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Boom.

LiteStep.

Well, LiteStep and E-Sense (Enlightment port) was two OpenSource attempts to replace the Explorer shell. And they are not alone, cast a look at desktopian.

We're already cluttered with replacement shells ! The problem with that under win32 is the undocumented APIs, not the coding skills.

Now, the point: Litestep does nothing to your system. Nothing! If anyone ever has any problems with their system because of Litestep, it's because they didn't properly read the docs. The installation of LS only requires that you unzip LS into its own directory within the root dir and then set Windows' default shell to the path where the LS executable is. If you don't want to run LS as your shell anymore, then all you need to do is set the default shell back to Explorer.exe and delete LS' directory (if you want).

Of course! there are some problems with LS on Windows though. Microsoft despises the idea that a 3rd party (GPL'd software at that... yes, LS has been GPL'd for a few years now and has been in very active development since) development group has been at all successful with creating a new GUI for Windows. Do you really expect it to work perfectly? I sure hope not. The biggest problems are with xceed, hotline (both the respective developers (acknowledged) problems), and Wise Installer (which really isn't an issue anymore -- there was a fault in the installer that made it look for Explorer as the shell each time it installed an app). The other major known problems are in nt5 where MS decided to have Explorer itself render some of the important system tray icons (such as dialup, network, printer, etc.). Therefore, any alternative shell on Win32 won't be able to show these icons. That's MS' fault.

Most of the other problems with Litestep usually involve a module (aka plugin) here or there that has been coded poorly. Litestep's functionality comes from the hundreds of 3rd party modules available (see Modulo).... and what keeps the shell going is its 1000+ themes (now even available via themes.org). There is bound to be problems with LS with so many variables involved. Is Linux somehow different than LS in this way? I don't think so. Either way, just like *nix, LS has great 3rd party support available. There's the LS Mailing List, several IRC channels (on efnet - mirrored on openprojects.net via a linkbot), and several online forums, as well as online tutorials and docs (all linked from FPN).

The good points of Litestep and other shells are endless however. Who would dare say that Explorer does not crash? ... or that it uses up too many resources in Windows? This is the first advantage to an alt. shell in Win32. Litestep is especially very light on resources compared to Explorer (uses about 1.5mb on my nt5 box). Litestep also helps to bring added funtionality to your Windows box... the main functionality being: virtually unlimited hotkeys, amp controls, shortcuts, wharf, multiple popup menus, etc., etc. Litestep adds a ton of funtionality to Windows. Think of an interface that you'd like, and you can probably create it using Litestep and its modules. The configuration is completely text based (uses a step.rc -- LS was originally modeled towards mimicing afterstep) and, as of the 11/28/2000 build, supports includes. It's not exactly a themer's paradise... there's a decent learning curve, just like Linux... but it is extremely customizable, and is usually very stable. I myself have not had LS crash since April00 (and I've used 100% of the time).

Anyway, as I mentioned, there are ton of LS and shell-related sites out there, all linked from FPN. There's also a decent installation/upgrade tutorial available.

Well, maybe Windows Programming isn't your cup of tea, but if you want to learn about it, I would suggest writing a few Litestep modules. This is good way to learn Windows programming because you can make something small or something big and there's plenty of ideas floating around at Mind Junction. It's also nice because you can write things that you want to write.

Funny you mention Afterstep.

Have you ever heard of LiteStep? Its a small replacement for the current for the windows graphical shell... Gee you cant customize it tho..

When people post without really understanding the parts of an operating system they are critisizing its pretty sad dont you think?

The threat for people who just do simple things who check their email is so much more than laughable, these are the people who are gonna be happy with a web appliance that will run.. a non MS Operating system most likely.

Not the desktop market perse but.. Its not an MS Operating system, its all coming and rabid zealots like you who run around spouting this utter bullshit are just gonna piss people off.

Jeremy


If you think education is expensive, try ignorance

-Chris Tower
"Everything comes at a price and sooner or later, we all have to pay" -cTower

How many people will be turned away from /. by those events?

Tom Christiansen sure looked disgusted with Good riddance, Slashdot in the title of his post.

I understand that seeking attention is part of the puberty process, but if you kids have really chosen Linux as your operating system of choice because you think it has potential, not just because you hate (or think you hate) Windows, then please, act so.

Good way to get attention from the linux crowd:

• Submit interesting/meaningful comments... Be mature, that's you're chance to be listened to!
• Code! Didn't Alan Cox said something like he wished /. would be more first patch! rather than frst psot!!!!!!
• If you can't code, do something for the community! submit bug reports, write documentation, help people installing Linux...
• Last but not least, please do not annoy anybody... Sure this isn't a perfect world, but if you call yourself a Linux user, behave like one and show respect.

Now, nobody actually asked you to use Linux. If you get pissed at people because you can't use it, there are alternatives!
Download the latest litestep and show your hax0r dude friends on IRC how cool you are while running those warscr1pts on your illegal copy of mirc...

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I'm a devteam member for the Litestep project. Litestep is a "shell" for Windows. This is basically like a window manager for X, but instead of its main focus being the drawing and interaction of windows on the screen, a shell's main purpose is to present the user with an interface to the programs on the computer (For instance, Windows Explorer is a shell that organizes programs through the Start Menu, desktop icons, and a taskbar).

Litestep offers a way to totally customize your desktop. The way Litestep works is everything is loaded as an external module (sort of like AfterStep) and given a configuration. Among the available modules is a Virtual Window Manager. It comes with the default Litestep configuration, and also comes with almost 100% of themes available for Litestep.

Also, Litestep is a GPLed program, and many modules for Litestep are available under the GPL as well. Many thememakers out there will also be honored if you use their theme, splicing it to your purposes.

For more information about Litestep, visit the following locations:

• Litestep.Com (the official homepage).
• Litestep.Org (partner of Litestep.Com - more help and news here)
• Customize.Org (a site devoted to skins and themes for themeable applications for Win32)
• Skintacular (a site akin to Customize.Org)

Litestep is good, powerful, flexible, no more unstable than Windows Explorer, and best of all, GPLed.
---(litestep.net)---
Litestep info at Floach.pimpin.net

If you run LiteSpawn as well, Litestep becomes even more stable than Windows Explorer.
http://www.litestep.org/files/fi les/litespawn.html

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