Quick answer
Compare StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher using current release notes, the exact interface features you need, and your ability to troubleshoot Windows shell changes. ExplorerPatcher is a separate open-source project; a shared customization goal does not make its settings or recovery procedures interchangeable.
What matters for this task
Open source and commercial licensing describe different aspects of a project, not an automatic safety or reliability score. For either tool, provenance, compatible releases, and a usable removal path remain important.
Steps to follow
- Identify the required taskbar, Start menu, or Explorer behavior rather than comparing names alone.
- Read the current StartAllBack release history and ExplorerPatcher project guidance for your Windows build.
- Test one tool on a clean baseline, noting the actions needed to configure and remove it.
- Compare the same window-switching, search, file-management, and sign-in tasks before deciding.
Verify the result
Record both documented capabilities and your own observations. Do not treat a GitHub issue count as a direct measurement of defect rate or product quality.
Limits and rollback
Remove the first shell modification before evaluating the second. Avoid copying compatibility workarounds between products without verifying their relevance.
Questions about this task
Does open source automatically mean every binary is trustworthy?
No. Verify that the binary comes from the intended project and release.
Can I combine both to get all features?
Establish a clean one-tool baseline first. Overlapping changes make compatibility and recovery harder to evaluate.
Primary sources
Publisher claims and Windows procedures are linked below. The comparison and diagnostic steps are editorial guidance, not a claim of hands-on Windows testing.
Windows 11 download · Review compatibility and the publisher’s license terms before installing.
Download for Windows 11 File source and installation notes