Windows 8 Start Button

         

Excellent for the new Windows 8

Classic Powershell brings back the start button and fixes our gripes with the new power options. We've got a few more tips and peripherals to improve the new Windows 8 experience.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

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 third 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:

Classic Explorer

Classic Explorer is a plug-in 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.

Toolbar for 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 plug-in adds a new toolbar:

Hold the Control key when clicking the Up button to open the parent folder in a new Explorer window.

Hold the Shift key when clicking the Delete button to permanently delete a file.

Additional Up Button

Some people have asked if I can make a small Up button and put it next to the Back/Forward buttons in the title bar of Explorer. If Up is the only button you need from the toolbar, this will save you screen space:

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:

What’s wrong with it?

Well, for starters, it is half a screen full of text that you have to read. Also, it is not immediately clear what parts of it are clickable. You have to move the mouse around to discover the UI, like in a Lucas Arts adventure game. And finally, the keyboard usability is awful. To tell it “yes, I know what I’m doing, I want to overwrite all files”, you have to pressAlt+D, up, up, up, Space! It is harder than performing the Akuma Kara Demon move in Street Fighter 3. There is a time and a place for that stuff, and copying files is not it.

The Classic Explorer plug-in 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 Yfor “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 Folder Panel

Alt+Enter is a 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 panel 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 plug-in 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 the files in the folder is shown.

Alternative Start Menu Implementations

Before I decided to develop my own Start menu, I tried to look for alternatives. I couldn’t find something that is free, supports reordering of programs, shows the recent documents, etc. This article will not be complete without listing the “competition” with some (hopefully objective) pros and cons:

CSMenu – http://www.csmenu.com/

CSMenu is free, and provides the basic functionality – open the Programs menu, click on a program to run. It lacks advanced functions like keyboard navigation, drag/drop, recent documents, customizability, etc. Also, the localization is not quite right – for example, Help and Support, Calculator, etc., are not localized, and there is no support for right-to-left languages.

Update: Looks like development has stopped on this project and it has been abandoned by the authors.

Classic Windows Start Menu – http://usuarios.lycos.es/coreaffinity/classicwinstartmenu.htm

Classic Windows Start Menu is also free, and only has basic functionality. No drag/drop, very few languages are supported, and doesn’t quite work correctly when the taskbar is not at the bottom.

Update: The latest beta supports drag/drop, and better handles the different positions of the taskbar. There is still room for improvement (drag/drop is a bit buggy, Unicode support is lacking), but looks like the project is active, and effort is being made to fix the existing problems.

Classic Start Menu – http://www.classicstartmenu.com/index.html

Classic Start Menu, while not free (20 bucks), has a variety of advanced features. You can use drag/drop to rearrange your menus (I found it to be a bit buggy), and it has two skins to choose from (Aero and Classic). On the negative side, there is almost no keyboard navigation because there is a search box that steals all typed characters. There is some sort of shortcut system using the numeric keys, but I couldn’t get it to work reliably. There is no proper "Recent documents" menu. Also, the localization is a bit off, and right-to-left support is a bit lacking.

Vista Start Menu – http://www.vistastartmenu.com/index.html

Vista Start Menu is another version done by the same guy as Classic Start Menu above. It tries to be much fancier, but the UI was way too busy for my taste. I gave it a quick look and found the keyboard shortcut system to work a bit more reliably. There is a free version, and a PRO version (20 bucks) that adds some more customization features. I would rate this one the highest of the bunch because of its features, if you are into this sort of UI.

Seven Classic Start – http://www.sevenclassicstart.com/

Seven Classic Start is probably the worst of the bunch. It is the most expensive (25 bucks!) and only offers basic functionality. Even though it is advertised as “Complete with everything that makes the original Start menu beloved by so many users”, there is no drag and drop, expanding Control Panel, Recent documents, localization, or right-to-left support.

P.S. When you try to uninstall the trial, you get an offer to use it for free if you agree to try some other software as well.

If you are not a programmer, you can stop reading now. Just download the binaries and install them.

The rest of the article discusses how the different features are implemented.

I’ll try to keep it short and not repeat information that is readily available in other CodeProject articles or the MSDN.

How Classic Start Menu Works

So, how do we create a Start menu replacement? Let’s start from the beginning.

Implementing the Menu

Just like with the original Start menu, our implementation uses a vertical toolbar control. This gives us some advantages over a regular menu:

• the toolbar supports images directly without the need to fiddle with owner-drawn menus
• the toolbar can be placed in a pager control to make it scrollable if the items don’t fit on screen
• you can right-click on a toolbar but not on a menu
• the toolbar offers some drag/drop functionality that will come handy later

Of course, there are downsides. We need to simulate parts of the menu behavior ourselves. We need to take care of opening a sub-menu when the mouse hovers over an item, handle focus, activation, and Z-order issues, etc.

There are some problems with the toolbar control that I haven't solved yet:

• The toolbar is not compatible with glass. When it draws itself, it messes up the alpha channel. This makes it impossible to make a transparent menu.
• The toolbar doesn't handle the WM_PRINTCLIENT message correctly when used in right-to-left mode. Makes things like AnimateWindow difficult.
• Having multiple toolbars in one window to simulate a multi-column menu confuses screen readers like JAWS.

