The LiteStep At Night Desktop

nice desktop... and I gotta give love to a fellow Rutgers student and or fac/staff member

David Diaz

@Ian Katz: I disagree, it took me half an hour to get Ubuntu running perfectly on my desktop. That's -way- less than Windows. I prefer windows as an OS, but linux has some fantastic technology in there.

@MassiveFailure: Litestep is a tad strange for newcomers, but it's so very fun to play with :D

@The How-To Geek: Loved that comment. Linux for desktop users = still FAIL. All the Ubuntu crap is really pissing me btw. I mean, would you show Ubuntu to your grandpa? Or (i'm 18 y/old) to your father which just understands how Office and Outlook works?
Linux for desktop users may be called Linux for techie people on desktop, dunno, but it's definitely not a good experiencie. There is always something working bad, or you don't like something, and sometimes to fix things you have to spend hours and hours. LiteStep and other things like this involve a lot of free time I and many people don't have.

Ian Katz

lassekongo is amazing (wallpaper). I love his XP themes on DA.

Wow, I installed litestep. I had no idea it was going to completely change EVERYTHING! I uninstalled it so it's good now, but it gave me a good scare for a few seconds.

meow-mixer

@rauz: Third.

@rauz: Yeah, I want to know it too.

I'm interested in the name of the font used in the clock in the top left corner, anyone?

Been a Litestep user for years. Lately I have moved away from Windows, but on the few PCs I use that need to have Windows, I use Litestep. The install is painless and you rarely need to mess with text files any longer, so pretty much anybody could set it up in a matter of minutes.

Tons of themes out there too.
I find litestep to be more stable than Windows Explorer, and depending on the theme, it can use far less resources, so it's great for older PCs and laptops

rikostan

@[ls-themes.org]

Mateo Yadarola

I use SharpE desktop, a shell replacement similar to LiteStep that can have a look a lot like the one in this skin.
[www.sharpe-shell.org]

example screenshot: [www.sharpe-shell.org]

SharpE is also a lot more stable than LS, and it has more built in features.

mherlihy

Blast from the past! I used to love using LiteStep on my Windows NT 5.0 beta computer. In the end it was probably too much of a time waster though... as was running a beta of NT 5.0, but wasting time instead of studying was my M.O. in undergrad :)

jonny6pak

@Crashproof: Yeah, me neither.

Last time I ran LiteStep, it was on a Windows ME (!) machine that I upgraded to XP.

Wasn't stable then, either.

But nice theme anyways.

davidr521

One of the nicer desktops from the ones featured so far. Minimalistic yet easy to pick up. A lot of the previous dekstops showcased before looked good but they were way too customized. This desktop looks like there is pretty much no learning curve. Nice Job.

MassiveFailure

Hmm, nice desktop. I can't seem to get the LiteStep webpage to open though...

@Phoshi: I've not used LiteStep in a number of years now, but I used to be quite involved way back when.

It ends up being a lot like using Linux - you spend loads of time mucking around with all the cool options and endless tweaking abilities, but at some point you've just gotta get something done.

Ah yes, LiteStep. I used to run that back in the ole b23 days ... sometimes I miss it.

I'd probably run it here at work (the only Windows machine I use) but honestly the time required to set it up would be a little too much for me to justify.

Can't really get much more customizable though.

Zundfolge

This makes me sleepy. I don't think I could get any work done. Of couse, I never see my desktop when I'm working.

TheOtherHalf

Nice looking customisation. :)
I didn't realise LiteStep was still going.

Daveyx

I have stopped liking customizations that require far too many, unnecessary steps in order to achieve what you need.

Unless is there an easier way to do this using only the mouse?

I'm not up for messing with LiteStep, but that wallpaper is fresh.

Nice, but I've never much liked Litestep. This is one of the nicer themes I've seen, but it still doesn't play well with Vista, I've heard.

I mess around with LiteStep every once in a while. Last time I tried it it still wasn't all that stable, and mucking around with text files for customization gets tedious. Launchy combined with turning off desktop icons seems to work best for me.

This is a nice example of the species though.

