Classic Shell is a collection of features that used to be included in Windows but were taken out in Windows Vista and 7. If you have recently upgraded or thinking about moving up to Windows 7, the learning curve may prove difficult. This program by the Classic Shell Development Team can help, as it includes many of the classic features in Windows.
The Classic Shell comes with a toolbar for Windows Explorer and it comes with tree major parts – Classic IE9, Classic Start Menu and Classic Explorer. The Shell lets you chose between different styles: Classic, Windows XP and 7 and it comes with several features that will help you make the transition from one OS to another. For example, Classic Explorer has the up button, icons in the toolbar and the path, and you will also see the status bar.
Classic Shell has support for Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Note that the software has only one installer for both 64 and 32 bit systems, so there is no confusion. It goes without saying that some of its features are more applicable for Windows 7 than Vista, but that’s all right since the purpose of the Shell is just get you ready for the upgrade and acclimatize to it. In this regard it works very well.
Note: the latest version of Classic Shell (3.6. and later) has full support for Windows 8, so if you’re having trouble suing getting used to the new OS, give this a try.
Related Links:
Download Classic Shell
Classic Shell on Sourceforge
Classic Shell on Facebook