Classic Shell no longer in development, and now open source

[Porthos]

http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8147&sid=3c564f6d4684d86913d31f90c3c88668

Sad news, everyone.

After months of deliberation, I have decided to stop the development of Classic Shell.

It was a great adventure for me that lasted 8 fun and exciting years. It started back in 2009 as a simple weekend project and over time grew to be a hugely popular software brand with many millions of downloads. It was in large part due to all of you, the active Classic Shell community, that reported issues, suggested features, provided translations, developed new skins and participated in forum discussions. My thanks go to you for your continued support and encouragement.

And of course, special thanks to Gaurav Kale, who stuck with me from the early days to the end. His passion for all things Windows was instrumental to the Classic Shell success.

There were few factors that led to my decision:
1) Lack of free time. I have other hobbies that demand my time, some related to software and some not. It requires a lot of effort to add new major features to Classic Shell and keep it relevant. Even keeping it running on newer version of Windows is a lot of work. That leads me to point #2

2) Windows 10 is being updated way too frequently (twice a year) and each new version changes something that breaks Classic Shell. And

3) Each new version of Windows moves further away from the classic Win32 programming model, which allowed room for a lot of tinkering. The new ways things are done make it very difficult to achieve the same customizations

So, moving forward, I am making the latest version of Classic Shell open-source and adding it back to SourceForge (Classic Shell download | SourceForge.net), where it all began. I encourage other people to fork it and go with it.

I will keep the MediaFire download mirror for another 6 months. The forum on Classic Shell Index page will stay open until the end of 2018, however I will not frequently participate in the discussions.

Thanks again, everyone
All the best
Ivo Beltchev

 

[GTP]

Although I never used it personally, I'd just like to say thank you for all the time and effort you've put in.
There are many millions of users who I'm sure - like me - are grateful for it.
All the best.

 

[phaZed]

At least it's back on Sourceforge... I have no doubt a project like this will get picked back up by someone.

 

[glricht]

Classic Shell was my go-to program back when Windows 8 was what people were using. Don't remember how many Classic Shell's I installed, but it was a lot. Thanks for making it available!

 

[TechPJC]

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/12/04/classic-shell-developer-stops-development/

 

[cypress]

I used the program a couple times but my go-to is Startisback.

 

[cam w]

Thank you! Best of luck with your future endeavors!

 

[seashore]

Classic Shell was my go-to program back when Windows 8 was what people were using. Don't remember how many Classic Shell's I installed, but it was a lot. Thanks for making it available!

My thoughts exactly. I installed it on every single Windows 8 computer I saw (and still do when I now - rarely - see Windows 8), and every single customer was grateful. Thanks Ivo.

 

[Blues]

Was fun while it lasted as they say good work and it certainly sounds like it is time to walk away and leave it to the community to use and develop as they wish.

 

[frase]

Great app, used it many times in Win8 times - PROPS!
Still using it on Windows 10 - using custom buttons.