I didn’t want to support that, but since I knew what I wanted to be able to do, it was easy for a quick Google search to point me to Open-Shell-Menu.īefore we talk about that, though, you should absolutely check out the Files file manager. Ugh! That sounds like the nonsense we had to deal with in the nineties. It says it will start nagging you on every boot, and that the license is tied to serial numbers of your motherboard and boot drive. I even went to their web site and was all set to plunk down my $5 for a license, but then I read about what happens if you don’t pay. StartAllBack lets you customize your taskbar and start menu, and it is fantastic. Under their “Best Apps for Windows 11” heading are two really nice software packages: StartAllBack and Files. ThisIsWin11 is also a lazy interface to let you install some handy software. Some of these tweaks disable telemetry, some enable features that were available in File Explorer in Windows 10, and it can disable things like Microsoft Teams and Skype. It has a list of tweaks and registry hacks and things that it can apply to Windows 11 for you. I pretty quickly found a handy open-source tool called ThisIsWin11. ThisIsWin11 introduced me to StartAllWin and Files I Bought an Asus Vivobook Flip 14 2-in-1 Convertible 2-in-1 Tablet.I find myself folding that keyboard back and out of the way ever single day, and every time I do, the shortcomings of the Windows 11 start menu become extremely apparent. I don’t know about you, but I barely even look at the start menu when doing that. Who cares what the start menu looks like when you are sitting at a keyboard? You just tap the Windows key, start typing the name of what you want to run, and hit enter. This wouldn’t be a big deal if my Asus Vivobook Flip 14, as seen used by Billy Butcher in season 3 of The Boys, was just an ordinary laptop. Sure, you can change the color theme, but the buttons and icons have to be where Microsoft decides they should be. One of my complaints about Windows 11 is that the interface doesn’t allow for much in the way of customization. For the most part this is working out well!

I figured I’d be able to mostly treat this thing like I would an overpowered Android tablet. My hope was to be able to skip installing Linux on this machine. I have been using Windows on my 2-in-1 laptop for a little over a month so far.

Openshell windows 11