Open Shell originally came out as Classic Shell in 2009 and it has been around for a while. With Open Shell, you can change the appearance of the Start Menu and replace with the likes of Windows 7.

Start button for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 11 Toolbar and status bar for Windows Explorer. That said, let’s take a look at all the features of Open Shell: ...

Classic Shell's no-frills visual style and ample customization options make it easy to get the Start menu just the way you like it, even if you're using Windows 8. Blazing-fast live search ...

In Windows 8, Classic Shell adds the Start button back to a user's desktop and provides the same classic customizable Start Menu it does in older Windows builds.

Classic Shell is a favorite among Windows 8 users who have reverted back to the Windows 7-style Start menu, and is an open-source option that doesn't cost anything.

Type 'open shell' in the start menu to open 'Open-Shell Menu Settings'. The design of the start menu search screen at this time has also changed from that of Windows 11.

The open-source Classic Shell is free and will remain so. While it falls far short of Start8 in its Windows 7 mimicry, it’s far more configurable.

Classic Shell concentrates on providing a close-to-exact replica of Windows 7, and it’s free (formerly open source, now freeware).