Classic Shell 3.5.0

Classic Shell is a collection of features that were available in older versions of Windows but are removed from Vista and Windows 7. It has a classic start menu for Windows 7, it adds a toolbar for Windows Explorer and supports a variety of smaller features. There are 3 major components - Classic Explorer, Classic Start Menu and Classic IE9. Look here for the full list if features.

Classic Shell features:

Classic Start Menu for Windows 7, 8 (with skins)
Toolbar for Windows Explorer
Classic copy UI
Show file size in Explorer status bar

Classic Start Menu is a clone of the original start menu. It has a variety of advanced features:

Drag and drop to let you organize your applications
Options to show Favorites, expand Control Panel, etc
Shows recently used documents. The number of documents to display is customizable
Translated in 35 languages, including Right-to-left support for Arabic and Hebrew
Does not disable the original start menu in Windows. You can access it by Shift+Click on the start button
Right-click on an item in the menu to delete, rename, sort, or perform other tasks
The search box helps you find your programs without getting in the way of your keyboard shortcuts
Available for 32 and 64-bit operating systems
Has support for skins, including additional 3rd party skins
Fully customizable in both looks and functionality
Support for Microsoft’s Active Accessibility
Converts the “All Programs” button in the Windows menu into a cascading menu (Vista and Windows 7)
Implements a customizable start button for Windows 8
And last but not least – it's FREE!

Classic Explorer is a plugin for Windows Explorer that:

Adds a toolbar to Explorer for some common operations (Go to parent folder, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Properties, Email). The toolbar is fully customizable
Replaces the copy UI in Vista and Windows 7 with the more user-friendly “classic” version similar to Windows XP
Handles Alt+Enter in the folder panel of Windows Explorer and shows the properties of the selected folder
Has options for customizing the folder panel to look more like the Windows XP version or to not fade the expand buttons
Can show the free disk space and the total file size in the status bar
Can disable the breadcrumbs in the address bar
Fixes a long list of features that are broken in Windows 7 – missing icon overlay for shared folders, the jumping folders in the navigation pane, missing sorting headers in list view, and more

Classic IE9 is a plugin for Internet Explorer 9 that:

Adds a caption to the title bar so you can see the full title of the page
Shows the security zone in the status bar
Shows the loading progress in the status bar

What's new in this version:

Added support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Added customizable start button
Added a Metro skin for the start menu
Updated all settings for Windows 8
Fixed the missing caption in IE10
Added a setting to control the menu shadows
Added toolbar commands to map and disconnect network drives
Improved the responsiveness of the check for a new version
The check for new version is a separate component that can be skipped during install

Download: Classic Shell 3.5.0 | 8.5 MB (Open Source)
View: Homepage | Screenshot