I love the Windows 25 Start Menu, but Microsoft is tempting me back to 11

For the past couple of weeks,

I’ve been running the community-crafted Windows 25
on my personal Surface Laptop 3. Leveraging PC customization tools like

Windhawk
and StartAllBack, the Windows 25 mod offers a refreshing take on the esthetics of the Windows operating system.

Broadly speaking, I’ve been enjoying my experience with Windows 25, which has been running smoothly on my computer since day one. One of my favorite aspects of the mod is its altered

Start Menu design
, which draws some visual inspiration from Microsoft’s Windows 10-era menu, while taking creative liberties of its own in other respects.

I’ve been happy to forgo the standard

Windows 11
Start Menu entirely in favor of the one included in Windows 25, and until now, I’ve been happy with this new status quo. However, Microsoft has recently announced

a fairly major Start Menu redesign
of its own, which addresses many of my previous complaints with the existing Windows 11 version of the menu. Now, I’m tempted to revert to Microsoft’s refreshed native menu design, which is expected to begin rolling out in the coming weeks or months.

I’m a fan of its design and aesthetic

While I’m not a fan of every last design tweak made in Windows 25, I’m certainly a fan of its take on the Start Menu. The mod moves some of the system shortcuts to the left-hand side, while adding a subtle backplate underneath pinned app icons and folders. In practice, it’s very much a blend between Windows 11 and

Windows 10
in terms of interface elements and design language.

I find the Windows 25 Start Menu to make better use of space than Microsoft’s implementation, which has remained mostly unchanged on PC since the release of Windows 11 in 2021. I appreciate that Windows 25 pays homage to Windows 10’s

Live Tiles
, offering a clean and symmetrical design in the process. I’m also a fan of the fact that the Windows 25 menu doesn’t shove recommended files and apps down my throat — instead, suggested content is neatly tucked away behind a sub menu.

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After nearly four years on the market, Microsoft is finally addressing one of the key criticisms levied against its Windows 11 OS (and not a moment too soon, considering

Windows 10’s upcoming retirement
). While announcing its latest batch of Surface hardware products, the company took the opportunity to highlight the new Start Menu, which it outlines in a dedicated Microsoft Design blog post.

This new native Start Menu experience makes better use of space, introduces the ability to remove the recommended section entirely, offers extra app organization options, and unifies pinned and installed apps under a single screen. I’m a fan of all these changes — not only does it streamline Start, but it also brings an

Apple App Library
-esque sorting option and more convenient access to

Phone Link
, which are both welcome inclusions.

In many ways, Microsoft leaves the Windows 25 mod in the dust with this upcoming Start Menu redesign effort. I prefer having a single unified environment for all my pinned and installed apps, which requires an additional click on 25. Of course, being a mod that taps into Winkhawk and StartAllBack, there are countless ways to adjust the look and feel to your liking.

For a user like me, however, who isn’t huge on tinkering (and is worried about the prospect of future

Windows Updates
breaking support for the mod), I think Microsoft has finally made enough progress to sway me to its native Start Menu experience.

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With Start, the possibilities are endless

There’s no denying it: the Start Menu is one of the most iconic user interface elements of any operating system, ever. First introduced in Windows 95, the menu streamlined PC usage and made accessing files and system functions far more accessible for the average person. The menu has evolved over the years, but its ethos of serving as a one-stop-shop for accessing apps and functions is unwavering.

In the era of Microsoft’s Fluent software design language, social media sites like X and Reddit are filled with Fluent-style Start Menu mock-ups from fans, designers, and Windows enthusiasts alike. While mods like Windows 25 can get you some of the way there, many conceptual designs are a bit more ‘out there’ by Windows 11 standards.

Microsoft, for its part, recently shared photos of conceptual Start Menu designs it conceived of, before ultimately settling on the redesign we now know to be on the way in an upcoming Windows 11 update. Each design is unique in its own way, and I’m personally quite fond of the design that separates ‘Start,’ My apps,’ and ‘Create’ into their own dedicated tabs.

I’m still a big fan of the Windows 25 Start Menu, and I’ll continue to rock the mod itself on my Surface Laptop 3 for the foreseeable future. But, credit where credit is due: Microsoft’s new default menu for Windows 11 is solid enough to very possibly sway me in its direction once more.

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