Start11 Brings Customization to the Windows 11 Start Menu Today 
Learn more about Start11 at www.stardock.com 

Stardock released Start11™, a program that allows users to customize the Windows® Start menu and taskbar, today. As with previous editions of StartX products, Start11 allows users to restore the Start menu to appear as it does in previous versions of Windows, as well as customize and enhance its functionality.  

“Since Microsoft first announced Windows 11, we have been working to optimize Start11 for the new operating system” said Brad Wardell, Stardock CEO. “We make it easy for users to customize nearly every detail of their PC experience, including being able to choose from several new Start menu layouts and repositioning the taskbar, among many other things.” 

Start11 is designed for Windows 11 and Windows 10 and comes loaded with features intended to make Windows more personal and productive. Start11 supports moving the Start button to the middle or to the left, adjusting the taskbar size, re-ordering quick access shortcut lists, options for grid spacing, enhanced classic and modern search experiences, restoring the taskbar context menu, and more. Start11 also fully integrates with Stardock’s Fences app. 

For users who want to personalize their Start menu, Start11 offers robust customization options ranging from aesthetic to functional. The software enables enhanced Windows 10 and Windows 11 style Start menus, a compact Windows 7 design, optional Windows 11 style for classic menus, and additional settings that allow you to configure a personalized Start menu. 

The new UI has been designed to support additional Start menu enhancements, extending support to a host of new Start menu ideas like pages, minimalism, and features for enterprise customers. While Start11 does restore previous versions of the Start menu like Start8® and Start10®, it now provides robust options to create a truly personalized experience. 

November is here and we're getting closer and closer to the holiday season! It's not too early to start getting ready for the Christmas season, and I'm going to get to work on mine, and start featuring seasonal skins to for the community to check out. 

But since it's a new month, it's time to share your current desktops so take a screenshot and post to our desktop screenshot thread linked below and let us know what themes you are using this month.

Post your desktops to the monthly thread here: https://forums.wincustomize.com/507959/

(This is a news thread and will be locked. Screenshot taken by JanOscar)

Halloween is this weekend, so there's just a few more days to get your desktop ready for the day! We've been looking at many skins over the past couple of weeks, so I wanted to finish off the Halloween season with a few of our favorites. 

We want to see your Halloween desktops, so be sure to post a screenshot in our October desktop thread.

Bad Jack

Pumpkin

Creepers

Busy Night

Toxic Halloween

Stardock Announces Fences 4 with new features, a Refreshed
Interface and Support for Windows 11
Fences 4 offers an array of customizations to keep PC desktops clean and organized
Get into the alpha now (available exclusively through Object Desktop)

Stardock announced Fences 4, a program that allows users to automatically organize shortcuts and icons on their PC desktops into custom-sized spaces called fences. As with previous editions of the software, Fences 4 creates dedicated areas to organize icons and folders and offers additional customization features that has made it popular with millions of users of Microsoft Windows®. 

"Fences 4 is being designed to meet the needs of today's PC user," said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. "Fences has always been a great way to show a clean desktop or to organize it and now we are adding features that allow users who want a minimalistic desktop to have that while also supporting users who use the desktop as a natural extension of their work space."

Stardock has released an alpha version of Fences 4 for Windows 10 and 11 to users of its Object Desktop suite. New features will be added to it throughout the fall with a targeted release later this winter.

Upcoming features for Fences 4 include virtual desktop support, enhanced search functionality, roaming profiles, and many other updates that will help home and business users stay organized. 

Additionally, Stardock has announced Fences for Business, which will help keep PCs organized and standardized across the workforce. A new kiosk mode will help administrators lock their entire desktop layout, while the Snapshots feature will allow them to replicate layouts across multiple devices. 

The Fences 4 alpha is available exclusively through the Object Desktop™ suite. 
For more information, visit the Fences 4 website here.

Halloween is just a couple of weeks away, and now is the time to get your desktop ready! Today I wanted to feature some of the fantastic, animated wallpapers for DeskScapes that we have on WinCustomize. An animated wallpaper is a fun way to add some customization to your desktop, and Halloween is an especially fun time.

Come check out some of top animated wallpapers for Halloween!

