Windows 10: Making Windows 10 Feel More Familiar (2023)

FAQs

Can make Windows 10 look and feel like Windows 7? ›

Change the Start menu on Windows 10

Once installed, you'll see six entries on your Start menu listed under Classic Shell. Here, you will want to choose the Classic Start menu settings. Step 2: On the Start menu style tab, choose the Windows 7 style.

It is not possible to fully recreate the windows 11 theme for windows 10 tweaking the rest of the elements can bring you more visual impact and quite close to Windows 11. Before you begin with the process make sure you have updated to the latest Windows 10 version.

Although you can easily upgrade a Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, preserving installed apps, settings, and data files, you can't do the reverse. If you want to "downgrade" from Windows 11 to Windows 10, you have to do a clean install, which requires backing up and restoring your data files and reinstalling all your apps.

The latest version of Stardock's WindowBlinds 11 allows you to make your PC look as if it's running Windows 95. The Windows Classic theme makes window frames, the Taskbar, and other elements of the OS to look like the older version of Windows.

Upgrades to Windows 11 from Windows 10 will be free. Due to the size of the download, however, ISP fees may apply for downloads that occur over metered connections.

Windows 11 is snappier than Windows 10, but the differences are small in real-world use. The various optimizations in Windows 11 help it to run faster on weaker laptops, but you're not giving up a ton of performance with Windows 10.

There are several third-party programs that let you bring a Windows 11-style centrally aligned taskbar to your Windows 10 PC. Our recommendation is TaskBarX – an open-source program that can center the taskbar icons and bring a faux Windows 11 look to Windows 10.

The process will delete everything on your drive, so a backup is important. You'll also need a USB flash drive to be your installation media.

How do I go back to Windows 10 from 11 without losing data? ›

Windows 11 only allows you to go back to Windows 10 within 10 days, after which your old system files will be permanently deleted and can't be restored.

There are apps like TaskbarXI that lets you customize the Windows 11 Taskbar to make it look like the macOS dock. However, if you want to fully make Windows look like macOS with slick animations, the top Menu bar, blur effects, and more, you must use the MyDockFinder app.

On December 31, 2001, Microsoft ended its support for Windows 95, making it an "obsolete" product per the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy. Many features have since become key components of the Microsoft Windows series, such as the Start menu and the taskbar, originated in Windows 95.

The importance of Windows 95 can't be downplayed; it was the first commercial operating system aimed and regular people, not just professionals or hobbyists. That said, it was also powerful enough to appeal to the latter set as well, including built-in support for things like modems and CD-ROM drives.

Like everything else, it is possible to get the classic Start menu in Windows 10 as well. There are multiple programs out there to enable the classic Start menu in Windows 10.

How do I get the Windows 10 classic theme? Go into All Settings > Personalization > Themes and select the classic theme you want.

How do I make Windows touch friendly? ›

Tablet mode makes Windows 10 more touch-friendly when using your device as a tablet. Select action center on the taskbar (next to the date and time), and then select Tablet mode to turn it on or off.

You can now access Windows XP Mode applications with a "jump-list". Right click on the Windows XP Mode applications from the Windows 7 task bar to select and open most recently used files. You now have the flexibility of customizing where Windows XP Mode differencing disk files are stored.

Will my XP computer still work? Yes, your computer should continue to work normally after the end of XP support. However, because XP won't receive regular security updates from Microsoft, your computer will be at a much higher risk for viruses and malware. If at all possible, we recommend upgrading to a newer computer.

"Luna" (the Moon in Latin and various other languages) is the codename for the default visual style of Windows XP. Officially known as "Windows XP style", it is available in three color schemes: blue (default), olive green, and silver.

The best and short answer is “Yes,” it's OK to upgrade to Windows 11 22H2 since the new version is stable and safe to install on devices that meet the requirements.

It's fine, but mostly extraneous functionality that your phone can probably do better. Windows 11 also comes with some cool game-related features like Auto HDR and DirectStorage support that bring Xbox Series X's greatest strengths to the PC, but Microsoft has also made those features available on Windows 10.

