You can also turn on 'Use small taskbar icons' if you want the Windows 95 start button to fit in a little better. This will show window titles next to the app icons, just like the default design in earlier versions of Windows. First, head over to the Taskbar settings (right click the Taskbar and select 'Taskbar settings'), and change 'Combine taskbar buttons' to 'Never'. Again, browse for the file XPButton.png you downloaded and extracted from the archive. Then click 'Button image' and then click the. There, tick the option 'Replace Start button' and then click the option 'Custom button'.
The program rose in popularity after the. Classic Shell was a popular program for Windows that restored functionality in Windows versions that Microsoft discontinued. There are a few additional changes you can make for a more authentic Windows 95 experience. Next, go to the Start button tab (the tab to the left of the Taskbar tab in Classic Shell). Open Shell is a fork of the popular discontinued Classic Shell program for Windows that may restore a classic Start Menu, Explorer and Internet Explorer shell on the system. If you move the image file later, Open-Shell will revert back to the Aero button, so keep the image in your Documents folder or somewhere else safe.
#Classic shell windows xp skin download
Download this settings file (ctrl+s in your browser), click the 'Skin' tab in the Open-Shell settings, click the 'Backup' button, and select 'Load from XML file.' Pick the settings file you just downloaded, and now your Start Menu should look a little closer to the classic Windows 95 style.įinally, download this bitmap image of the Windows 95 start button and select it from the custom start button section in Open-Shell for an even more authentic feel. The 'classic style' is closest to Windows 95, but we can get a little closer.
After Open-Shell is done installing, it will give you a few layout options you can choose from.