Is this possible?

Hi, I have just upgraded to windows 8 and after initial grumblings I'm liking it what I see!

I have a dual monitor setup and have extended the desktop so I have my shortcuts on one and the metro UI on the other.

Can I have the metro UI one one screen and the taskbar, or even better a start menu on the other? I know there's lots of start menus you can get but wondered if there's a hack to achieve the above?

all i can say is install this Welcome to Classic Shell

That's not what I'm after from what I can see. I want to be able to use a start menu and the metro UI on different monitors at the same time.

Guessing not

Unfortunately you can't, it's just one or the other.

[SARCASM]
Mind you, some will say that you're doing it wrong and you need to learn how to use the new style. The new style is reportedly a lot better in every way and it's the user who is at fault for not understanding how to use the new style. Remember, it's not what Windows can do for you, it's what you can do for Windows.
[/SARCASM]

Lol, I'm getting used to then new style but when you have lots of program's installed a start menu is easier for grouping them together than just a big list..

Im hoping a hack comes put allowing it then. Would even pay for it!

@ OP I've never tested this, it's just a theory. But you might be able to install Dexpot (virtual desktops software) on your PC. It allows you to have different desktop icons for each virtual desktop. And maybe different taskbars for each desktop. Maybe you can have a Metro/Modern display on one monitor, and another desktop on another monitor that shows your classic desktop, taskbar, Start button (which you would have to obtain elsewhere since MS officially removed it, Start8 is a good choice but costs around $5), etc. Although when you press the Windows button to make Metro appear that might make it come up on all your monitors. It's worth looking into.

Hope I gave you some ideas!

Ray8 said:

Unfortunately you can't, it's just one or the other.

[SARCASM]
Mind you, some will say that you're doing it wrong and you need to learn how to use the new style. The new style is reportedly a lot better in every way and it's the user who is at fault for not understanding how to use the new style. Remember, it's not what Windows can do for you, it's what you can do for Windows.
[/SARCASM]

Click to expand...

Windows 8 is definitely not intuitive to me. But then, not much is. I'm a logic person, and I can't seem to get over it. Sigh . . .

Thanks enigma, downloaded it to try out. At the moment pressing start only brings the UI upon one monitor, the other screen is the desktop but without the bar t the bottom, so will give it a try.

Got other more pressing issues to fix first. I can't install my printer and I can't get the ultra fast boot to work even though my mobo supports it..

The joys of a new operating system!

@ Preacher: Glad I could help, or at least try to help. Even if Dexpot doesnt solve your issue, it's still a really good app and it's definitely worth keep keeping. It's very customizable, explore the options and tinker around with it. I'm sure you'll agree.

When you say "press Start", did you install some kind of 3rd part Start button app like Start8, etc? I assume that's what you meant. Is the Start button coming up on one monitor what you had wanted to happen? What about when you press the Windows key? Does that bring up Metro or do you have it disabled? If it does, does it (Metro screen) come up on all monitors? I assume it would, since it's a universal hotkey. It can be changed though.

Yeah I meant windows not start. Haven't installed a start menu yet but intend on getting start8.

At the moment with normal win8 pressing windows opens metro on one screen and the other is a blank desktop (I have put some shortcuts on there).it works quite well as I can keep chrome or Firefox on there and it's not affected by going to metro.

Having the start menu on the 2nd screen would just make it perfect! Will post back and let you know if it works

RetroUI is supposed to have pretty extensive multi-monitor support for Windows 8.