• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Lenovo First Major PC OEM to Bundle Third-Party Windows 8 Start Menu

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,283 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
It's been a long time coming, sensing market resistance to the Start menu-devoid Windows 8, Lenovo became the first major PC OEM to bundle a third-party Start menu emulation software with its PCs. The company is bundling SweetLabs Pokki custom UI suite, which adds a Start menu to the Windows 8 taskbar, and lets you boot the operating system straight to desktop, pole-vaulting the Start screen. Pokki may come pre-installed, or the bloatware disc might have its installers. Lenovo plans to give away Pokki with most of its ThinkPad, IdeaPad, and IdeaCenter products. As the single largest PC OEM, Lenovo's move to bundle such software could force Microsoft to sit up and take notice of what the market wants.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
7,062 (1.04/day)
Location
Asked my ISP.... 0.0
System Name Lynni PS \ Lenowo TwinkPad T480
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Raphael \ i7-8550U Kaby Lake-R
Motherboard ASRock B650M PG Riptide Bios v. 2.02 AMD AGESA 1.1.0.0 \ Lenowo 20L60036MX Bios 1.47
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black (Only middle fan) \ Lenowo WN-2
Memory G.Skill Flare X5 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHZ CL36-36-36-96 AMD EXPO \ Willk Elektronik 2x16GB 2666MHZ CL17
Video Card(s) Asus GeForce RTX™ 4070 Dual OC GPU: 2325-2355 MEM: 1462| Nvidia GeForce MX™ 150 2GB GDDR5 Micron
Storage Gigabyte M30 1TB|Sabrent Rocket 2TB| HDD: 10TB|1TB \ SKHynix 256GB 2242 3x2
Display(s) LG UltraGear 27GP850-B 1440p@165Hz | LG 48CX OLED 4K HDR | AUO 14" 1440p IPS
Case Fractal Design Meshify 2 Tempered Glass White/Black | Lenowo T480 chassis
Audio Device(s) Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W Goldie | 65W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeedy Wireless | Lenowo TouchPad & Logitech G305
Keyboard Akko 3108 DS Horizon V2 Cream Yellow | T480 UK Lumi
Software Win11 Pro 23H2 UK
Benchmark Scores 3DMARK: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89434432? GPU-Z: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v3zbr
hmm it looks a little too Lenovo and less useful :laugh:
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
1,180 (0.21/day)
Location
Australia
Processor Intel i7 4790K
Motherboard Asus Z97 Deluxe
Cooling Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120
Memory Corsair Dominator 1866Mhz 4X4GB
Video Card(s) Asus R290X
Storage Samsung 850 Pro SSD 256GB/Samsung 840 Evo SSD 1TB
Display(s) Samsung S23A950D
Case Corsair 850D
Audio Device(s) Onboard Realtek
Power Supply Corsair AX850
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G710+
Software Windows 10 x64
Its pretty serious when a computer does something like this. Windows 8 is affecting sales because people just don't like it. People want their traditional desktop.

I don't know why Microsoft cant have an option for traditional or modern UI.
 
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
5,632 (1.11/day)
System Name RemixedBeast-NX
Processor Intel Xeon E5-2690 @ 2.9Ghz (8C/16T)
Motherboard Dell Inc. 08HPGT (CPU 1)
Cooling Dell Standard
Memory 24GB ECC
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Nvidia RTX2060 6GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD//2TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster P2350 23in @ 1920x1080 + Dell E2013H 20 in @1600x900
Case Dell Precision T3600 Chassis
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 // Fiio E7 Amp/DAC
Power Supply 630w Dell T3600 PSU
Mouse Logitech G700s/G502
Keyboard Logitech K740
Software Linux Mint 20
Benchmark Scores Network: APs: Cisco Meraki MR32, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR and Lite Router/Sw:Meraki MX64 MS220-8P
That is so gawdy and too android looking for windows 8.

At least bundle Classic Shell and use the Windows 8 theme for it. This doesn't even look that much like the windows 7 start menu and nearer to XP or KDE. o_O
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
826 (0.13/day)
It reminds me alot more of unity than android or K desktop. I do like it though.
 
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
6,457 (1.41/day)
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-13700K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15
Memory 32GB(2x16) DDR5@6600MHz G-Skill Trident Z5
Video Card(s) ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 AMP Holo
Storage 2TB SK Platinum P41 SSD + 4TB SanDisk Ultra SSD + 500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD
Display(s) Acer Predator X34 3440x1440@100Hz G-Sync
Case NZXT PHANTOM410-BK
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium PCIe
Power Supply Corsair 850W
Mouse Logitech Hero G502 SE
Software Windows 11 Pro - 64bit
Benchmark Scores 30FPS in NFS:Rivals
I don't know why Microsoft cant have an option for traditional or modern UI.

Because Ballmer is just plain idiot, or he is intentionally on a crashing course with Microsoft. He is doing huge "mistakes" one after the other, just like the other idiot who took Apple leadership. The world needs some new great visionaries like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs...
 
