No Freeware of the Moment- StartEase 2 for your netbook

Today’s freeware pick is not really just for netbooks but it’s a utility that works with Windows XP and that’s the OS of choice for many netbooks. StartEase 2 is the updated version of a PC Magazine utility that adds a ton of functionality to the plain jane Windows XP start menu. There are far too many features to list them all here but basically StartEase 2 is a program launcher and menu program that is totally configurable so you can build the system you want. You can bookmark any program on the system in the utility and organize all of those programs any way you wish. It’s free and it’s easy to use so if you use Windows XP on your netbook and you want a better start menu then give it a try.
UPDATE: We are receiving reports that this utility is asking those who install it to pay for it. There is no mention anywhere on the site that this utility has any cost associated and since PC Magazine is not in the software business we trustingly assumed this was freeware. Links have been removed to the utility and we are leaving this post up so anyone who may have seen this earlier will understand that the program IS NOT FREE.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Link is the same one as the Axiotron story. So, not Startease 2 at all. Just FYI. :)
No it’s not, just try it. (Thanks for pointing that out).
Freeware? I’m being prompted to pay for this. Anybody else?
Free? I get a PCMag screen that wants $$.
That is very disturbing as PC Mag says nothing about a cost associated with this utility anywhere on the site. I am going to remove the links and modify this post to remove it. Sorry about that and shame on you, PC Mag.
Wait… I would have expected the “Freeware of the Moment” tips to be something that has been tested and proven in practice to be useful. Wouldn’t the pricing issue have come up in that test?
PC Magazine has sold utilities for years. This is not new.
I didn’t have a working system with XP on it to test it. It was recommended by two people, neither mentioned any cost for it.
Yeah, PCMag charges for a lot of its software.
You say “It’s easy to use” yet admit you have never tested it? WTF?