22000.282.32.5

Tested on build 22000.282.

New features

• Windows 10 window switcher features new configuration options:
  • Always show switcher on primary monitor
  • Show windows only from current monitor
  • Theme selector: Mica, Acrylic and None
  • Corner preference: Rounded, Rounded small, Not rounded
  • More options for row height
  • [Alt]+[`] shows the switcher only for windows of the foreground application
  • [Enter] switches to selected window (same as [Space]) (#240) (.1)
  • Navigation using arrow keys (#240) (.1)
• Ability to choose behavior for Cortana button: hidden, shown and opens Cortana, shown and opens Widgets (#255) (.3)

Feature enhancements

• Clock context menu options "Adjust date/time" and "Customize notification icons" open in Control Panel instead of Settings

Fixes

• Taskbar context menu not displaying properly when using classic theme mitigations should now be fixed
• Reliability improvements, correct injection, avoid double patching
• All windows should now be properly detected and included in the Windows 10 window switcher
• Performance enhancements for Windows 10 window switcher: layouts are now precomputed when a window change occurs, so it should be very fast to open and consistent, no matter the current load; also, fast switching does not trigger the window, as it should
• "Show Cortana button" taskbar menu entry now works again (#252) (.2)
• Fixes a bug that prevented correct opening of some applications (like powershell) when EP was registered as shell extension (#256) (.4) - PLEASE NOTE THAT RUNNING AS SHELL EXTENSION IS STILL EXPERIMENTAL, UNSUPPORTED, AND ONLY RECOMMENDED FOR SPECIFIC USE CASES THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ALREADY; otherwise, just dropping the DLL in C:\Windows is enough
• Windows 10 window switcher switcher now correctly displays UWP apps immediately after launch (#266) (.5)
• Selection and highlight rectangle are now correctly drawn when using light theme on Windows 10 window switcher (.5)

Please consult the README for more details.

A detailed change log is available here.

22000.282.31.4

Tested on build: 22000.282.

New features

• Cortana button now opens the Widgets panel
• Ability to choose what happens when clicking the Network icon in the system tray
• Possibility to use the legacy clock flyout
• Possibility to use the legacy volume flyout
• Fixes to fully support the classic theme, with a functional taskbar, system tray, Explorer windows, working context menus; read more about this feature here
• Choose type of flyout for clock (.1)
• Compatibility with build 22000.282 (.2)

Feature enhancements

• Reorganized settings in the GUI
• Added option not to have an accelerator for the Properties menu entry in Win+X (#162)
• The "Adjust date/time" and "Customize notification icons" links in the clock context menu now open the more versatile Control Panel applets (.4)
• The console can now be disabled and then dismissed without causing the Explorer process to restart (.4)
• Implemented a new exported function which restarts File Explorer cleanly, reloading your folder windows: rundll32 C:\Windows\dxgi.dll,ZZRestartExplorer (.4)

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the Windows 10 window switcher failed to display some windows (#161)
• Fixed an issue that prevented Start from opening again until Explorer was restarted after opening File Explorer via the Start menu Explorer icon (#145)
• Fixed patching in libvalinet
• Fixed GUI launch path; GUI now launches in an external process, survives Explorer restarts
• Addresses an issue that prevented correct operation under certain circumstances and that could lead to a rare bug where Explorer would crash after a Control Panel window was opened (also related to Control Panel windows not always respecting preferences like "disable navigation bar") (.3)
• Fixed a bug that caused the cursor to move when invoking Win+X (.4)
• Fixed a bug that caused incorrect positioning of Win+X when the main taskbar was present on a monitor different than the primary one (.4)
• The Start menu now automatically reloads in the background only when its settings change, instead of when any settings change (.4)
• Improved the reliability of the "Restart File Explorer" link in the Properties GUI (.4)
• Improved the detection of scenarios when the patcher should inject and apply the full set of patches to File Explorer (.4)
• Other bug fixes (.4)

Experimental

PLEASE NOTE THAT RUNNING AS SHELL EXTENSION IS STILL EXPERIMENTAL, UNSUPPORTED, AND ONLY RECOMMENDED FOR SPECIFIC USE CASES THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ALREADY. IT IS NOT REQUIRED FOR OBTAINING ANY OF THE CORE FUNCTIONALITY, IT IS AVAILABLE ONLY FOR SOME ADVANCED USE CASES AND IS STILL A BIGGER WORK-IN-PROGRESS THAN THE MAIN PROJECT.

