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This brings back some fond memories of experimenting with many alternative shells including LiteStep. I remember being able to run Windows XP + LiteStep + Chrom

This brings back some fond memories of experimenting with many alternative shells including LiteStep. I remember being able to run Windows XP + LiteStep + Chromium + PuTTy as my daily driver on a refurbished laptop with 256MB of RAM during my student days. Truly the glory days.

zouhair 4y ago
I have yet to find something better than Windowmaker[0]. [0]: https://www.windowmaker.org/ https://www.windowmaker.org/
P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
I'm a linux guy through and through, but there was just something special about being able to play with all the different shells. NONE of them were fully usable the way explorer was, but it was still fun.
- int_19h 4y ago
  It really depends on when. If we're talking Win9x-XP, shells could do everything, and Explorer wasn't really special. From Vista onwards, things started to get "more special", and Win8+ especially killed many old extensibility points.
- bongobingo1 4y ago
  Curious why you feel that way, when they were all generally cloned linux shells [sic] anyway? eg: blackbox <> openbox (now xoblite), or litestep <> afterstep/nextstep? I guess it was a bit more punk to break windows, from some perspectives. Nostalgic to visit the LiteStep website, looks largely unchanged from when I stumbled across it probably circa 2003. I always enjoyed the crispness of the menu chrome and icons from what I always associated with a "BeOS style". http://www.litestep.net/ http://www.litestep.net/
  - P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
    That wasn't my experience.
sanitycheck 4y ago
I've never been happier with an OS than I was with Windows 7, a very minimal LiteStep setup, Launchy, VistaSwitcher and Everything. Small system tray and task icons down the left of the screen, leaving all the rest of the space for applications. Last time I looked at Gnome I could kind of almost set it up like that, but there was still too much stuff on screen.
- arcanemachiner 4y ago
  Pretty much what my setup looked like when I switched to Linux full-time... Other than LiteStep. Never heard of that one.
- trog 4y ago
  8ve been trying to use PowerToys Run as a Launchy replacement in Windows 10 and it is a pale shade. Launchy is incredible.
- prmoustache 4y ago
  The only major problem I have with Gnome are the memory usage and the sheer size of the default adwaita title windows. I understand that in a context that gnome also works very well with a touch screen/tablet but in a desktop context so much space is wasted by those titles.
CapsAdmin 4y ago
Using stardock software like windowblinds was a lot of fun as a child. Thinking back at their software today as a software developer it was pretty incredible how much customizable it was. It would be fun to do a deep dive into their software today. There must be something to learn when it comes to creating customizable gui themes. They are a games company as well. I often feel non-game software made by game developers have some sort of quality and personality that you often can't find elsewhere.

zouhair 4y ago

I have yet to find something better than Windowmaker[0]. [0]: https://www.windowmaker.org/ https://www.windowmaker.org/

P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago

I'm a linux guy through and through, but there was just something special about being able to play with all the different shells. NONE of them were fully usable the way explorer was, but it was still fun.

int_19h 4y ago
It really depends on when. If we're talking Win9x-XP, shells could do everything, and Explorer wasn't really special. From Vista onwards, things started to get "more special", and Win8+ especially killed many old extensibility points.
bongobingo1 4y ago
Curious why you feel that way, when they were all generally cloned linux shells [sic] anyway? eg: blackbox <> openbox (now xoblite), or litestep <> afterstep/nextstep? I guess it was a bit more punk to break windows, from some perspectives. Nostalgic to visit the LiteStep website, looks largely unchanged from when I stumbled across it probably circa 2003. I always enjoyed the crispness of the menu chrome and icons from what I always associated with a "BeOS style". http://www.litestep.net/ http://www.litestep.net/
- P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
  That wasn't my experience.

sanitycheck 4y ago

I've never been happier with an OS than I was with Windows 7, a very minimal LiteStep setup, Launchy, VistaSwitcher and Everything. Small system tray and task icons down the left of the screen, leaving all the rest of the space for applications. Last time I looked at Gnome I could kind of almost set it up like that, but there was still too much stuff on screen.

arcanemachiner 4y ago
Pretty much what my setup looked like when I switched to Linux full-time... Other than LiteStep. Never heard of that one.
trog 4y ago
8ve been trying to use PowerToys Run as a Launchy replacement in Windows 10 and it is a pale shade. Launchy is incredible.
prmoustache 4y ago
The only major problem I have with Gnome are the memory usage and the sheer size of the default adwaita title windows. I understand that in a context that gnome also works very well with a touch screen/tablet but in a desktop context so much space is wasted by those titles.

CapsAdmin 4y ago

Using stardock software like windowblinds was a lot of fun as a child. Thinking back at their software today as a software developer it was pretty incredible how much customizable it was. It would be fun to do a deep dive into their software today. There must be something to learn when it comes to creating customizable gui themes. They are a games company as well. I often feel non-game software made by game developers have some sort of quality and personality that you often can't find elsewhere.