3 ms·

I've long thought that Windows NT might make a pretty good OS if it weren't married to the Microsoft Windows interface. I know I'm abusing the terminology here,

by msla 4y ago

I've long thought that Windows NT might make a pretty good OS if it weren't married to the Microsoft Windows interface. I know I'm abusing the terminology here, but only because the concept of a replaceable graphical shell is utterly foreign to an OS which began as one of many replaceable graphical shells for MS-DOS.

mscdex 4y ago
There are still some alternative shells that exist, even for Windows 10 and 11, including xoblite (inspired by blackbox I believe) [1] and Cairo Shell [2]. [1] https://xoblite.net/docs/ https://xoblite.net/docs/ [2] https://cairoshell.com/ https://cairoshell.com/
- jcelerier 4y ago
  Oof, I must still have my xoblite config from 2006-2007 somewhere on a hard drive backup, thanks for the nostalgia
spijdar 4y ago
Strictly speaking, I don't think there's any technological reason why you couldn't replace the shell, although practically I'd bet the boot chain will refuse to load e.g. a replacement compositor that's not signed by Microsoft, not to mention the lack of API documentation at that level. I mention it since sometimes I daydream about trying to force a newer Windows runtime/kernel to load an older shell... Still, in a manner of speaking, this is encouraged for the Server SKUs, which IIRC Microsoft is trying to push the "GUI-less" version which you do all configuration on remotely with powershell and DCOM and the other half dozen RPC interfaces in Windows. It's not a replacement shell, but it is an example of running WinNT with the UI front-end hacked off.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- snazz 4y ago
  Getting rid of Explorer and using a different shell is much easier than you're thinking, just hold control+shift and right-click the taskbar, then close Explorer. However, you're still running dwm.exe at that point, which gives you window management, alt+tab, and access to Task Manager. Replacing that part of Windows would be harder.
hnlmorg 4y ago
1. You can replace the graphical shell for NT. Wikipedia even lists a few popular shells: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternative_shells_for_Windows https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternative_shells_f... 2. NT did not begin of as a shell for DOS. You’re thinking of the other Windows desktop lineage that ended with Windows ME. 3. Even Windows 3.x and 9x (the OSs that did use DOS as a bootloader) supported alternative shells. It was literally just a one line change in a config file. I authored one such shell for Win95.
stuaxo 4y ago
Friend of mine says he used to use Windows 2k, but with cmd.exe as the shell and launch module his module tracker from there.

by msla 4y ago

mscdex 4y ago

There are still some alternative shells that exist, even for Windows 10 and 11, including xoblite (inspired by blackbox I believe) [1] and Cairo Shell [2]. [1] https://xoblite.net/docs/ https://xoblite.net/docs/ [2] https://cairoshell.com/ https://cairoshell.com/

jcelerier 4y ago
Oof, I must still have my xoblite config from 2006-2007 somewhere on a hard drive backup, thanks for the nostalgia

spijdar 4y ago

Strictly speaking, I don't think there's any technological reason why you couldn't replace the shell, although practically I'd bet the boot chain will refuse to load e.g. a replacement compositor that's not signed by Microsoft, not to mention the lack of API documentation at that level. I mention it since sometimes I daydream about trying to force a newer Windows runtime/kernel to load an older shell... Still, in a manner of speaking, this is encouraged for the Server SKUs, which IIRC Microsoft is trying to push the "GUI-less" version which you do all configuration on remotely with powershell and DCOM and the other half dozen RPC interfaces in Windows. It's not a replacement shell, but it is an example of running WinNT with the UI front-end hacked off.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
snazz 4y ago
Getting rid of Explorer and using a different shell is much easier than you're thinking, just hold control+shift and right-click the taskbar, then close Explorer. However, you're still running dwm.exe at that point, which gives you window management, alt+tab, and access to Task Manager. Replacing that part of Windows would be harder.

hnlmorg 4y ago

1. You can replace the graphical shell for NT. Wikipedia even lists a few popular shells: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternative_shells_for_Windows https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alternative_shells_f... 2. NT did not begin of as a shell for DOS. You’re thinking of the other Windows desktop lineage that ended with Windows ME. 3. Even Windows 3.x and 9x (the OSs that did use DOS as a bootloader) supported alternative shells. It was literally just a one line change in a config file. I authored one such shell for Win95.

stuaxo 4y ago

Friend of mine says he used to use Windows 2k, but with cmd.exe as the shell and launch module his module tracker from there.