Crashproof

Now that's my kind of desktop.

the majority of the windows customization tools Ive tried do not play well with x64 versions of windows. I dont get it, how long has it been since a 32 bit computer was sold retail? why are people still using it!

odnet

@davidr521: No offense but your issue was more likely with the ME to XP upgrade. Windows upgrades are UG-LY. This isn't a bash on MS... I use both Linux and MS and both have their places. Only god knows (maybe even he doesn't) what ailments your machine had from ME.

The Thinker

@Crashproof:
I totally agree. Lightstep can achieve some amazing desktops (as shown above), but at a price of having to finagle text files and make sure your custom icons are always in the right place... no thanks.

Twitch

I thought the calendar screenshot was kindof funny......" do stuff... do more stuff.. jerk off... jerk off somemore" That's a heavy to-do list.

paintbox

I actually tried this LS theme a few weeks ago and I don't think completely worked. Dang Lifehacker got me into customization again. All I want is a slimmer task bar, LS has some great themes. Most just work. If you don't like it you can change it.

@odnet: What's the point of x64 if you don't have 4GB of ram?

@meow-mixer: That's kinda the point...

@mherlihy: A lot more stable? Based on what grounds?

This actually looks pretty cool i should try this out one day. I'm not afraid of coding so i should be OK.

ParadiseEve

Although this Litestep theme is far from perfect in terms of aesthetics and is also very basic, it's damn nice to see it in a Featured Desktop.

All the folks talking about LS like it's some ancient app that YBoris dug up make me laugh. The cream of the crop in the desktop customization community are doing astonishing things with Litestep, and continue to push the boundaries even more with each passing day. I could provide some examples too, if LH would give me a job ;)

Although I don't currently run Litestep, it's really not very tough to get into and learn the basics. Reading the Litestep Wiki [wiki.litestep.com.ar] and working off of a solid, basic theme like this one [customize.org] or this one [customize.org] is a task I think most LH readers could at least attempt.

@meow-mixer: It doesn't change everything. All it is is a replacement for explorer.exe, aka a shell replacement.

@Phoshi: There are a ton of themes that are much nicer than this. I'm not totally sure how LS runs on Vista either. However, if you can get to know your way around Litestep it's hands-down the best way to make your ideal setup a reality.

@rauz: The theme is called PixelFont.ttf

if you download the custom clock, you'll find the font in the archive.

Ounce

once you go to the LiteStep web site there are two screen shots; does anyone know where i can get the wallpaper on the left? the one with the white background and hooded lady?

Damn that is wicked looking desktop, kinda remind me of enlightenment desktop

motang

@Sraf1968: Tried to help, but we've apparently stumped "What the Font" as well.

[new.myfonts.com]

kilikopele

@ next one should be what you want

@rauz: pretty sure it's this family of fonts

font link

@[www.dafont.com]

Fourth @Petey-ed:

Sraf1968

Amazing to see LiteStep is still going. I haven't given it much thought since I stopped maintaining the FAQ, back in 1999 or so. -Tim (apollo18)

RoyLazor

I am just not savvy enough to make these sweet desktops work. Wont someone PLEEASE create an EXE that sets up everything for us silly n00bs?! Not holding my breath....

KathyKeenan

Beautiful. I even like the wallpaper.

AngryTypingGuy

@Ian Katz: Actually, most people who just use the computer for word processing, web browsing, and e-mail would have no trouble at all working with Ubuntu, as long as they had compatible hardware. And if they didn't have compatible hardware, then finding the solution would probably not be any harder than having to locate drivers for a Windows installation. It's the people who use their computers for specialty work that may have a tough time switching over...

Most people don't actually install their OS themselves. I'd be surprised if any of them found pre-installed Ubuntu any harder to deal with than pre-installed Windows. And conversely, installing Windows is no easier than installing Ubuntu.

This is maybe a little off topic. But I get irritated with all the ease of use arguments. They led me to approach Ubuntu with a great deal of trepidation, when in fact, the switch has been pretty painless.

I tried Litestep years ago..

I never liked the idea of messing with text files and taking an hour or two to get a theme to work.

Unless there's an installer/theme installer, I'm not touching it again. It took too long to get anywhere.

