Klickstartmenu

Klickstartmenu Version 1.0.2044 (2026/09/09) Klickstartmenu is a configurable taskbar and Start menu for OS/2 and ArcaOS. ABOUT THE NAME The name "Klickstartmenu" is a deliberate reference to "Klickstartleiste", the term IBM used for the toolbar in the German version of OS/2. This characteristically unusual piece of IBM German has become part of the system's charm for many users. "Klickstartmenu" continues that naming tradition while combining it with the familiar Start menu concept. Klickstartmenu is inspired by the desktop environments of the Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows 2000 era, while remaining a native OS/2 Presentation Manager application. COMPATIBILITY Klickstartmenu is currently recommended for use with ArcaOS. The program can also start and run under IBM OS/2 Warp 4, but several functions are not yet fully compatible or available there. Plain Warp 4 support is still experimental and should currently be considered a test environment only. If ACPiStat is not installed, no battery icon is shown and no battery polling is started. The Lock command first uses the XWorkplace lock object when available. If XWorkplace is not installed, Klickstartmenu falls back to the native OS/2 lockup function. FEATURES * Configurable taskbar with task buttons for running applications * Configurable Start menu * Taskbar docking at the top, bottom, left or right screen edge * Adaptive horizontal and vertical taskbar layouts * Per-edge taskbar position and size profiles * Left and right Quick Launch areas * Drag-and-drop Quick Launch reordering * Recent programs, folders and documents * Run window with history and completion * Clock, tray, battery, network, volume and display functions * Small and large icons * Automatic hiding with configurable delay * Optional desktop work-area reduction * Configurable fonts and tooltips * Experimental FreeType text rendering * Custom bitmap images for the Start menu, Start button and fixed Quick Launch buttons * Windows 95/98/2000-style menu appearance and behavior * Configurable menu shadows and animations * Windows 2000-style menu fade animations * Configurable application and task filtering * Windows belonging to the same application can be combined into a single task button * Workgroups for managing several application windows together * Workgroup buttons directly in the taskbar * Workgroup Manager * PM Navigator for Workplace Shell folders * Back, Forward and Up navigation * Address field with folder suggestions * Icon, Tree and Details view switching for WPS folders * Reuse of already open WPS folder windows in navigation history * Experimental WPS window styling * Integrated update checking on systems with curl installed * Restart Taskbar function * Experimental custom mouse pointer with soft shadow * Welcome and update information screens * Multi-language user interface * Fonts can be changed in the program windows by right-clicking or through the corresponding View menu MAJOR CHANGES SINCE VERSION 1.0.1501 * New PM Navigator for WPS folders * Experimental WPS window styling * Taskbar docking on all four screen edges * Improved horizontal and vertical taskbar layouts * Per-edge taskbar geometry profiles * Improved Workgroups and Workgroup Manager integration * Reorganized configuration and context menus * Localization improvements * Numerous fixes and improvements INSTALLATION Extract all files into a directory of your choice and start startmenu.exe. ksmcore.dll must remain in the same directory as startmenu.exe. It is required for the WPS integration and PM Navigator functions. If ksmcore.dll cannot be loaded, Klickstartmenu continues to run, but the WPS integration and PM Navigator are disabled and a warning is shown. Klickstartmenu stores its configuration files in the same directory. The program can be used without external bitmap files because the standard interface images are embedded in the executable. START MENU Open the Start menu by clicking the Start button. The fixed entries can include: * Programs * Documents * Settings * Search * Help * Run * Lock * Exit The Documents menu first shows the contents of the selected Documents folder. At the bottom it also contains submenus for recently used programs and folders and recently used documents. Right-click a fixed Start menu entry to open its context menu. Depending on the entry, this menu can be used to: * Open or refresh the associated folder * Copy the folder path * Select a different Programs or Documents folder * Return to automatic folder selection * Assign or remove a custom icon * Hide the entry Hidden fixed entries can be restored through the Start button context menu. For Documents, automatic folder selection uses the configured folder first, then HOME, then HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH. If these are unavailable, the Desktop folder is used as a fallback. START BUTTON CONTEXT MENU Right-click the Start button to configure Klickstartmenu. The main configuration areas are organized as: * Customize Start menu * Customize Start button * Window styles * Menu effects * Language * Manage Workgroups * Show filter * Maintenance * Show welcome screen * Product information * Check for updates * Restart Klickstartmenu * Exit Klickstartmenu The Maintenance submenu contains commands for resetting all settings and cleaning log files. PM NAVIGATOR The PM Navigator adds an Explorer-like toolbar to supported Workplace Shell folder windows. It provides: * Back * Forward * Up * Address field * Folder suggestions while typing * Icon view * Tree view * Details view * Navigation history Back and Forward reuse an already open WPS folder window when possible instead of blindly opening another copy. The default navigation mode keeps the normal Workplace Shell behavior. An experimental in-place navigation mode is also available. WPS WINDOW STYLES Experimental WPS window styling is available through: Start button context menu -> Window styles -> WPS (highly experimental) The WPS styles use a system-wide Presentation Manager hook and therefore affect Workplace Shell folder windows globally. A warning is shown the first time the experimental WPS styling is enabled. Most WPS styles are available for testing. The OS/2 Warp 4 style is currently marked as unfinished and cannot be selected. "Martins PM-Navigator" is available as a separate experimental WPS-related option. WORKGROUPS Workgroups allow several application windows to be collected into a group and handled as a unit. The concept is similar to the Workplace Shell "Work Folder" feature already built into OS/2. Klickstartmenu Workgroups are independent of Workplace Shell folders and can combine programs, documents and supported Workplace Shell objects regardless of where they are located. A workgroup can contain several entries and can be represented by its own button in the taskbar. Opening a workgroup restores or activates the windows belonging to it. If a matching window is already open, Klickstartmenu attempts to activate the existing window instead of starting another copy. To add a window to a workgroup directly from the taskbar: 1. Right-click the corresponding task button. 