! ! ! WARNING ! ! !
Do NOT purchase from the steam store page, unless you want to screw yourself over.
You're only allowed to install on 5 devices, but they don't tell you that, so if you're like me and haven't been deactivating the software with each fresh install of windows on the same computer.. Then they basically lock you out, with no way of getting the software to work without having to buy it again.
The customer support was of no help, either. I was just sent some generic looking copy-paste reply, with no actual solution to the issue.
Save yourself the frustration and purchase it straight from their site. There is no reason to purchase it here on steam.

Don't buy this software on steam just get it from their website. I was able to use it at first but when my computer crashed once for an unknown reason i rebooted it and this software was begging for a product key which i didn't get by buying it from steam. Please stardock give me a product key. UwU

Since I've been told "the issues are solved!" "change your review" for a few times, and I happen to be deploying a Windows 10 virtual machine recently, so why not give it another spin?

However the outcome is still very disappointing to be honest.


Lemme be serious this time and address the problem in readable human language without satire to be clear and serious:

- Installs without Steam now - seems good, more will follow.
- Cannot activate through Stardock account even if I DID buy ANOTHER copy on Stardock's website, telling me "Start10 is not associated with this account".
- Cannot even activate from Steam if I didn't choose to activate with Steam in the first place, there is no such option for a second time. Now just because I wanted to try to activate it from my Stardock account (which failed), I need to uninstall it and re-install through Steam to activate it properly??????
- Uninstalling Start10 in Control Panel DOESN'T remove it properly. You still need to do it manually with uninstall.exe in Start10 installation folder, how convenient.
- Manually uninstalled Start10, restarted, went back to Steam, and now Start10 in Steam doesn't work at all. Re-downloading doesn't work either. Now this is great!

So I downloaded the installer from Stardock official website, installed and logged in, it works like a charm! Hooray, I solved the problem by having two copies of the same software, can I have a medal?

Point being, Start10 is such a nice piece of software, how can you screw the Steam version SO bad that it's a torture just trying to get it to work?!

If this is not screwing your customers, I sincerely don't know what is.

Anyway below is the satirical and angry review I posted earlier. Yeah the deactivation problem might be solved (can't test at all because I cannot install the Steam version anymore), but are you sure that things are solved at all?

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

Q: What's a good idea for selling your software on Steam?
A: Screw your existing user and tell them you can't register this abomination to the account they've been already using and launch Steam with every single re-install.

And of course DO let them regret not deactivating before doing that.

AVOID. THIS. ABOMINATION. Just buy it from the official Stardock website.

What struck me at first glance was how much customization this app makes possible for the start menu and the taskbar. It offers a wealth of options! The Start Menu can have different styles (Windows 7, Modern Style, and Windows 10), themes, and looks. It can be solid, transparent, have different icon sizes, different sorting methods, and exhibit different behaviors that make the Start Menu much more useful. For example, recently used applications are highlighted, submenus open when you pause on them with the mouse, and Cortana can be replaced!

The Taskbar can be customized based on look, transparency, color, blur, texture, and behavior. I'm hooked on the textures! Some of the textures include: Marble, Metallic, Marble, Carbon Fibre and Dark Wood. Oh, and check this out...you can change the icon used for the Start Menu! It sounds so simple but is pretty neat. My Start Menu icon is a biohazard symbol!!

Start10 gives you incredible control over how the Start Menu and Taskbar behave.

Linux users, particularly KDE users, will recognize many of the features since KDE has had them for years. Thanks to Start 10, Windows users can too.

NOTE: My usage time of 5 minutes is misleading. I've been using Start10 for over 10hrs now. It seems that when Start10 is launched, it logs a few seconds of usage in Steam then detaches from Steam and runs on its own. To make this review, I had to launch Start10 about 60 times to get the 5 minutes of usage.

Simple to use, Easy to configure & of course cheap!

Do not purchase any software from Stardock! Each year, they release a new version that lacks significant new features and is riddled with bugs. Additionally, they consistently bury the previous year's version on Steam in an effort to erase numerous negative reviews.

Although I've bought and endorsed Fences 3 and 4, Start10 and 11, and Curtains on Steam, I now regret having supported Stardock's software in the past.

I like the idea but I think that this software is outdated now.

After the Windows 10 Creators update this is very much needed!
Comes with various Taskbar and Start menu customizability options and does exactly what it should without hogging resources from your computer.

Buggy, limited activations and it's shipped with a broken uninstaller so you can't even get rid of it...

Gets rid of the annoying windows 10 start menu for those that don't like it.
Honestly the search could be better / more accurate.
other than that I am a fan of this product.