I was not a big fan of the new start menu in Windows 7, and Vista. Especially since Microsoft made it impossible to switch back.
Over time I grew to like it.
What about those users who aren’t on the computer every day? Many of them have a hard enough time just getting the computer to do what they want. When faced with a forced upgrade to Windows 7, wouldn’t it be great if they could have their comfy old start menu?
Or what if you just like the original start menu?
A reader, Scott, turned me on to an open source project named Classic Shell. This free app works nicely on Vista, and Windows 7. It almost feels like Microsoft had put it into Windows.
You can get it from here:
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/
Very simple install, just run the setup and immediately your start menu changes:
They have a few themes too – if you want to go old school, and make it look like the Windows 2000 menu – no problem:
The great part is that the same old shortcuts work too. For the longest time after switching to Vista, I would hit the start menu, and press up twice, and then enter.
This would bring the run window up in XP. In Vista / Windows 7 it launches the app at the bottom of the start menu 
– Now with the classic shell, I can have my old habit back 