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
514 (0.12/day)
System Name CUBE_NXT
Processor i9 12900K @ 5.0Ghz all P-cores with E-cores enabled
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Cooling EK AIO Elite Cooler w/ 3 Phanteks T30 fans
Memory 64GB DDR5 @ 5600Mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA 3090Ti Ultra Hybrid Gaming w/ 3 Phanteks T30 fans
Storage 1 x SK Hynix P41 Platinum 1TB, 1 x 2TB, 1 x WD_BLACK SN850 2TB, 1 x WD_RED SN700 4TB
Display(s) Alienware AW3418DW
Case Lian-Li O11 Dynamic Evo w/ 3 Phanteks T30 fans
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME 1000W Titanium
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
It's glorified ad-ware. Look at all those "apps" it wants you to install. This is the same OEM shitware they always bundle, just in the guise of a Start Menu replacement.
 
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
10,881 (1.63/day)
Location
Manchester, NH
System Name Senile
Processor I7-4790K@4.8 GHz 24/7
Motherboard MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
Cooling Be Quiet Pure Rock Air
Memory 16GB 4x4 G.Skill CAS9 2133 Sniper
Video Card(s) GIGABYTE Vega 64
Storage Samsung EVO 500GB / 8 Different WDs / QNAP TS-253 8GB NAS with 2x10Tb WD Blue
Display(s) 34" LG 34CB88-P 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD (3440*1440) *FREE_SYNC*
Case Rosewill
Audio Device(s) Onboard + HD HDMI
Power Supply Corsair HX750
Mouse Logitech G5
Keyboard Corsair Strafe RGB & G610 Orion Red
Software Win 10
LOL, I *still* don't see the "Run..." command.

And when are they going to re-instate the windows explorer search options that were in XP, so you don't have to look up help online everytime. :shadedshu
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Messages
9,781 (2.34/day)
Location
Massachusetts
System Name Americas cure is the death of Social Justice & Political Correctness
Processor i7-11700K
Motherboard Asrock Z590 Extreme wifi 6E
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory 32GB Corsair RGB fancy boi 5000
Video Card(s) RTX 3090 Reference
Storage Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb + Samsung 970 Evo 500Gb
Display(s) Dell - 27" LED QHD G-SYNC x2
Case Fractal Design Meshify-C
Audio Device(s) on board
Power Supply Seasonic Focus+ Gold 1000 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502 spectrum
Keyboard AZIO MGK-1 RGB (Kaith Blue)
Software Win 10 Professional 64 bit
Benchmark Scores the MLGeesiest
Windows 8 is a TRULY poor release. FanboY's be damned, U know it's true, it is disliked across the MAJORITY of PC users, and takes either a blind follower to like it, or a total yuppie to get it, SIMPLY because it's new.

Wake Me when they bundle it with a Copy of a PROPER follow up to 7.
 
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
1,870 (0.32/day)
Processor RyZen R9 3950X
Motherboard ASRock X570 Taichi
Cooling Coolermaster Master Liquid ML240L RGB
Memory 64GB DDR4 3200 (4x16GB)
Video Card(s) RTX 3050
Storage Samsung 2TB SSD
Display(s) Asus VE276Q, VE278Q and VK278Q triple 27” 1920x1080
Case Zulman MS800
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply Seasonic 650W
VR HMD Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest V1, Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 64bit
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
174 (0.03/day)
Processor Intel Core i7 5820k
Motherboard MSI X99S-GAMING7
Cooling Corsair H105
Memory 16GB G.SKILL DDR4
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX1070 Gaming G1
Storage Samsung 840 Evo 256GB
Display(s) Acer Predator XB271HU
Case Corsair 800D
Audio Device(s) ASUS XONAR
Power Supply Corsair HX850i
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Filco Majestouch
Software Windows 10
Under the hood win 8 is a good OS. However there is a very good reason why we downgrade every new pc from win8 to win7. No one likes the confusing interface and unclosable "apps" it directs you to...
 
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
5,632 (1.11/day)
System Name RemixedBeast-NX
Processor Intel Xeon E5-2690 @ 2.9Ghz (8C/16T)
Motherboard Dell Inc. 08HPGT (CPU 1)
Cooling Dell Standard
Memory 24GB ECC
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Nvidia RTX2060 6GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD//2TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster P2350 23in @ 1920x1080 + Dell E2013H 20 in @1600x900
Case Dell Precision T3600 Chassis
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 // Fiio E7 Amp/DAC
Power Supply 630w Dell T3600 PSU
Mouse Logitech G700s/G502
Keyboard Logitech K740
Software Linux Mint 20
Benchmark Scores Network: APs: Cisco Meraki MR32, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR and Lite Router/Sw:Meraki MX64 MS220-8P
LOL, I *still* don't see the "Run..." command.

And when are they going to re-instate the windows explorer search options that were in XP, so you don't have to look up help online everytime. :shadedshu


 
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
298 (0.07/day)
System Name Game Raver
Processor Core i7-770K
Motherboard ASRock Z170A-X1
Cooling Coolermaster AIO
Memory 16gb
Video Card(s) GTX 1060
Storage 1TB Crucial SSD. 4TB Seagate HDD
Display(s) AOC 1080p 144Hz
Case NZXT Phantom 410 /w/ Silverstone FN121P-BL fans
Audio Device(s) ASUS Essence STX
Power Supply Corsair AX760
Well, they are ahead of the other partners when it comes to forecasting the amount of W8 haters XD.
 
Top