The application can now be registered as a shell extension. This will enable the Explorer related functionality to work in Open/Save file dialogs as well. This is especially useful for users wanting proper support of the classic theme in Windows 11.

Please note that this is experimental. For the moment, the preferred installation method remains dropping the DLL in C:\Windows. For interested users, I invite you to test this functionality and report your findings in the discussions board.

To enable this, put the 2 DLLs (ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll and ExplorerPatcher.IA-32.dll) in a secure folder (for example, C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher). Then, in that folder, run this command: regsvr32 ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll. After elevation, a message will display informing you of the operation outcome, and if it went well, Explorer will restart displaying the old taskbar.

To uninstall, run regsvr32 /u ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll in the same folder and preferably reboot the computer to unload the DLLs from all applications. Then, the files can be deleted just fine.

Please consult the README for more details.

A detailed change log is available here.

22000.258.30.6

Tested on build: 22000.258.

• Reworked settings framework
  • More settings are available to customize
  • Most setting changes take effect immediately
• Implemented Windows 10 window switcher (Alt+Tab)
• GUI
  • Revamped GUI, now the interface is split by categories and is displayed on two columns
  • Regular items do not display a "+" sign anymore at the beginning of their label
  • The current choice is ticked in the drop down menu
  • Regions are now calculated correctly
  • Solved memory leaks
• Option to disable immersive context menus (#96)
• General bug fixes
• Window switcher is now disabled by default (.1)
• Corrected typo in settings (.2)
• Added option to set tray clock to display seconds (.3)
• Added option to set the right click menu of the network system tray icon to launch either (.3):
  • Network settings in the Settings app
  • Network and Sharing Center in the Control Panel
  • Network Connections in the Control Panel
• Added preliminary support for advanced mitigations for correct rendering when using the classic theme (.3)
• GUI optionally loads UI file from DLL folder (helps for easy debugging) (.4)
• Small bug fix for symbols download (.5)
• Better method for closing windows in window switcher (.6)

Please consult the README for more details.

A detailed change log is available here.

22000.258.26.3

Tested on build: 22000.258.

If you have trouble with this version, please try the one before it. This is the last version for a while, the application will go through a reorganization and refactoring process in order to better support new and enhanced capabilities coming soon. Please check here regularly for updates. Thanks!

• Compatibility with OS build 22000.258
• Option to open Network and Sharing Center instead if Network settings when right clicking the network icon in the system tray
• Centered network and sound right click menus and made them toggle on right click
• Reliability enhancements for Start menu positioning (#78) (.1)
• Fixes #85 (.2)
• Fixes #90 (added option to change taskbar icon size) (.3)

Please consult the README for more details.

A detailed change log is available here.

22000.194.25

Tested on build: 22000.194.

If you have trouble with this version, please try the one before it. This is the last version for a while, the application will go through a reorganization and refactoring process in order to better support new and enhanced capabilities coming soon. Please check here regularly for updates. Thanks!

• Start menu is hooked from File Explorer; please remove the DLL from C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy when using this new version
• Win+X now opens even when the taskbar is set to autohide (fixes #63)
• Win+C now opens even when the taskbar is set to autohide (fixes #63)
• Bluetooth and Safe to Remove menus toggle their visibility when clicked
• Bluetooth and Safe to Remove menus are centered relative to the icon they are invoked from
• WiFi list now correctly toggles when clicking the Network icon in the taskbar
• The settings GUI now supports dark mode and switches correctly when the system theme changes
• The settings GUI draws correctly when themes are disabled (classic theme compatibility)

Please consult the README for more details, it has recently been updated with more information.

Preconfigured settings (settings.ini) files are available here.

A detailed change log is available here.

22000.194.23

Tested on build: 22000.194.

