Tech Tip of the Week: Customize Your Windows 7 Start Menu Button

TechSpot

Tech Tip of the Week: Customize Your Windows 7 Start Menu Button
in-house feature

By Jose Vilches, TechSpot.com
Published: March 18, 2010, 2:30 AM EST

Windows users have been customizing their desktops in a variety of ways for years. Whether by downloading themes and backgrounds, or using third party applications to change more obscure settings like the default logon screen, many people seem intent on personalizing every aspect of their operating system to something that fits their individual taste. And what better to alter than an icon that's always visible?

While we don't mind the Windows 7 Start Menu icon, and actually feel it's somewhat of a leap forward from the rectangular buttons of old, swapping out the orb for a new icon is quick and painless with the help of Kishan-Bagaria's Windows 7 Start Orb Changer. It even comes with a few examples to get you started.

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clrabbit on March 18, 2010 3:01 AM	You know I just have to wonder You always see this stuff to make Windows look like MAC and Linux... what kind of delusional reason do people really have, to need to make Windows look like something its not... given in this case you can use it to do any thing, so You could just slap together your own Windows Logo or personal logo and that would be cool. after all your are making your desktop your own. But it seems like I see a lot of people making there Windows systems "look like" Linux/Mac, and I really do not understand why you would want some body else logo hiding somebody else logo... It's like buying an Xbox360 and then slaping a Wii sticker over the any thing that says XBOX, or modding a PS2 game to have the Xbox logo show up when you load a game instead of the PS2. I've seen people go as far as to use window blinds and mod the start and login screens to mimic a Linux environment to the point were it's like Really, why? if you LIKE it that much WHY not just use Linux then just run your hand full of little office programs in a VM or Wine. or you could run a Linux distro in a full screen VM inside windows either way it just seems like you should just be using a real linux system/environment. (I am in no way ditching Modding infect I love marking things up with my own art work all the time, I just don't get the attempted re-branding weirdness.) Reply \| Quote
Archean on March 18, 2010 3:26 AM	IMHO Quick Restore Maker is much more useful utility, which I've used for some time. Changing appearance of your OS is something which differs considerably depending on users' own taste. Reply \| Quote
buendia on March 18, 2010 3:45 AM	I'm not sure I really need that. The default orb looks just fine, and in my opinion, this is just as ridiculous as changing start menu text in Windows XP. Reply \| Quote
Serag on March 18, 2010 4:49 AM	lol @ the first preview "windows > ubuntu" I think utilities like this are all over the place..I'm not a Win7 user but thanks for the tip TS. Reply \| Quote
mattfrompa on March 18, 2010 6:53 AM	Great tip, and I do agree the the Win7 orb is definitely much more visually pleasing than "Start". I also feel the rollover effect is subtle enough that it is not disruptive. I personally would not even think to put the Ubuntu logo in place of the orb (I like Ubuntu and all, but why would I want it in Windows?) I could see other logos going in place of the old MS flag though. Reply \| Quote
skitzo_zac on March 18, 2010 7:21 AM	Many thanks for this tip TS, I created my own custom image set and now have my personal logo instead of the default orb. As for clrabbit's questioning of why people mod an OS to look like another OS, I think it is very plausible that some people may like the look of one OS better than another but due to functionality they may be tied down to another OS. Keep the tips coming in TechSpot Reply \| Quote
Thompson on March 18, 2010 7:46 AM	I use Stardock Objectdock and don't have to look at the taskbar and makes running programs ultra-easy. Reply \| Quote
rskapadia2294 on March 18, 2010 7:51 AM	yeah i already knew it! my start menu button is of apple! :P i have changed it twice! feels gr8 to have a new look! Reply \| Quote
elroacho72 on March 18, 2010 8:28 AM	clrabbit...WOW All I have is thanks for the tip! I usually use the tip Tech-Spot puts out like God Mode,that was a pretty good tip. Reply \| Quote
recipe7 on March 18, 2010 8:51 AM	Thompson said: I use Stardock Objectdock and don't have to look at the taskbar and makes running programs ultra-easy. I'm in the same boat! Shortcuts are always win when you can apply them to an OS. Reply \| Quote
njmarkham on March 18, 2010 8:52 AM	Just one word, as seems to be the general consensus, why? Reply \| Quote
vegasrez on March 18, 2010 9:55 AM	Why not? Reply \| Quote
orionlocke on March 18, 2010 10:33 AM	Pretty cool, thanks for the tip TS! I really like the look of Win 7 but it's always fun to do some customizing here and there. I checked the orb collection through the link to SevenForums and there are some really cool looking ones there. Just might have to give this a try. Reply \| Quote
seefizzle on March 18, 2010 10:39 AM	I see nothing of value by changing the Window's orb. I like tweaking my OS, but this just doesn't do anything. Reply \| Quote
TomSEA on March 18, 2010 11:48 AM	Always fun to do a little makeover on the desktop. Thanks! Reply \| Quote
Docnoq on March 18, 2010 11:53 AM	seefizzle said: I see nothing of value by changing the Window's orb. I like tweaking my OS, but this just doesn't do anything. Because some people like to have aesthetically pleasing things. Do you change your desktop wallpaper? It does not provide any performance boost, but it looks nice so people do it. Same principle can be applied to virtually any other product. Some people choose to paint their cars with racing stripes and others choose to have solid colors. Neither option really "does" anything, but that doesn't stop people from doing it. Reply \| Quote
wagan8r on March 18, 2010 12:01 PM	Haha! Ubuntu... that's a good one! Reply \| Quote
EduardsN on March 18, 2010 12:15 PM	The default orb is perfect! If you change it.. its just not windows any more Reply \| Quote
mystic420 on March 18, 2010 12:20 PM	I have found over the years of "MODDING" my systems, I tend NOT to MOD the OS like I used to as I have found it tends to made the OS unstable. Now I'm not talking about themes and that like, but when you start changing Log On and Log Off screens or other internal OS things, it tends to make bad things happen... Just a word of warning... Reply \| Quote
Neojt on March 18, 2010 12:51 PM	Downloaded and will give it a try Reply \| Quote
levar on March 18, 2010 1:18 PM	Wow this is nice! Thanks for sharing definitely gonna try this. Great way to personalize my Windows the way I want it. Reply \| Quote
Kibaruk on March 18, 2010 4:55 PM	I find this pretty useless. People that try to make their OS look like another OS are pretty useless too. "WoW dude, you are a Linux Guru!" "no I just changed the icons"... crap! Reply \| Quote
slh28 on March 18, 2010 5:56 PM	Kibaruk said: I find this pretty useless. People that try to make their OS look like another OS are pretty useless too. "WoW dude, you are a Linux Guru!" "no I just changed the icons"... crap! So you're saying you think other people will be impressed to see a Linux guru? I know the ladies always are Reply \| Quote
Kibaruk on March 18, 2010 6:39 PM	The not so bright ones maybe :P Reply \| Quote
renegeek on March 18, 2010 7:33 PM	I dont like any add-ons, i like to stick to the basic (classic) screen, to get the best performance posiable. (for my games) Reply \| Quote