many out there that make it complicated to download and start up a new program without a massive amount of work on the user's part.

The set up was just as simple. Since the program already sets itself up on your computer, you only have one other thing that you need to do – decide which skin you prefer for the program. Vista Start Menu offers you three different skins to choose from: Vista Start Menu Classic (which is a black, gray, and white look), Windows Classic (which is the classic blue and white Windows look), and Windows XP (which is the basic Windows Classic look with a gray background and different shaped buttons). No matter which one you choose – the layout of Vista Start Menu is clean, clear and easy to read and use.

So, due to the swift download and the extremely easy set up, it scores a 5 out of 5 in my book here.

To use Vista Start Menu, you simply click on the Start button on the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. Here is where the change takes place. Instead of the normal, one-windowed area, you now have a huge array of everything that is placed in that specific folder. For example, you still have the normal window that pulls up when you hit start, but it is now expanded out completely for you to see everything that is in that specific area. It goes even further, as each folder is expanded out for you to see what is inside each one, and allows you to click where you need.

As you scroll up the menu, each folder will automatically expand for you, showing you the contents inside the next folder, and so on. So, you can easily look for the file you need quickly without physically searching through each folder individually. This cuts your search time in half, as you don't have to spend all the time opening new folders to check in, you can see everything laid out beautifully in front of you in one spot.

Have another user that speaks a different language? No problem! Vista Start Menu has settings in 37 different languages, including Chinese, Russian, and Hebrew (just to name a few). So, you won't have to worry about another user not being able to read it or find the information that they need. Simply click on the language that you prefer in the Vista Start Menu folder (which you can now find easily!) and you're off and reading.

With all of the shortcuts and special areas that make this program extremely easy to use, this area of Vista Start Menu scores another 5 out of 5 in my book.