Start11 2.60 Beta Feedback

from Stardock Forums

With the Start11 2.60 beta release today, we are creating this thread so that users can report any observed issues.  

Obtaining Object Desktop Insider Builds

Object Desktop Manager

Object Desktop members can get beta and Insider builds from within Object Desktop Manager with 'Enable Object Desktop Insider builds' enabled:

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Stardock Download Page

Or via their download page in the ‘Object Desktop Insider’ section

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Obtaining Beta Releases

Stardock.com

If a beta was released, Object Desktop Members would see it in the ‘Object Desktop’ section.

Individual purchases would see it on their registration of the product under their download page.

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Steam

  • Right-click the Product in Steam

  • Properties

  • Betas

  • Select the beta branch at the top right (there is no password)

Example

https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/steamwebhelper_2024-02-19_17-44-35.png

Reporting an issue

Please include the following for anything found:

  • Exact Windows version \ build (winver.exe)

  • Detailed steps to recreate the issue seen

  • Screenshots and videos are very helpful.  Videos can be uploaded to a cloud drive service (GoogleDrive, DropBox, OneDrive, YouTube), with a shared link included in your post.  Images can be copied and pasted directly into a post.

  • If there are specific apps that the app does not work (well) with, please note what apps and their exact versions.  If any app is not common, a link to a trial version would be appreciated.

Thank you for your interest and any time you put into making Start11 v2 a better product.

start menu products
14,903 views 44 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Start11 v2.60 Changelog (Released 01/28/2026)

Date

01/28/2026

Version

UI: 2.6
File Version: 2.6.0.2

Changes

  • Adds one new string to the lng file

  • Extends S11 backups to include MMTaskbarMode and TaskbarAl OS values

  • Adds support for the OS DisableContextMenusInStart value 

  • Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_DisableAllAppsButton="1" which disables access to the all apps button

  • Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_RDPShowSignout="1" which allows RDP clients to see the signout option

  • Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_HideShutdownOption="1" which hides the shutdown entry from the power menu for Win10+ styles

  • Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_RDPShowReboot="1" which allows RDP clients to see the reboot option

  • Adds in registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_DisableMenuResizing="1" which stops the user from being able to resize the menu.

  • uk.lng localization updated, credit: https://github.com/velorom

  • de.lng localizations updated. Credit: https://github.com/thomaskelso

  • All other tooltip localizations updated

  • Resolved issue with enhanced taskbar becoming slow to respond if a very large file transfer was in progress (there may have been other triggers too)

  • Added registry key to force disable the OS thumbnails window on the taskbar.  It can be made to show holding down Ctrl before hovering on the taskbar button).  Key is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 name is S11_HideTBPopups and should have a value of "1"

  • Added reg key to force S11 to believe SAB is running.  This may help with an incompatibility report if the issue was due to a detection issue, though we do not know if thats the case  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_FORCESABOptOut = "1"

  • Tweaked tooltips on quick access shortcuts list to show name rather than original tooltips for menu styles where no text label is shown.

  • Added those tooltips to the en.lng file as they had been missing

  • Polish translations updated, Credit: https://github.com/FadeMind

  • Fixed typo in en-us.lng file

  • Resolved issue with filter bar in search still showing internet option when internet search link disabled

  • Tweaked autohide code to resolve issue with a black line when using left or right taskbars on Win11

  • Tweaked search filter bar to filter by file type rather than category for images / docs / music files

  • Added registry key to hide all signout etc options from shutdown menu. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_HideAllSignoutItems = "1"

  • Resolved issue with all apps search field showing incorrectly in some menu styles

  • Made text on all apps search in dark mode less dark

  • Tweaked text colour detection logic for start menu when in dark mode for system but not apps

  • Resolved issue with taskbar not picking up correct colour when using a forced start menu colour sometimes

  • Resolved painting issue on top of rounded top of Win11 style menu

  • 10) Tweak to how clicking on taskbar buttons when using enhanced taskbar in combine mode handles switching between open windows in certain situations

  • Resolved issue with taskbar thumbnails sometimes causing maximized mode to be detected and likewise language picker from the taskbar

  • Resolved issue where viewing a taskbar thumbnail could cause an extra taskbar button to appear briefly.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Known issues

While we appreciate all feedback, please remember that we offer no official support for beta \ preview \ developer channel versions of Windows. If you report issues while in any of those early release channels, you should not expect them to be addressed unless it still exists in a retail version of Windows.

