Microsoft ditched the iconic Start menu in Windows 8, and chances are you’re probably missing it. There is no setting to enable it in Windows 8, but with a bunch of third party replacements like Pokki, you can bring the goodness back again.
Go to Pokki.com, wait for the installer to download and install Pokki. No restart is required after installation. You can just hit the Windows key on your keyboard to launch Pokki’s Start menu instead of the Metro screen. From there, you can access all installed applications and folders, as well as search through them all from the bar on top.
Pokki brings a lot more than just a start menu – there is a dedicated app store for Pokki where you can download apps that are web-centric – these apps come with notification support, and you could download the Gmail or Facebook app for a first-hand experience. Give it a shot. If you’re wondering how on earth you should go to the Metro screen after installing Pokki, just hit the tiny icon representing tiles near the Shut Down option in the menu