SilverBlade2k

@Ian Katz: There's nothing inherently wrong with given the ability to customize/choose (which I think is your main complaint with Linux/LiteStep). We are a certain type of people who like to tweak every little thing on computers, but not everyone is like that.

And yes, I would show (and have before) Ubuntu to my parents. My father's laptop might be getting it installed relatively soon, as it's older hardware.

Hooray for a LS theme getting featured.

jupiterthunder

@JiltedCitizen:

You will encounter themes that don't completely work. I think some of this is due to the how easy it is to get you hands in there and mess around with LS. People get started with stuff and leave it in all sorts of states. Anyone interested in it, shouldn't let what someone else has done turn them off. Play with a few of them. Find one you like that works and see if it's for you. I know I went through at least 30 themes before I settled on the one I've been running for nearly a year. I happen to use Durance which I've modded a bit to fit my taste.

Another reason themes may sometimes seem to not work is that they are often written so the user can personalize them. I recall one that I was working with that had a lot of stuff that did not seem to work b/c I had to go in and specify what programs I wanted to launch when i clicked this or that.

I'm a big fan of LS. I do have some programming knowledge -- old and rusty -- so it wasn't as daunting to jump in.

jupiterthunder

@meow-mixer:

You have to be careful with those things. LS is generally harmless, as you can see b/c you made the recovery. But if you had "no idea" it probably means that you took a leap without reading up enough on what you were about to do. Only you really know for sure.

jupiterthunder

@Sensai: 'There's nothing inherently wrong with the ability...'

Dunno where the hell that 'given' came from. Sorry.

@odnet:

What about all the Core 2 Duos and Atom processors?

Matthew Bailey

@Ounce:

Whilst the filename is PixelFont.ttf, the actual name of the font is 04b_19.

Now what I want to know is why he has the clock in Rainmeter (well, that's because it's a 10-Foot HUD rip), yet has the ToDo list in Rainlender... So we gotta install both?

Matthew Bailey

"in this theme, the desktop context menu is turned into a customized launcher"
...and in all othe LS-themes ever created :roll:

@SilverBlade2k:
Most themes are zipped in .lsz-files. It's a double-click and a split-second reload of LS and it's available in the theme-menu.

Also, LS is dead easy to make/edit themes for. It's all .PNG's and text-files. Even I've been able to do a couple themes for my self.

Tordenflesk

It is very good customization of desktop. It is really a nice desktops and looks like very easy to use. Time and calendar are looks very beautiful.

smith134

I've tried both LiteStep and BlackBox back in the day, they never really hit it off well with me. Maybe I'll give it another shot!

@Tordenflesk: Whats up Tord.

@SilverBlade2k: It doesn't take an hour or two to get a theme working unless the theme is unfinished or you don't follow the instructions when installing it.

Linux users - if you want something similar check out openbox, blackbox, fluxbox, *box...

SuttonUsopp

Thanks everyone! I actually had it in my Font Book already but didn't think to look.

@Matthew Bailey: Cross your fingers for Rainmeter/Rainlendar interobptability (is tha a word?) in the next build.

@nitzua: My ideal setup is mostly keyboard based, and a superminimalist GUI. I fall back on cygwin for directory navigation, for example, so Emerge suits my tastes better.

Having said that, if you want any sort of shell, ls looks great.

This is a really nice desktop. clean, funcional, and pretty. But it's quite easy to achieve a similar effect, without having to deal with Litestep.

brainshred

Nice theme, although I prefer a "minimalier" approach: [img382.imageshack.us]
Windows XP running orb4 [ [www.ls-lab.com.ar] ], amusement for TrueTransparency and a wallpaper by ether.

@Phoshi: everything works fine once you grab one of the experimental builds from lsdev.org

This is awesome. I haven't had a chance to read into it but is there a way to set it up where it doesn't change the look of the tool bar. I like the way Win7 looks =D

@jupiterthunder:

It's not like the parent posted any usable guide.

I'm still hoping for a good shell that has all of explorer's functionality, key short cats, alt tabbing etc without the clutter, but with proper programing/themes.
Litestep was too much work, blackbox too minimalist - need something functional.
If you have something you think I should try please reply.

This is incredibly rough.

