Stardock Announces Start11 - Get into the Beta Today
Beta version of Start11 goes live today
Tuesday, August 10, 2021 by Island Dog | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Stardock Restores Classic Start Menu in Windows 11
Beta version of Start11 is live today
Stardock announced Start11, a program that allows users to customize the Windows Start menu. As with previous editions of the StartX products, Start11 allows users to restore the Start menu to appears as it does in previous versions of Windows as well as customize it to their liking. The beta version is now available at Stardock’s homepage.
“This first beta is designed to regain some of the lost functionality in the current Windows 11 Start menu,” said Brad Wardell, Stardock CEO. “We have a lot of exciting new features planned to make the Start menu not just more accessible but also more useful to companies and power users.”
The first beta of Start11 is compatible with Windows 11 and Windows 10, supports moving the start button to the middle or to the left, makes visible many subtle Windows features, and provides a new configuration UI that allows extensive customization.
“The new UI has been designed to support future Start menu designs,” said Wardell. “Start8 and Start10 focused on restoring previous versions of the Start menu. Start11 will be extending this to support a host of new Start menu ideas such as the concept of pages, tabs, minimalism, and features for our enterprise customers.”
Join the Start11 Beta Today for $4.99
Users who buy into the beta will get the full release free.
Own Start8 or Start10? We've got special upgrade pricing just for you.
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Reply #2 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 2:52 PM
Running Windows 10, the start menu button area & system tray turns pitch black, so unusable for me.
Are you running it with a WB or curtains style?
Reply #4 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 2:55 PM
I'll wait until WindowBlinds 11 is out. Until then, I see no need for Start 11.
Join the Start11 Beta Today for $4.99
Users who buy into the beta will get the full release free.
Own Start8 or Start10? We've got special upgrade pricing just for you. This reads like paid upgrade?
Reply #6 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 3:41 PM
Downloaded it, and installed it on my Insider Beta edition (Win 11), and seems to be running fine, so far, will put it to the test.
Reply #7 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 4:14 PM
That was quick. Windows 11 is looking better already!
Reply #8 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 4:16 PM
I noticed on my Insider Beta Edition of Win 11, on Start11 Beta, there's no way to expand the start menu into columns like in Start10 settings, am I missing something?
Never mind, I've found the settings.... 
Reply #9 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 5:01 PM
Installed it again from the administrator account and it seems to be working now.
Reply #10 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 5:24 PM
I noticed on my Insider Beta Edition of Win 11, on Start11 Beta, there's no way to expand the start menu into columns like in Start10 settings, am I missing something?
Never mind, I've found the settings....
As the settings screen has changed somewhat you might find a few settings are not where they used to be.
Reply #11 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 5:57 PM
I'll wait until WindowBlinds 11 is out. Until then, I see no need for Start 11.
Reply #12 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 5:58 PM
So curious as I'm no developer...with Win 10, what's the limitation of getting the Start Menu to move over to the center? Is it something that absolutely cannot be done or hasn't been found/programmed in yet? And yes, I understand it's a new feature in Win 11; I'm just fascinated in all the modifications Stardock has made to Windows over the years so was wondering if it could ever be done with Win 10.
Reply #13 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 7:12 PM
Well, it should be possible. I know if you have a start button on an ObjectDock dock, you get a floating start menu wherever the button resides. Seems I vaguely remember a program out there somewhere that moves icons to the center, dunno about the start menu.
Reply #14 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 9:31 PM
Running great here, makes Win11 1 step better.
Couple of questions: Couldn't not find a area to change the start orb? Is that feature going to be coming back?
I also could not find the section to adjust the height of the start menu ( ie: number of items ) / or how to add/remove items to the left side of start menu.
He he : found the setting much better now.
Reply #15 Wednesday, August 11, 2021 12:29 AM
Running great here, makes Win11 1 step better.
Couple of questions: Couldn't not find a area to change the start orb? Is that feature going to be coming back?
I also could not find the section to adjust the height of the start menu ( ie: number of items ) / or how to add/remove items to the left side of start menu.
He he : found the setting much better now.
Yes, they're hidden away, took me some searching to find those items. 
Reply #17 Wednesday, August 11, 2021 4:09 AM
"Pin to Start..." still says >"(Start 10)"
It seems we missed the one in general explorer windows. On the start menu it says (Start11) correctly.
Reply #18 Wednesday, August 11, 2021 4:51 AM
Will you be able to change the Start button icon with our own with Start11 later on just as you could with Start10 or is it like hard coded with the new taskbar which means that the customization is very limited?
Thanks!
Reply #19 Wednesday, August 11, 2021 6:06 AM
Will you be able to change the Start button icon with our own with Start11 later on just as you could with Start10 or is it like hard coded with the new taskbar which means that the customization is very limited?
Thanks!
For now on Windows 11 it will use the OS button. On Windows 10 it remains as it is with Start10 with the ability to change the icon as you wish.
We will assess closer to release if providing other options is viable. The issue is the button moves as part of an animation when in centre mode as apps open / close and the most basic way to do a custom button would look pretty poor in that situation. It is less of an issue for left aligned start buttons as it never moves.
Reply #20 Wednesday, August 11, 2021 5:35 PM
Since my old rig does not meet the current minimum hardware requirements to install Windows 11 and I'm not going to build a new one, is there anything about Start 11 that will benefit a rig running Win10 and Start 10? I'm assuming Start 11 is meant for Windows 11 only to be honest. Am I wrong in that assumption?
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Reply #1 Tuesday, August 10, 2021 2:34 PM