2. Open the Workgroup submenu. 3. Select the desired workgroup. A new workgroup can also be created directly from the task button context menu. A window may belong to more than one workgroup. Workgroups do not have to remain visible in the taskbar. Hidden workgroups remain available in the Workgroup Manager and can be shown again at any time. WORKGROUP MANAGER The Workgroup Manager provides a central interface for creating, renaming, removing and organizing workgroups. It contains: * A tree containing all available workgroups * A detailed contents list for the selected workgroup * An "Add windows" view for suitable currently open windows * Toolbar commands for common workgroup operations * Search and filtering * Drag-and-drop support * A resizable information area * Context-sensitive status bar help Entries can be removed or reordered. The stored order is used when the workgroup is opened. Several currently open windows can be selected in the Add windows view and added to the selected workgroup at once. Only windows that Klickstartmenu can identify reliably enough to restore later are shown in the Add windows view. Workplace Shell folders require a reliable WPS object or folder identity. Depending on the folder and Workplace Shell configuration, enabling the full path in WPS folder title bars can make additional folders available. WPS objects that cannot be identified reliably can still be added by drag and drop. One entry in a workgroup can be designated as the active window. After the workgroup has been opened, Klickstartmenu attempts to bring this window to the foreground. The Workgroup Manager interface is available in: * German * English * Spanish * French * Dutch * Portuguese KEYBOARD ACCESS AND PROGRAM OBJECTS The following command-line parameters can be assigned to Workplace Shell Program objects: startmenu.exe /startmenu Opens or closes the Start menu. startmenu.exe /run Opens or closes the Run window. startmenu.exe /lockup Locks the Desktop. The aliases /lock, -lock and -lockup are also accepted. If Klickstartmenu is already running, the command is forwarded to the existing instance instead of starting a second taskbar. ASSIGNING HOTKEYS UNDER ARCAOS 1. Create a new Program object on the Desktop or in a folder. 2. Enter the full path to startmenu.exe in the Program path field. 3. Enter one of the parameters in the Parameters field: /startmenu /run /lockup 4. Open the Program object's properties. 5. Assign the desired function key or keyboard shortcut. 6. Close the properties notebook and save the changes. RUN WINDOW The Run window starts programs, opens folders and accepts paths. Previously used entries are stored in the Run history. The window also supports completion for known entries. Press Enter to execute the current entry. Press Escape once to clear the input. Press Escape again while the input is empty to close the window. QUICK LAUNCH Klickstartmenu provides a left and a right Quick Launch area. Quick Launch objects can be opened with the mouse and reordered by drag and drop. A position marker indicates where the object will be inserted. The right Quick Launch area contains fixed functions such as Run, Recent items and Help Center. CUSTOM ICONS AND BITMAPS Klickstartmenu can be used without external bitmap files. Embedded images and Workplace Shell icons are used automatically. Custom BMP files can be assigned by drag and drop or through the appropriate context menus. To replace the vertical image on the left side of the Start menu, drag a BMP file onto the image area or use its context menu. Custom icons can also be assigned to fixed Start menu entries. Icons or bitmap images with a size of 32 x 32 pixels are recommended for individual Start menu entries. Assigned images are copied to the theme directory and recorded in theme.txt. For a Windows 95-style appearance, users may optionally adapt icons from the independent Chicago95 project on GitHub. Chicago95 is not included with or affiliated with Klickstartmenu. RIGHT QUICK LAUNCH ICONS The fixed icons in the right Quick Launch area can be replaced with custom BMP files. The following filenames are used for the normal icon size: * run.bmp - Run * recent.bmp - Recent items * help.bmp - Help Center For large icons: * 32run.bmp - Run * 32recent.bmp - Recent items * 32help.bmp - Help Center Restart Klickstartmenu after adding or replacing one of these files. TRAY ICONS The standard tray icons are embedded in the executable. Optional external BMP files next to the executable can override embedded icons. If ACPiStat is unavailable, the battery icon is omitted automatically. VERTICAL START MENU BITMAP TEMPLATE An OpenOffice Draw file is included as a template for creating the vertical Start menu bitmap. To export the finished bitmap: 1. Open the template in OpenOffice Draw. 2. Edit the text and design as required. 3. Select the complete vertical design with the mouse. 4. Open the File menu and select Export. 5. Enable Selection in the export window. 6. Select BMP as the file format. 7. Choose a filename and export the image. 8. Drag the exported BMP file onto the vertical image area of the Start menu. LICENSE Klickstartmenu: Freeware This program may be used free of charge. Redistribution of the original, unmodified archive is permitted. The program is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. The author is not liable for any damage resulting from its use. PM Navigator: BSD 3-Clause License Copyright (c) 2026, OS2World AUTHOR Developed by J.P.M. in 2026. ------------------------------------------------------------- Major changes since 1.0.1501: New PM Navigator for WPS folders Experimental WPS window styling Taskbar docking on all four screen edges Improved horizontal and vertical taskbar layouts Per-edge taskbar geometry profiles Improved Workgroups and Workgroup Manager integration Reorganized configuration and context menus Localization improvements Numerous fixes and improvements