Because of these problems, I'm seriously considering creating my own control for the next version of Classic Shell.

Denise Milani

Mom Cut 20 Years

Don't Break the Bank: Mom Cut 20 Years in a Week Using This 1 Weird Trick

Mary, an ordinary mom of three from Zion, IL is the perfect example of a smart consumer that bypassed the health risks and thousands of dollars of using Botox to erase her wrinkles and "reverse the clock" on life. Like most Americans, Mary makes an average salary and doesn't have the extra cash to try every celebrity endorsed Anti-Aging miracle cream out there, let alone splurge on expensive medical procedures. At one time she considered taking out loans for injecting Botox and even contemplated getting a facelift, but became frightened after researching Botox and face lift malpractice stories. Mary was determined to find a safe and affordable solution that would yield real results and not leave her in debt. After watching a television documentary on cell revival, Mary discovered two beauty product trials from trusted skin care companies Derma Juvenate &Beaudify to unlock the secrets of anti-aging. Her results are comparable to what you might attain at Medi Spas and Doctors offices for $3000 or more, all the while using nothing but Derma Juvenate & Beaudify free samples.

The second picture is taken exactly 14 days after the first. Notice the strong difference after applying both Derma Juvenate &Beaudify

After finding Mary's shocking success story on the Internet, we thought it was important to share her story with our readers wanting to erase those wrinkles and "reverse the clock" on life. This solution has not only removed her wrinkles, but also tightened her neck and face instantly. It changed her life and we hope it can change yours too. The Solution: Mary discovered that the secret to cell revival is Polymoist-PS, an advanced formula that affects your skin at the cellular level. Polymoist-PS allows to lift off layers of dead or dying skin. After removing the top layer of skin, the soft, young skin from underneath is brought to the surface and hydrated. While researching the best anti-aging/skin care products, she discovered celebrities had been using Polymoist-PS creams for years to stay and look young. A prominent celebrity skin care doctor also revealed that using Derma Juvenate & Beaudify with Polymoist-PS was the celebrity secret to success as it contains powerful antioxidants, vitamins, and moisturizing agents. "Based on my research, I knew Derma Juvenate & Beaudify would deliver incredible results and the fact that I got them both as free trials was the icing on top. I never would have thought that something which is being offered for free could ever yield a better result than the more expensive anti-aging solutions." - Mary Mary's Story & 14 Day Cell Revival Results: "I have to admit I do tend to jump on the bandwagon and I have tried countless anti-aging wrinkle creams such as Oil of Olay, Neutrogena, and many others to help me look young again. Unfortunately, the results were never as good as I wanted them to be. Until, one day after watching a documentary on Polymoist-PS and doing some careful research, I found Derma Juvenate &Beaudify. I was very skeptical, but during my research I came across countless success stories and clinical studies which led me to giving them a fair try. So how did I get started? During my time researching Polymoist-PS, I discovered most of the success stories were from people who combined Derma Juvenate & Beaudify for maximum results. These products are extremely potent anti-oxidant wrinkle reducers containing not only Polymoist-PS, but also the popular Renovage (also known as "Facelift in a Jar") and Ester-C (which is the active anti-aging compound in Vitamin C). "The instruction recommended was to apply Derma Juvenate in the morning, while applying Beaudify before bed time." - Mary Day 1 The first day using Derma Juvenate & Beaudify, I was surprised on how wonderful they both made my skin feel. It felt like every last pore on my face was being tightened and pulled by a gigantic vacuum cleaner. I don't know how else to describe it. I could feel a deep, warm, tingly sensation on my cheeks, around my eyes, and my forehead. I looked in the mirror and saw a rosy-tinged hue. A radiant, glowing hue that was the result of nourishing blood rushing to the surface of my skin. And these marvelous "sensations" lasted for hours. I applied Derma Juvenate in the early morning and I applied Beaudify before bed time. By Day 5 After five days of using Derma Juvenate & Beaudify, I was shocked of the drastic results. The lines, the pores and the wrinkles - without question - were visibly reduced in size right before my eyes! I was astonished by the results, and I literally felt 20 years younger again. I felt I was watching all my wrinkles and lines vanish right off. By Day 14 After 14 days, not only had all my doubts and skepticism absolutely vanished...but so did my wrinkles! The lines on my forehead, the loose skin on my neck...even the age spots on my face...looked so much less noticeable and disappeared. I've never felt and seen anything tighten my skin with this kind of force. After using Derma Juvenate & Beaudify for a couple of weeks, my skin not only stayed that way, it actually got better and better looking each day until it got as beautiful and flawless looking today as it was 20 years ago. At this point, all my family and friends started asking me if I got a face lift or tried BOTOX. Conclusion: Like us, you might be a little doubtful about the effects of this anti-aging secret but you need to find out for yourself; the results are undeniable if you follow the program. After conducting your own personal study please comment below and tell us about your success with the products and stages of rejuvenation to turn back the clock and dramatically change its appearance. Follow the links to the free trials of Derma Juvenate & Beaudify and know that you are getting quality products that work; no strings attached! Remember, to get the BEST results you will want to try BOTH products together. Both creams come with a 100% customer satisfaction money back guarantee. With the discounted shipping costs you'll be on your way to smooth skin for under $7! But hurry! These free trials products won't be available forever!