  • TBD
DeskScapes - Bring your desktop background to life.
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

***Reserved***

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello! Is it possible to make it possible to unpin Explorer from the edge of the taskbar? Currently, every new Explorer opening aligns it to the edge of the rounded taskbar. I move it to the edge of the screen and close it. Once opened, it is again aligned to the edge of the taskbar. Or is it just me?

=========================================

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Edition 25H2 build 26200.7462

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Please guys, can you check compatibility with StartAllBack? Start11 became incompatible with it as of his version 3.9.18.5338, because he had to make changes to fix a problem, that showed in the developer builds of 26h2.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Svetloslav, reply 5

Please guys, can you check compatibility with StartAllBack? Start11 became incompatible with it as of his version 3.9.18.5338, because he had to make changes to fix a problem, that showed in the developer builds of 26h2.

As a general rule we do not support insider releases of Windows as they are prone to changes which can waste development time.

I think we would need more details on what you mean by incompatible and what changed in that product.

I would also be interested in what Start11 lacks which is why you need both?

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi and thank you for responding. I use the functionality of StartAllBack for the Taskbar, which is exactly as how it should have been in the first place. In particular the ability to add and work with Toolbars exactly as it was working in Windows 10. This is very important to me. For the start menu I prefer the Start11 implementation, which is beautiful and practical. I am very accustomed to it. Now about the problem. Both pieces of software have been working flawlessly up to and including version 3.9.17.5334 of StartAllBack. Any version after this one, upon installation/update over previous one and in working condition together with Start11, it displays a white screen and definitive crash of StartAllBack. After a few intents to recover, the protection mechanism built-in into StartAllBack kicks-in and StartAllBack deactivates. Normal functionality is restored at this point without StartAllBack. Backword downgrade on top of the current state to v3.9.17.5334 works flawlessly again.

As far as indicated in history changes of StartAllBack we can see following:

    Version 3.9.18 18 Nov 2025
  • Dark mode fixes for newest Insider
  • Enabled new battery icon by default

Please any help will be greatly appreciated.

By the way I am on Windows 11 24h2. The problem persists even in 3.9.20, where supposedly some fixes for the "old" 24h2 were made.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Svetloslav, reply 7

Now about the problem. Both pieces of software have been working flawlessly up to and including version 3.9.17.5334 of StartAllBack. Any version after this one, upon installation/update over previous one and in working condition together with Start11, it displays a white screen and definitive crash of StartAllBack

When you contacted StartAllBack, what was their response?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

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Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Not really a comparable situation. He is a small developer. Can't give support at the level of Stardock. But it looks like I won't be finding it here as well.

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Svetloslav, reply 9

Not really a comparable situation. He is a small developer. Can't give support at the level of Stardock. But it looks like I won't be finding it here as well.

The issue here is the software was working fine together and then stopped after an update with one of the apps.  It does seem reasonable to speak to the developer of that app given it is crashing and nothing changed our side.

Unfortunately when you have two apps working in a similar area there is going to be a risk of conflicts.  We actively added detection to allow both to work together to help those customers who did use both and if we made a change our end which broke it them we would investigate as a priority, but it sounds like this isn't something we have changed.

Thats not to say we will not investigate, but the more information we have on the issue (and what changed), the more chance we have of finding the cause.  Unfortunately some issues could be unfixable if both products need to do the very same thing.

 

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Svetloslav, reply 9

Not really a comparable situation. He is a small developer.

As Neil indicated, if we knew what he changed, perhaps we could help as we have made changes to the few that still use both Start11 and his app. 

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi!

Is it possible to display the keyboard layout in the tray on a second monitor, like in StartAllBack? I really miss this feature.

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Viktor86, reply 12

Hi!

Is it possible to display the keyboard layout in the tray on a second monitor, like in StartAllBack? I really miss this feature.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please elaborate "the keyboard layout in the tray on second monitor" more, what is it actually does.

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

If you have more than one keyboard layout, the one currently in use is shown in the System Tray. Example: Eng (US) and Eng (UK).

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting basj, reply 13

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please elaborate "the keyboard layout in the tray on second monitor" more, what is it actually does.

