You can even go back to the Windows 8 style, full-screen Start menu, if you want. Use ExplorerPatcher for a no-nonsense Start menu. Credit: Khamosh Pathak.

Windows 8 was faster, more secure, and had more features than Windows 7. The new Start Menu was not popular, but it was revised with Windows 8.1.

Customizing the Windows Start menu. It’s not difficult to get started: ... Stardock Start11 gives you full control over the look of the Start menu. Image: Stardock.

As Microsoft turns 50, we're looking at the Start menu's changes from its debut in Windows 95, passing through 98, ME, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11.