Halloween Eve

Spooky Halloween Forest with Bats

Candle Inside Halloween Pumpkin

Foggy Mistic Forest

Halloween Night

Halloween is just a few short weeks away, and it's always a fun time to put a "costume" on your desktop! We've asked the WinCustomize community in the past what their favorite "skinning holidays" are and Halloween is always one of the favorites. I've been going through the gallery and grabbing some of my favorites and wanted to share them in this week's post.

Bat O Ween (WindowBlinds)

Halloween Night (DeskScapes animated wallpaper)

Black Widow Halloween (CursorFX)

Helloween (Wallpaper)

Halloween Tree (Wallpaper)

Enhance the Start Menu and Restore Classic Functionality with Start11

Get into the Beta

Stardock announced the availability of the Release Candidate 1 update for Start11, a program that allows users to customize the Windows Start menu and taskbar. This update brings several new Start menu layouts to choose from, restored context menu functionality, enabled repositioning of the taskbar, plus one of our users’ favorite features: Fences integration. As with previous editions of StartX products, Start11 allows users to restore the Start menu to appear as it does in previous versions of Windows, as well as customize and enhance its functionality.  

Start11 is designed for Windows 11 and Windows 10 and comes loaded with features intended to make Windows more productive and personal. Start11 supports moving the Start button to the middle or to the left, adjusting the taskbar size, re-ordering quick access shortcut lists, options for adjusting grid spacing, enhanced classic and modern search experiences, and much more.  

For users who want to personalize their Start menu, Start11 offers robust customization options ranging from aesthetic to functional. The software enables enhanced Windows 10 and Windows 11 style Start menus, a compact Windows 7 design, optional Windows 11 style for classic menus, and many additional settings that let you configure your personalized Start menu.  

Start11 extends this to support a host of new Start menu ideas such as the concept of pages, minimalism, and features for our enterprise customers.

The Start11 beta is currently available for $4.99.
Get into the Beta

We are finally into fall and October is already here! Since it is October, now is a fun time to get your Halloween themed desktops ready! We have a bunch of Halloween skins, so it'll be fun to see what you put together this month. Take a screenshot and post to our desktop screenshot thread linked below and let us know what themes you are using this month.

Post your desktops to the monthly thread here: https://forums.wincustomize.com/507200/

(This is a news thread and will be locked. Screenshot taken by teddybearcholla)

The fall season is finally here, and I hope wherever you are located that you are starting to get some cooler weather. This is a fun time of year for skinning as Halloween and Christmas are two of the most popular holidays for skins and themes. We already have a fantastic selection of skins for the season, and we're getting more added weekly. 

Have you put together a fall or Halloween desktop yet? Do you plan to?

If you're looking for some themes to get started with, check out these posts.

• Getting an Early Start on Your Fall Desktop!
• Here's 5 Top Desktop Wallpapers for Fall
• Halloween Animated Wallpapers for Your Windows Desktop

Those are just a few to get you started, and we'll post a couple of the newest featured wallpapers and animated wallpapers for DeskScapes below!

Foggy Jack-o-lantern

Autumn Road Covered in Leaves

Autumn Leaves Falling in the Park

The wallpapers and Dreams (animated wallpaper) galleries have categories so you can view certain types of wallpapers that you are looking for. These categories haven't been updated in a long time, and it was certainly due for a refresh for a more modern and updated gallery. Some gallery categories were not ever really used or relevant, so we removed some and added quite a few to each section for an expanded range of wallpaper choices.

With the added integration of some WinCustomize galleries in DeskScapes, it will also reflect a better experience for in-app users as well. 

Here are the new and updated categories available in these galleries today...

Wallpapers

• Anime
• Beach/Tropical
  
• City
• Landscapes
• Movies/TV
• Nature
• Seascapes
• Space 
• Vehicles
• Winter

Dreams (DeskScape Wallpapers)

• Anime
• Aquariums
• Beach/Tropical
  
• Gaming
• Landscapes
• Movies/TV
• Nature
• OS
• Seascapes
  
• Technology
• Vehicles
• Waterfalls
  
• Winter

We've populated the new galleries with items, but if you have some wallpapers that need to be changed over, you can edit your skins to a new category. Of course, please let us know if you need any help with that.