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Topic: What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend? (Read 6651 times) previous topic - next topic
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What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Hi All!

What do you recommend to replace explorer.exe as the windows shell? The only priority is Small Resource usage. Skinnable is good, but not needed. SysTray emulation is vital, of course.

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #1 –
Quote from: pepoluan on
Hi All!

What do you recommend to replace explorer.exe as the windows shell? The only priority is Small Resource usage. Skinnable is good, but not needed. SysTray emulation is vital, of course.



bblean,  that's blackbox for windows. 

I've been using it for more than a year on xp and 2k.  Depending on your configuration you can be using 15 k or less of memory for it.

http://www.lostinthebox.com/ 

take a look at their forum.

Some of the problems I've encountered:

pop-up notifications for some IM's
some confirmation dialog windows can be hidden under other applications windows if you are on an another workspace.  But this doesn't pose a problem as long as you're aware of this.

Should work under win98, but without transparency.

Try it .

I strongly recommend using a shell manager like shellon which would let you choose which shell to use when starting up.

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #2 –
Sounds interesting... what is this blackbox anyway? I mean, there seems to be so many variations...

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #3 –
I've messed with Aston Shell before.  There are tons of plugns and themes for it and it is skinnable and customizable.
It's due for a good DEGAUSSIN'

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: asral on
bblean,  that's blackbox for windows.


nice, just playing with it, question:
a. - there is no explorer replacement included/in existance ?
b. - and more important: there is no cmd prompt replacement included/in existance ?
PANIC: CPU 1: Cache Error (unrecoverable - dcache data) Eframe = 0x90000000208cf3b8
NOTICE - cpu 0 didn't dump TLB, may be hung

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: pepoluan on
Sounds interesting... what is this blackbox anyway? I mean, there seems to be so many variations...



First of all,  if you want something working out of the box,  this is not for you!!!

if you don't mind configuring it  to your needs,  than its for you.


http://www.bb4win.org/news.php

variations:

bbforwin  is the original one and is dead.  Don't try it

xoblite is an active project, possibly with higher resource needs.  never used it long enough to make a comment.

bblean is the most popular one.  Start with it

systray,  drag and drop even across workspaces are possible. 

for skinning examples  go to Deviantart


It is difficult to describe it without actually using it. !!!

My foobar now can have any color I like and when I read something I don't have to stare at a white background. (with different styles)


If you decide to give a try, don't forget to reboot after installing and that your menu is right mouse button.

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: smok3 on
Quote from: asral on
bblean,  that's blackbox for windows.


nice, just playing with it, question:
a. - there is no explorer replacement included/in existance ?
b. - and more important: there is no cmd prompt replacement included/in existance ?



RMB  > System > run    is your command line.

explorer.exe  should start the explorer file manager. 

if it is not in your menu,  than add this to menu.rc


  [exec] (Explorer) {explorer.exe}

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #7 –
asral, i assumed that explorer is actually replaced, so as command prompt...
PANIC: CPU 1: Cache Error (unrecoverable - dcache data) Eframe = 0x90000000208cf3b8
NOTICE - cpu 0 didn't dump TLB, may be hung

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #8 –
I've been using Geoshell for the last couple of years. Too bad is almost dead now (two years without releases and/or bugfixes)

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: smok3 on
Quote from: asral on
bblean,  that's blackbox for windows.
nice, just playing with it, question:
a. - there is no explorer replacement included/in existance ?
b. - and more important: there is no cmd prompt replacement included/in existance ?

If you really want to replace them, I guess you need to install them manually.
 

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #10 –
kjonlee, yes i guess, although with my current workflow (multiple computers and i share my batch files all around them) i would prefer just a nice little face-lift to the default cmd (what was that nice lil thingy for amiga called? kshell maybe.)

edit: anyway, this is how cool iam now    :
http://somestuff.org/blog/images/bblean_smok3.jpg
PANIC: CPU 1: Cache Error (unrecoverable - dcache data) Eframe = 0x90000000208cf3b8
NOTICE - cpu 0 didn't dump TLB, may be hung

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #12 –
pepoluan: as suggested bblean;
http://bb4win.sourceforge.net/bblean/
additional plugins in use are:

BBAnalogExMod.dll
bbIconBox.dll
BBSysmonPlus.dll (edit: problems with mplayer overlay, removed.)
BBRecycleBin.dll

you can collect all plugins here:
http://xoblite.net/plugins.html

wallpaper is homemade, you can get it here:
http://somestuff.org/phpalbum/main.php?cmd...ng&var2=0_0

edit: problems with some mayor programs i use, everything removed.
PANIC: CPU 1: Cache Error (unrecoverable - dcache data) Eframe = 0x90000000208cf3b8
NOTICE - cpu 0 didn't dump TLB, may be hung

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #13 –
There is also Litestep, I have it installed with 98se, as I don't have to reboot to switch shells 

reactOS is a complete windows replacement if you are interested.
Vorbis-q0-lowpass99
lame3.93.1-q5-V9-k-nspsytune

What Windows Shell Replacement you recommend?

Reply #14 –
I too recommend Blackbox (bbLean branch). It reminds me of FB2k. Minimal while being extendable by use of plugins and being highly customisable.