There are numerous features about WM2003 that I dislike - the unreliable alarms, the all too regular soft resets, the 31 process limit... and that damned awful Start menu!  l couldn't believe, the first time I saw it, that MS could be so dumb as to go back to the Windows 3 Program Manager style of cascading windows for the menu system.  So, when I found Tillanosoft's ProgramMenuPlus, it was just ten minutes before I bought the program.

ProgramMenu provides a traditional cascading menu system, very similar to the normal Start menu system of a PC.  The "Plus" aspect of the program is the ability to replace the top left button with the cascading menu system.  As the product is shareware, it can be used for a trial period in the plus mode, after which it must either be purchased or only launched from the PPC start menu and not directly from the Start button. Even in this reduced mode it is still an excellent product but it truly excels when triggered from the Start button.

Once installed the product is simplicity itself to use.  By default the menu structure is built from the start menu directory in the windows directory.  If used in plus mode, it is only necessary to tap the top left button to display the cascading menus, otherwise it is recommended that the product be installed with a shortcut in the normal start menu to permit easy access.  The text area to the right of the actual start button continues to launch the standard Start menu for access to Settings, Help and etc.

When displayed, the menus include a ProgramMenu entry at the bottom of the top level which permits access to the programs options.  The Exit and Help options are immediately obviously.  The Refresh entry causes the menu structure to be rebuilt from the stored shortcut structure;  this happens automatically whenever the program is started (e.g. soft reset) but the option allows for any changes to be immediately reflected in the menus.  The final option is the Settings which permits an alternative menu structure to be defined elsewhere and used instead of the \Windows\Start Menu\Programs structure, plus a variety of other primarily cosmetic settings.

As I have said before about so many other Pocket PC utilities, this utility provides basic functionality which should have been in Windows Mobile from day one - a sad but all too common criticism of Microsoft.  ProgramMenuPlus is simple in concept, simple to use and yet adds so much functionality which is sorely missing from the OS - all this for just USD$5!

ProgramMenuPlus has to receive a perfect 10/10.