ANN: Classic Shell 1.0.0 -first official release is out

Finally, after 3 months of development and 7 betas, the version 1.0.0 of Classic Shell is ready. Thanks to everybody who tried the beta versions and reported bugs and feature requests.

The main new feature is the addition of the Up button in the Explorer's title bar (see the screenshot). The rest is mostly bug-fixes, polishing the existing features, and improving the documentation.

Grab it from http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

This will be it for a while. If some serious bug is found I will make a bug-fix release, but other than that, this is it. The features I have planned for the next major version will take a long time to develop, and there are also other projects that need my attention.

Of course I will continue to provide support in this forum and the Source Forge forums.

Note: This version cannot be installed on top of older versions. You need to uninstall the prior version first, then log off, then install this one.

Enjoy
Ivo

Thanks for your hard work Ivo. I will install later today.

Just curious but what are your tentative plans for the next version of Classic Shell?

The big thing is replacing the toolbar in the start menu with custom code. The start menu currently uses a vertical toolbar because it already supports icons, text, drag/drop, without me having to write it. But I'm starting to hit some limitations that stop me from going further. The toolbar doesn't like it when it has transparent background, has problems with accessibility, and misbehaves when used in mirrored mode (for Arabic and Hebrew). So the toolbar has to go.

Once I have that I can add transparency to the start menu and implement proper accessibility. Also things like scrolling the top portion of the main menu when it is too tall (instead of scrolling the whole main menu) become a possibility. Maybe even 2-column menu similar to XP? Who knows

Hi Ivo, I finally have the version prior to this working smooth. No issues with the components that I've installed. I also like the up button where it is although the cool factor of the new location is inviting. Am I OK to stick with the prior version or do I need the bug fixes you mention?

If you don't need the new features you will be fine with 0.9.10. Besides the new Up button and some new setup features, the only thing you may be interested in is the fix for the folders jumping up and down when expanded. The problem is explained here: Strange folder behavior in left pane of Windows Explorer
The latest Classic Shell fixes that problem.

Classic Menu

I want to thank you immensely for this project. I am one who wanted the classic menu desparately as I really don't like the new menus at all. This project saved Windows 7 for me.

Now, if only I could figure out a way to rename Programs and Features to Add/Remove Programs in the control panel. I constantly look at the top of the list first when I want to remove something.

Once again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you....well I guess that's 3 times, but still not enough in my opinion.

bruce

Well, that's why I have added Programs and Features to the Settings menu, so you don't have to look for it in the Control Panel

I loaded up the classic skin in resource hacker and didn't see any clear options to remove "Help and Support" (or Search) as I would have done via group policy previously. Also, I'd like to be able to expand out, or move "Administrative Tools" (like you did with "Programs and Features").

Any plans to add the ability to make such customizations?

I absolutely love this application. I tried some of the other ones and they either didn't support the arrow keys properly, or were generally clunky. Thank you for making it.

The skin controls the look of the start menu, nothing else. What you want is to change the structure of the menu. This is done via the StartMenuItems.ini file. Check out this link for a simple example how to customize the menu: https://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/forums/forum/1049756/topic/3523837

Great, I was a perfect example of someone not reading the instructions sufficiently. You've clearly thought of everything. Thanks for the quick response, I'm all setup now.

In case anyone wants specifics:

Ivo said:

The skin controls the look of the start menu, nothing else. What you want is to change the structure of the menu. This is done via the StartMenuItems.ini file. Check out this link for a simple example how to customize the menu: https://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/forums/forum/1049756/topic/3523837

Click to expand...

ANN: New version 1.0.2

The latest version 1.0.2 adds few new features:
- disable the breadcrumbs in the address bar
- add caption and icon in the title bar of Explorer
- remove the search box from Explorer

Download it from here: http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Outstanding! The caption and icon feature replaces the AeroBarIco program I have used since Vista!

I must say that this is really good work, great job IVO

There is a new thread about the new versions: http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/72519-ann-new-classic-shell-versions-1-0-3-1-9-0-a.html