Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

spot1701 reviewed v1.0 Beta 4 on Sep 8, 2006

A joy to use. No performace hit.
Easy to use, easy to configure and tweak and creating skins is just simplicity.
I can't remember what my normal windows taskbar and startmenu look like anymore ;)

milo2112 reviewed v1.0 Beta 4 on Sep 7, 2006

First of all, WSX is not a shell, it is an add on for Explorer. If you want a dedicated shell, this is not for you. Second, this is far from being an alpha release! I have run winstep everyday for over 4 years and have never had any major issues.

This app is not for the current generation of users who want effortless satisfaction. This is a hard core organizational tool that takes more than the length of a sit com to master... but it is really worth it. For what its worth, I would spend a lot more for a yearly subscription than what is charged...

BurtPorter111 reviewed v1.0 Beta 3 on Jul 3, 2006

I'll confirm what jcrabbit has to say. I use this on a PII 300 Mhz machine with W2k. Even with extensive transparency, it works very nicely, and without hogging system resources.

gchenry, this product isn't a shell. For me, that's part of the attraction. I can use its improved menuing without having to mess about with an alternative shell. Winstep provides a remarkable degree of customization with a minimum of effort on the user's part. IMHO, you can't say the same about must of the shells out there.

JcRabbit reviewed v1.0 Beta 3 on Jul 2, 2006

igoldsmid, the *apparent* 'performance hit' you are referring to only happens at the beginning when Xtreme is busy accessing the net to get the time and weather information, check for updates, etc... I say *apparent* because it is not actually 'stealing' CPU cycles from other applications, it is just gobbling up all the *available* CPU cycles (different thing). And, as I said, this only happens for a few seconds - you would have noticed this yourself had you not removed it within minutes of installing. :-)

To prove this, Winstep Xtreme is quite snappy on a very old PII 350Mhz machine I have here.

gchenry reviewed v1.0 Beta 3 on Jul 1, 2006

If you are interested in using a shell go to...

shellcity.net

http://shellcity.net/cgi..._search=yes&topic=A

igoldsmid reviewed v1.0 Beta 3 on Jun 30, 2006

Great potential - but very early stage beta.... I removed it witin minutes of installing - huge performance hit even on a very powerful machine... I would class this more like an alpha version

Bagobie reviewed v1.0 Beta 2 on May 6, 2006

Found some minor bugs but the program is damn impressive. Customizes your desktop UI more than I've ever seen... (correct me if I'm wrong)

Deserves a 5 IMO.

the artist reviewed v1.0 Beta 2 on May 5, 2006

hell, this sucessor looks so good! and the apps shown in the ss are nice too...

haven't tried it yet, maybe one of these days...
but i'll give a five just because.

(yes, i fell stupid today :)

JcRabbit reviewed v3.4 Build 229 Beta 7 on Nov 30, 2005

Barin, the reason you couldn't install it is because you failed to read the instructions above :-) : this is a beta and MUST be installed on top of a previous FULL version.

Although skin development for NextSTART is a bit slow these days, there are still THOUSANDS of skins freely available for it online. Also, NextSTART is not about eye-candy, but about FUNCTIONALIY - it's been around and in constant development since 1998 and you won't find anything as powerful as this anywhere.

simko reviewed v3.4 Build 229 Beta 7 on Nov 28, 2005

First of all nextstart is not a shell replacement so comparing it with bbLean for instance is pretty useless.

Anyway i like how it works the broblem for me is that im a skin freak and like it if a skinnable program has a large skinning community and this doesnt have that..

lsdx reviewed v3.4 Beta 6 on Oct 21, 2005

Yes, good enhancement desktop app. Fully agree with you about stabllity and customization.

But, why it doesn't allow to put text in icons of task list (like Windows 3.1 did)?

sQin reviewed v3.4 Beta 6 on Oct 21, 2005

there are better looking, freeware alternatives. bbLean for example

bmetelsky reviewed v2.21 on Nov 15, 2000

I have been using this program religiously almost since it came out. I look forward to the enhancements (updates), additional WinStep components, and new skins. This is one of my favorite "GUI Enhancement" programs, and the most stable!!

jtsenick reviewed v2.21 on Nov 15, 2000

Functionality, Flexibility, Stability, Quality and oh yeah, it looks Sweet too! An outstanding product with top-notch support.

kphelan reviewed v2.21 on Nov 15, 2000

NS is a great asset to my system. It has proven to be extremely flexible and stable. I rate this program 5 stars. Why, even Karendar, who swears to be having massive problems with this proggie, gives it 4 stars so it has to be great!

Elwin reviewed v2.21 on Nov 15, 2000

Karendar: Get real! Frankly, I don't believe you for a minute. "4 of my 5 boxes" - my aching anus! (What's wrong? Did the crack you were using mess up?) If you really knew NS, you'd know what the upgrade from 2.20 to 2.21 was for, and the minor code changes didn't effect the already rock solid stability of NS in the least.

Kenosti reviewed v2.21 on Nov 15, 2000

There really must be something wrong with your systems if they keep locking up, and it isn't to do with NextSTART.

I've run NS on Win95, Win 98, Win 98SE, Windows NT (different Service Packs, and Windows 2000 professional, and I have never had my system lock up because of NS. other programs, yes, but never NS.

NS is a great replacement for the Windows Start menu and Task Bar. I suffer withdrawal symptoms whenever I use a friennd's machine and it doesn't have NS installed.

Being able to click anywhere ont eh desktop, or bump a scvreen edge to get a menu up, being able to define your own menus means it allows you to use Windows the way you want to sue, not the inefficient way Microsoft forces you to use it.

Give it a try and see for yourself.

themadwolfman reviewed v2.21 on Nov 15, 2000

Karendar, I don't know what program you were using because I've been running Nextstart for months now on my tiny 233MHZ pc and it has NEVER crashed on me. IT IS VERY STABLE and is a GREAT Program!

RaEl reviewed v2.21 on Nov 15, 2000

I have used Nextstart Since November 3, 1999. I use it on NT 4.0, Win98 SE, Win2k Pro and WinME. It has never crashed on any of these Operating systems and has always been a rock solid addition to my desktop. It is far more than just eye candy (check out all the skins at http://www.skinz.org). It is a great productivity enhancement tool that lets me organize my desktop.
I'm not sure what kinds of problems Karendar was having but it is not indicative of Nextart's stability overall. Nextart is one of the best peices of software I've every purchased, bar none.

Karendar reviewed v2.21 on Jun 16, 2000

Stable? It's about as stable as a walnut on water's surface. :P It locks up 4 of my 5 boxes constantly, the only one that survives the ordeal is NT... I guess from v2.1 to 2.21, stability wasn't a priority...

GreekGod911 reviewed v2.21 on Jun 16, 2000

I second that completely! Do you have any idea how old that update is? And Japanese language update only! What the hell, whoever posted that article should look out for how he uses the word "Critical".

Fundoctor reviewed v2.21 on Jun 16, 2000

I agree this is confusing and does not belong here at all.

joshwa reviewed v2.0.94 Maintenance Release 2 on Dec 24, 1999

For those who share a machine (and therefore can't use Litestep or other shell replacements), NextStart (along with other shellex's such as windowblinds and sDesk) offer a great degree of customization and convinience for the devoted tweaker and power user. Very stable, too.