• The system tray network icon now opens the WiFi list in Control Center
• Fixed a bug that showedWin+X on the wrong monitor in certain scenarios
• Fixed a bug that prevented "Show desktop" from working correctly in Win+X
• Win+X shows in Windows 11 fashion (centered, above the Start button) if using a centered taskbar with centered Start button as well (using a program like TaskbarX)
• Provides a notification when the taskbar layouts updates (so that programs like TaskbarX can employ an event-driven model regarding layout updates as well)
• Fixed the bug that prevented the application from loading inStartMenuExperienceHost.exe (thanks to @BraINstinct0 for the report)
• Fixed padding and element sizes in GUI so it better fits on smaller screens (thanks to @Gaurav-Original-ClassicShellTester for the report)
• GUI shows application title when run outside of File Explorer
• GUI stays on screen and just reloads the settings when restoring defaults (instead of closing)
• Keyboard (tab) support for GUI: Esc to close the window, Tab to select the next option, Shift+Tab to select the previous option, Space to toggle (or activate) the option
• Possibility of running the GUI standalone; run this command: rundll32.exe C:\Windows\dxgi.dll,ZZGUI; this has the advantage that it stays on the screen after restarting File Explorer
• Implemented configuration GUI; to access it, right click the Start button (or press Win+X) and choose "Properties" (thanks to @BraINstinct0 for the suggestion)
• When the taskbar is located at the bottom of the screen, opening the power user menu (Win+X) now automatically highlights the "Desktop" entry in the list. Also, the menu items can be activated either with left click, either with right click. Thus, this enables a behavior where you can double click the Start button with the right mouse button in order to quickly show the desktop (thanks to @Gaurav-Original-ClassicShellTester for the suggestion)

Please consult the README for more details, it has recently been updated with more information.

Preconfigured settings (settings.ini) files are available here.

A detailed change log is available here.

22000.194.0.22

Tested on build: 22000.194.

PLEASE NOTE that this version contains a bug which prevents the DLL from loading correctly in StartMenuExperienceHost.exe. This will be addressed in a future release. In the mean time, as a workaround, use the DLL from the previous release if you want to place it in C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy as well. The bug is tracked here.

• Implemented configuration GUI; to access it, right click the Start button (or press Win+X) and choose "Properties" (thanks to @BraINstinct0 for the suggestion)
• When the taskbar is located at the bottom of the screen, opening the power user menu (Win+X) now automatically highlights the "Desktop" entry in the list. Also, the menu items can be activated either with left click, either with right click. Thus, this enables a behavior where you can double click the Start button with the right mouse button in order to quickly show the desktop (thanks to @Gaurav-Original-ClassicShellTester for the suggestion)

Please consult the README for more details, it has recently been updated with more information.

Preconfigured settings (settings.ini) files are available here.

A detailed change log is available here.

22000.194.0.20

Tested on build: 22000.194.

• Huge code refactoring, improved memory patching
• Updated README with better description of the software and how to use it
• Drastically reduced the number of symbols required (around 40MB to download, instead of over 400MB previously)
• Improved Start menu and search positioning, now it is not necessary to have the DLL in C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy, please remove it from there.
• Skin "Bluetooth" pop-up menu
• Option to hide the search bar in File Explorer completely
• Option to disable the control center button in the taskbar
• Removed the option to disable the modern search box in File Explorer. Instead, you now run a command which disables it globally on your user account (works in "Open" dialogs as well); read here
• Removed the option to disable the immersive (new) context menu in File Explorer. Instead, you now run a command which disables it globally on your user account; read here
• Ability to disable command bar is described here
• Option to apply Mica effect on File Explorer windows (requires StartIsBack64.dll), read here
• Option to skin system tray icons to match Windows 11 style (requires StartisBack64.dll), read here

Please consult the README for more details, it has recently been updated with more information.

Preconfigured settings (settings.ini) files are available here.

A detailed change log is available here.

22449.1000.0.18

Tested on the following builds: 22449.1000, 22000.176, 22000.1.

New in this version:

• Ability to disable the "modern search box" in File Explorer and uses the classic functional search from early Windows 10 versions or Windows 7/8. To disable this and still use the new search, set General\AllowModernSearchBox = 1 in settings.ini

Fixes:

• Much improved algorithm for enabling the classic taskbar after symbols have downloaded on newer builds
• Restored compatibility with RTM build of Windows 11 (22000.1)
• Fixes the "modern search box" not working correctly when the DLL is used in C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy

Please consult the README for more details, it has recently been updated with more information.

Preconfigured settings (settings.ini) files are available here.

A detailed change log is available here.

22449.1000.0.16

New in this version:

• Compatibility with OS build 22449.1000.0.16.
• Fixed bug that prevented console from showing when the AllocConsole setting was specified in settings.ini

Please consult the README for more details, it has recently been updated with more information.

Preconfigured settings (settings.ini) files are available here.

A detailed change log is available here.