Ultimate Ways to Earn

Ultimate Ways to Earn On The Ultimate FanBox

Earn by Linking to Posts

 Now you can earn by linking to the posts of other bloggers!

Have you noticed that each post now has its own unique URL -- located at the bottom of each post above the comments?

The next time you are writing about a topic -- such as Sports Cars -- and find a great post (from another author) that's relevant to your topic -- such as Photos of Fast Cars -- why not link to that post from your post?

Then, when a reader is enjoying your post (let's call it Post A) and follows that link to the other post (Post B) -- YOU EARN!

Earn With Auctions!

FanBox Auctions will be live very soon.

Are YOU ready?

Upon launch, you will be able to bid on products and servicesdirectly from your feed!

How cool is that?

Earn by BIDDING on products & services

FanBox Auctions are live!

(Go here to read the announcement & learn to sell Products & Services with Auctions).

This is a very exciting product especially because it will help FanBoxers earn.

In this post, I’ll show you how to earn by bidding – thanks to a new FanBox invention – something that’s never been done before.

Auctions are live!

In your Dashboard, under Provide, notice some new things:

You can easily switch your products and services to be sold in an auction (instead of fixed price), by visiting your "I'm Selling page"

When an Auction ends, who earns?

1) The Seller, of course.

2) The Success Coach of the Seller.

3) The Promoter. (I'll define this below)

4) And the Success Coach of the Promoter.

Who is the Promoter?

If the buyer clicked on an Ad, the Promoter is the person that created the Ad - earning 6% or 30% of the final price - depending on whether she paid for the Ad.

The Promoter can also be the person whose bid on the item caused a chain reaction of feed stories to go out - including an unlimited number of Likers, Commenters and Reposters that further spread the word.

Selling something? Here's how to protect yourself

As you may have noticed, Auctions are taking off!

Let's all be on the lookout for fraudsters - anyone looking to take advantage of our community and members.

If you are selling something, here's how to protect yourself:

Fraudsters are looking to hack into accounts, and buy products using other people's money.

Therefore, if you get a message that sounds anything like the following, report it immediately.

1 bad news; 4 better news

 First, the bad news.

Did anyone notice that some people have been earning some crazy amounts these last few weeks – specifically, tens of thousands of dollars?

Well, I am sorry to report that starting on March 22nd, for a period of 6 weeks, there was a glitch in the Ad system.

The glitch made it so that Promoters (Advertisers) were not actually being charged for their Ads every day.

(Even though it may have seemed like they were being charged, they were not).

This meant that the next day, their Ad money was still in their bank account, ready to be used for Ads again.

Don't get hacked! 

Ben Pernell got hacked last week, and they proceeded to attempt to steal his money.
Read about it here.

Watch out for emails that claim to be from FanBox or Johnny Cash or Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail -- and when you click the link - it goes to page that looks like Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail or FanBox - but is really the hacker's site.

On that page, they will ask you to sign in.

If you sign-in - the hackers now have your password!  

In the future, when they are ready, they will sign-in to your FanBox account and attempt to steal your money or buy things with it.

So, always check the link you clicked on, to make sure its really the site you think it is.

Don't use Internet Explorer!

A year ago, I posted that your FanBox experience is a lot faster on every browser but IE (Internet Explorer). 

(If you care to know the reasons why, read the post here)

So, if you can, access FanBox on any other browser - just don't use Internet Explorer.

By the way, if you're still using Internet Explorer - you'll soon be all by yourself:

Google's Chrome has just taken over the top spot - and IE (Internet Explorer) - like Microsoft itself - is headed down, down, down.

Maximize your earnings with Notifications 

The new Notifications feature is live:

The purpose of Notifications is to make it easier for you to build your LOYAL fan base.

You will be notified whenever someone leaves a comment in any of your blog posts - so that you can quickly respond to them to ensure you maintain their interest in you and your blogs.

New product annoucement: Keep Your Account Safe

My fellow FanBoxers:

I have a very important announcement to make today.

It involves your FanBox account, your money and your FanBox Bank.

About 6 weeks ago, you may remember that I made a post that discussedhow many of our FanBoxer friends were getting their accounts taken over by hackers.

Of course that was completely unacceptable for us as a community to sit, watch and witness.

Since then, I have made very few new blog posts. Why?

Where did I disappear to?

We have been feverishly (but quietly) developing and implementing a variety of products and technologies to keep your account safe.

Many of the new features & technologies are already live and are protecting your accounts in ways that I cannot discuss publicly here. (You may or may not have already noticed some of them).

However, I'm prepared to share with you some exciting news that I am sure you'll enjoy:

A new product launch will soon protect you in ways that were never before possible.

Soon you will notice something new at the top right of your homepage, called your Profile Completeness: