Software Alternatives & Startups

Breaking Smart VS ShellNewHandler

Compare Breaking Smart VS ShellNewHandler and see what are their differences

Breaking Smart

A binge-worthy collection of tech analysis in essay form

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Rating
0 reviews
ShellNewHandler

SourceForge.net: ShellNewHandler details page

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0 reviews
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, ShellNewHandler seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 2 times since March 2021.

social mentions
0 vs 2
Startups popularity
100% vs 0%

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

BS
Breaking Smart
ShellNewHandler
Website breakingsmart.com sourceforge.net
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

BS
Breaking Smart 5 features
ShellNewHandler 0 features
  • Insightful Technology Analysis
    Breaking Smart offers deep, thoughtful analysis of how software and technology are reshaping industries, economies, and society. The essays draw on historical parallels and interdisciplinary thinking to provide a nuanced understanding of technological change.
  • Free High-Quality Content
    The site provides its long-form essays and content freely accessible to readers, making sophisticated technology and strategy thinking available without a paywall for most of its core material.
  • Unique Philosophical Framework
    Breaking Smart, primarily authored by Venkatesh Rao, presents a distinctive framework for understanding innovation, drawing on concepts like 'software eating the world' and offering original mental models that readers can apply to their own thinking and decision-making.
  • Well-Structured Long-Form Writing
    The content is organized into seasons and serialized essays that build upon each other, creating a cohesive narrative arc that allows readers to develop a progressively deeper understanding of the themes explored.
  • Appeals to Strategic Thinkers
    The site is especially valuable for entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, and strategists who want to think beyond surface-level trends and understand the deeper structural shifts driven by technology and software adoption.

Possible disadvantages

  • Dense and Academic Tone
    The writing style can be quite dense, abstract, and intellectually demanding, which may alienate casual readers or those looking for practical, immediately actionable advice rather than theoretical frameworks.
  • Irregular Publishing Schedule
    Content updates can be sporadic and infrequent, with long gaps between new essays or seasons, which can make it difficult for readers to stay engaged or build a regular reading habit around the site.
  • Narrow Ideological Perspective
    The site tends to present a strongly techno-optimist viewpoint, which may not adequately address legitimate concerns about technology's negative impacts on inequality, privacy, labor displacement, and other social issues.
  • Limited Interactivity and Community
    Breaking Smart functions primarily as a one-way publication with limited community features, comments, or interactive elements, making it harder for readers to engage in discussion or get clarification on complex ideas.
  • Niche Audience Appeal
    The content is highly specialized and caters to a relatively niche audience of tech-savvy intellectuals and strategists. It may feel inaccessible or irrelevant to a broader audience seeking more general technology news or advice.

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

BS
Breaking Smart
ShellNewHandler

Overall verdict

  • Breaking Smart is a well-regarded resource offering thoughtful, high-quality writing on technology, strategy, and long-term thinking, created by Venkatesh Rao. It's valued for its intellectual depth rather than surface-level content.

Why this product is good

  • Features insightful, well-researched essays on technology trends and their societal impact
  • Created by Venkatesh Rao, a respected thinker known for original and nuanced perspectives
  • Focuses on long-term, big-picture thinking rather than fleeting news or hype
  • Offers a free archive and newsletter that make the ideas accessible
  • Encourages readers to think critically about software, innovation, and the future

Recommended for

  • Technologists and entrepreneurs interested in strategic, long-term thinking
  • Readers who enjoy in-depth essays over quick, shallow content
  • Innovators and product thinkers wanting fresh perspectives on how software reshapes society
  • Anyone curious about the intersection of technology, culture, and future trends

Overall verdict

  • ShellNewHandler is a niche, lightweight utility hosted on SourceForge designed to give users more control over the Windows 'New' context menu (the ShellNew menu). It can be considered good for its specific narrow use case, but it is an older, minimally maintained tool that may not suit all users, especially those on modern Windows versions.

Why this product is good

  • Provides direct control over customizing the Windows right-click 'New' menu, allowing users to add or remove file type entries
  • Lightweight and free, without bundled bloatware typical of some other free utilities
  • Simple and focused in scope, making it easy to understand for its specific purpose
  • Open distribution via SourceForge allows transparency and no-cost access

Recommended for

  • Power users who want to declutter or customize the Windows New context menu
  • IT administrators managing standardized desktop environments across multiple machines
  • Users comfortable with older utility-style tools and Windows registry-related tweaks
  • Not recommended for casual users seeking modern, actively supported software with regular updates

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
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Breaking Smart
ShellNewHandler
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

BS
Breaking Smart 0 mentions
ShellNewHandler 2 mentions

Tracking Breaking Smart since May 2026.

  • I recently got libreoffice, but now the new option in right click looks like a mess. Can someone help me get rid of them please?
    Use Shell New Handler. Run the portable app and simply untick the items you don't want to appear in your new context menu. Source: about 4 years ago
  • This menu should be easy to add/remove programs to... Who is really creating Access Databases from this menu often enough to keep it here? (Not me!) Is there an easy way to edit this?
    I've always used ShellNewHandler for this. It's a really simple portable utility that allows you to remove most of the items from that menu. Tested it out on Windows 11 and it's still compatible. Source: over 5 years ago

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