The keyboard layout should duplicate information on the second screen, so you don't have to look at the main screen when changing layouts.

In general, it would be great to duplicate the entire tray on all screens; this would be very convenient if you work with two or three monitors.

Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Viktor86, reply 15

The keyboard layout should duplicate information on the second screen, so you don't have to look at the main screen when changing layouts.

In general, it would be great to duplicate the entire tray on all screens; this would be very convenient if you work with two or three monitors.


Unfortunately, there is no option to have that within Start11. I have forwarded your request to the Stardock Support Team for their review and recommendations. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We really do appreciate your feedback, Thanks

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

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Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top

This update seems to bring a lot of nice improvements, especially with the dark mode tweaks and the taskbar fixes. I really appreciate the attention to detail on things like filtering search results by file type and fixing the black line when using left/right taskbars. I haven’t tested it yet on all my setups, but so far the registry option to hide all sign-out options looks very useful for keeping the shutdown menu clean. Thanks to the team for addressing these small but important issues it makes Start11 feel much more polished!

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Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top

The 2.60 beta looks solid! The fixes for the taskbar color detection and the all apps search field are especially noticeable. I like how the autohide tweaks seem to remove the black line issue, and the dark mode improvements make a big difference visually. Appreciate the team’s ongoing effort to refine these details it really makes using Start11 feel smoother.

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Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top

Windows 11 25H2

When Autohide is enabled via:

Start11 settings -> Taskbar -> Configure Enhanced Taskbar -> "Enable Start11 autohide mode" enabled

and

"Reserve one pixel at the edge of the screen for compatibility reasons" enabled,

Clicking the Start button or pressing the Windows keyboard key has an additional 1 second delay before showing the Start menu, as compared to having this setting disabled.

However, the delay is not present if "Reserve one pixel at the edge of the screen for compatibility reasons" is disabled.

🤷‍♀️

Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting plowed, reply 19

Windows 11 25H2

When Autohide is enabled via:

Start11 settings -> Taskbar -> Configure Enhanced Taskbar -> "Enable Start11 autohide mode" enabled

and

"Reserve one pixel at the edge of the screen for compatibility reasons" enabled,

Clicking the Start button or pressing the Windows keyboard key has an additional 1 second delay before showing the Start menu, as compared to having this setting disabled.

However, the delay is not present if "Reserve one pixel at the edge of the screen for compatibility reasons" is disabled.

🤷‍♀️

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. I can not reproduce this one. Few details needed.

  1. Windows 11 25H2 OS Build number. Please use Winver.exe to get it.
  2. Taskbar Auto hide enable in Start11 and disable in Windows auto hide setting?
  3. When Reserve one pixel enabled or disabled, you will need to restart your system to set it properly, did you restart your system once you set it?

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top

All,

Start11 2.60 (Start11Config.exe 2.6.0.1) has been released.  For details, please see:

https://forums.stardock.com/540097/get;3985426

As always, thank you for your time, feedback, and support.

Sean Drohan
Product Lifecycle Manager

Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting sdRohan, reply 1

  • Tweaked tooltips on quick access shortcuts list to show name rather than original tooltips for menu styles where no text label is shown.

This is a really nice touch. Thanks :thumbsup:  :grin:  

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Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top

Guys you are awesome!

"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_FORCESABOptOut = "1""

With this beta is hiding the taskbar previews!!!!   !  !  !1

Reply #24 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Smakificator, reply 23

Guys you are awesome!

"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\S11_FORCESABOptOut = "1""

With this beta is hiding the taskbar previews!!!!   !  !  !1

I assume you mean S11_HideTBPopups?

Reply #25 from Stardock Forums Top

I had always a small issue, and since you ironed out most of the problems, here is the issue (probably has to do with Windows). 

When I switch monitor setup, i.e. from a 6 monitor with one of them Portrait (Nr4) and resized taskbar to 2 lines on that monitor, to a 4 monitor setup (all landscape), then the monitor (nr 5- inversed landscape) picks up the setting of the taskbar and moves to 2 lines. When I switch back to 6 monitors the monitor 5 remains in 2 lines and I have to resize the taskbars every time manually. I think most users do not have so many monitors and do not change setups often, and the irritation was small. 

Version 25H2 (OS Build 26200.7462)

Last beta version, but the issue was there since ever.