The Start 11 IME icon bug I reported in 2025/01 is still unfixed after 8 months — I’m furious and deeply disappointed

from Stardock Forums

I reported the “reversed IME icons” issue back in January 2025, and here we are 8 months later with no fix.

Reference: https://forums.stardock.com/533880/page/1/#3958454

What really infuriates me is that I paid for Start11 2.0, then paid again for 2.5, and all I got is the obvious bug that remains ignored.
I was ignored but I still hoped it will be fixed someday.
I kept following up and was effectively brushed off. I hoped this would be taken seriously and fixed — clearly, I was wrong.

 

If this is how Stardock treats paying customers, just say so. I will never buy another Stardock product.
Give a clear explanation and a concrete timeline for a fix, or provide a reasonable resolution.

 

start menu products
3,956 views 6 replies
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. But, why do you paid again for Start11v2.5? The licenses key for v2 should work for Start11v2.5.

For the revise taskbar tray icons, sorry, perhaps it was overlooked when you posted it on general Beta Feedback thread. 

I tested on my system and I can not reproduce your issue on my system.

As a test, try installing on Windows Sandbox and see if the issue still appear while in there. Do that and report back. 

Reference: https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1416855562/Testing+Start+in+Sandbox 

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Thank you for your reply. This is not a 100% problem and you have to switch focus from something like notepad to the desktop several times to reproduce it. I will try to record a video.

But before that, here comes another problem when I try to run Start 11 in Windows Sandbox on my PC. All the non-english characters turned into boxes and I can't do any test at all.

 

 

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Tojo, reply 3

But before that, here comes another problem when I try to run Start 11 in Windows Sandbox on my PC. All the non-english characters turned into boxes and I can't do any test at all.

I don't have Japanese Windows 11 to test this, but, perhaps, you can try these AI suggestions. 

AI Overview
 
To fix Windows 11 Sandbox character display issues, ensure the Japanese language pack is installed and that the system locale is set to Japanese. You may also need to configure Unicode settings by unchecking "Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support" and check the specific application's language settings or use a locale emulator for older applications that might have trouble with the current Unicode format. 
 
 
1. Install the Japanese Language Pack
  • Open Settings > Time & language > Language & region. 
  • Under Preferred languages, click Add a language and select Japanese. 
  • Install the language pack and ensure it's added to your preferred languages. 
2. Set the System Locale to Japanese 
  • Press Windows key + X and click on Control Panel.
  • Go to Clock, Language, and Region, then select Region.
  • Click on Change keyboards or other input methods.
  • Go to the Administrative tab.
  • Under Language for non-Unicode programs, click Change system locale.
  • Select Japanese (Japan) from the drop-down menu and restart your computer.
3. Configure Unicode Settings 
  • In the same Administrative tab of the Region window, find the section for Unicode UTF-8.
  • Ensure the box that says Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support is unchecked.
4. Troubleshoot the Application 
  • For older applications, you might need to use a locale emulator.
  • Check the application's internal language or font settings to see if it supports Japanese characters.
5. Consider a System Update 
  • Ensure your Windows 11 installation is up-to-date, as some older versions of Windows might have had issues with character display.
  • For Windows 10, you could enable the previous version of the Japanese IME if you are experiencing issues with that version, although this is not recommended on Windows 11.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

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Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Dear Basj,

Thank you for giving me answer from AI.

I have my host OS installed in Japanese, so definately the OS in my Sandbox has

- the Japanese Language Pack installed

- System Locale set to Japanese 

- Unicode Settings configured

And as it is Sandbox, it surly have all the System Update installed.

About the suggestion 4, are you sure Start 11 is a OLDER APPLICATION?

 

In fact I have all other programs run normally with correct Japanese language displayed. And as you can see in the screenshot, the winver dialog also shows correct Japanese texts.

 

I have a ChatGPT Pro subscription and the reason I ask questions here instead of asking GPT 5 Pro is that this problem is caused by your Start 11 program, not the OS or anything else.

 

I wanted to change the Sandbox OS into English to at least display your program but in Sandbox, the only display language avaliable is Japanese.

 

So please do not suggest non English users to test in Sandbox unless you fix this problem.

 

 

Back to the original bug, I reproduced it in my VM and here is the screen record.

There is a higher possibility to trigger it when you drag a tray icon out of or into the expand < panel.

BTW the keyboard shortcut I used to switch IME is Win+Space.

 

Hope this can help your engineers to fix it.

 

 

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Great, thanks for the video. I have forwarded your problem/question to Stardock Support Team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience. Thank you.

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

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