Dubbed the Windows 11 2022 Update (and referred to as version 22H2 on your PC), the free download has started rolling out to users in more than 190 countries, says Microsoft. It comes with several new features and improvements offered to those on laptops, desktops and tablets. Is it worth the upgrade? Absolutely.

Windows 11 features a new design with a centered Start menu and Taskbar. Windows 11 brings a brand-new, more Mac-like interface to the OS. It features a clean design with rounded corners and pastel shades. The iconic Start menu also moves to the center of the screen along with the Taskbar.

What percent of people use Windows 11? ›

According to the latest statistics windows 11 is installed at around 23 % of windows devices/ PCs and windows 10 is installed at around 75 % of them.

Windows 11 uses more RAM than Windows 10 because it has more features and programs. The memory management in Windows 11 is excellent, so you may not notice any performance issues. Depending on how much RAM you have installed, the system will automatically allocate more or fewer resources to different programs.

Right-click the Taskbar and select the Properties option. Click on Taskbar. Use the “Taskbar style” setting and select the “Windows 10” option to restore the classic Taskbar. Use the “Primary taskbar location on screen” setting and select the Top option to move the Taskbar to the top of the screen.

If the Go back option is not available, it might be possible the previous installation files is removed. In this case, you need to make clean install of Windows 10 if you still want to go back: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/clean-install-windows-1...

So, is Windows 10 better than Windows 7? As it turns out, it's much better to choose Windows 10 these days. It's far more secure thanks to continued updates, modern games work better on it and the interface doesn't take much getting used to.

In most cases, the speed difference in Windows 11 is not very noticeable. However, performance issues are noticeable when the system disk is used to install large applications or transfer large files. In rare cases, Windows 11 may slow down drive write speeds by up to 45%.

The free upgrade offer does not have a specific end date for eligible systems. However, Microsoft reserves the right to eventually end support for the free offer. This end date will be no sooner than October 5, 2022.

After downloading and installing Windows 11, you only have 10 days to revert your system to Windows 10. If you roll back to the old OS, all the information stored on your computer will automatically repopulate there, so you won't have to worry about any files disappearing.

However, Microsoft will continue to support Windows 10 until October 2025. If I upgrade to Windows 11, what will happen to my files? By default, all your files and data will transfer. However, we recommend backing up your files before installation.

Thankfully, the latest version of Windows 10 lets you add some color to the title bars in the settings, letting you make your desktop a little more like Windows 7. Just head to Settings > Personalization > Colors to change them. You can read more about the color settings here.

How do I change my desktop back to classic view in Windows 10? ›

There are apps like TaskbarXI that lets you customize the Windows 11 Taskbar to make it look like the macOS dock. However, if you want to fully make Windows look like macOS with slick animations, the top Menu bar, blur effects, and more, you must use the MyDockFinder app.

Use Classic Shell to enable the Classic Start menu in Windows 10. As said before, there are a bunch of programs out there to enable the Classic Start menu in Windows 10. One of them is the very popular Classic Shell. It's free and brings the original Classic Start menu to Windows 10.

Although Windows 7 still outperforms Windows 10 across a selection of apps, expect this to be short-lived as Windows 10 continues to receive updates. In the meantime, Windows 10 boots, sleeps, and wakes faster than its predecessors, even when loaded on an older machine.

Simply open the Start menu and head to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. If you're eligible to downgrade, you'll see an option that says “Go back to Windows 7” or “Go back to Windows 8.1,” depending on which operating system you upgraded from. Simply click the Get started button and follow through the process.

The verdict. So, is Windows 10 better than Windows 7? As it turns out, it's much better to choose Windows 10 these days. It's far more secure thanks to continued updates, modern games work better on it and the interface doesn't take much getting used to.

Open your new Page. In the menu beside Edit Page, click the icon with three dots … below your Page's cover photo. Select Switch to Classic Pages. Follow the flow, and select Continue.