First of all, the path to the themes was messed up, so I had to follow these directions:

[www.ls-universe.info]

Then, I find out I have to install the Rainlendar plugin myself following these directions:

[www.ipi.fi]

However, it doesn't seem to be the correct version, because the guy has it coded for Rainlendar2. As far as I can tell, it's not supported in LiteStep because of this:
[www.rainlendar.net]

So how anyone got this Desktop to look the way it does deserves a round of applause, and the rest of us deserve a good explanation.

And now, I find out that the calendar/todo list requires a version of Rainlendar

Tyler Cook

@Sensai: Windows XP is better on old PCs than Ubuntu =|. Ubuntu needs more resources than Windows XP, and if something doesn't works (ex: sound, or works in some applications, some not) you're going to have to fix it cos he won't.

I use a customized Windows XP which has only the necessary things, actually it's slim but not as for example MicroXP, I mean the one who made this Windows XP left ALL the necessary things, and it works like a charm. Any Windows XP, even the default, is faster than Ubuntu =\

Ian Katz

@Tyler Cook:

Now in order to get the calendar to work, I needed to download the skin that YBoris based his on (because his is written for Rainlendar2, as previously stated. That is incompatible with LiteStep). Luckily, YBoris links to it, and it is here: [customize.org]

I needed to manually edit the rainlendar.ini file to start the skin up by editing these lines:

CurrentSkin=Tiesiogg
CurrentSkinIni=English.ini

Then, I recycled LiteStep (sort of like restarting it), and I noticed it looked bad (on Vista). So, I right clicked the calendar and went to Config.

Inside Config is a checkbox that says "Use native Windows transparency." I checked that, hit OK, and now it looks just fine.

Tyler Cook

In order to get the clock to work, I also had to install Rainmeter manually following these directions:
[www.ipi.fi]
I apologize for previously having that link as the instructions for Rainlendar, but they are very similar.

Anyhow, once I installed Rainmeter, I had to manually edit the step.rc file that comes with LiteStep (it's the main config file). And, I had to insert these:

RainmeterIniFile "$PersonalDir$rainmeter\Rainmeter.ini"
RainmeterSkinPath "$PersonalDir$rainmeter\Skins\"
RainmeterPluginPath "$PersonalDir$rainmeter\Plugins\"

This is assuming you put rainmeter in your LiteStep's personal directory (which can be found higher up inside the step.rc file).

Then, I had to manually edit the Rainmeter.ini file with the following:

[Rainmeter]
WindowX=50
WindowY=50
TrayIcon=1

TrayIcon1 is very important here. It allowed me to right click the icon in my tray (the LiteStep theme listed here hides all tray icons behind the clock, just mouse over it), and select Configs->YBoris-Time->YBorisTime.ini

This, finally, displayed the fancy looking clock you see in the picture.

Tyler Cook

Sweet, about time the best windows alternative shell is in one of these Featured Desktops. Been using Litestep ever since I had windows me on my compaq presario, and never look back from then(it's the 3rd thing I install after a firewall and antivirus scanner on every fresh install of xp).

Can't beleive all these "lifehackers" having problems with litestep though, Litestep is stable as hell and easy to install. Also probably mentioned before but check customize.org and deviantart for all the latest themes(main site doesn't update themes for some reason).

Big2hd

@The How-To Geek:Yep!

I've been reading the documentation on Litestep. I was wondering how it would play with my Samsung NC10. Have to download some Visual C redist, and honestly I'm not THAT tech-savvy.

Been working with Rainmeter, Standalone Stack, and maybe soon Rocketdock to get the minimalist feel that I want. I hope to compare how the system resources will be eaten up.

My "yboris" account on LifeHacker is prevented from commenting. The way I got my desktop to look this way is simply to have Rainlendar and Rainmeter - I'm not using LiteStep to display those two things. An older installer for litestep seemed to work for me. Also - with this theme - you don't install it from LiteStep - you just extract the archive contents into your theme folder. Good luck. Feel free to ask questions on my DeviantArt account :)

SethEliotitis

oooo.... that's nice. It looks like linux to be honest, but I'm definitely giving it a try!

TimothyAsteria