Thanks for the pointer on this. I've used many alt shells in the past (Litestep, geoShell, Talisman, Aston, etc), but I'm not familiar with this, so I'll check it out!

E-Rock

I've been using litestep for the last 3 or 4 years (yeah I know it is way older than that). The theme I use is minmax amp. Basically winamp controls in the the upper right with the song scrolling. The tray and task bar in the upper left represented by very small icons (size of favicons). I love having no desktop.

waves2surf

I quite like it compared to LiteStep, which I tried and disliked a few months ago.

It's easy to use and leaves a very small memory stamp. Granted, I haven't found many applets online but I've only started searching.

ElementsUnleashed

I have been looking at the screenshots over at their website. I really like the setups by Engineer and moeghan. ^__^

Emerge Desktop looks very nice. ^__^ So much fun stuff to try out and far too few computers to try it all out on...

Asian Angel

Blackbox is my favorite. Very fast and minimal. It can even be run from a USB Drive. [www.bb4win.org]

Tux5

Always good to see new shells being developed. Like E-rock, in the past I tried all the different shells, but finally settled on GeoShell (using for 7+ years). Love its minimalistic approach.

Might have to check Emerge out. Thanks for the heads up.

dai_shan

Yay! I'm glad Emerge is getting more attention.

Another neat thing about Emerge is that you can customize the right-click and middle-click desktop context menus.

KTMitch

Haven't tried this alt shell.

But reminds me of BBLean, still my favourite.
Although it's not further developed and BBClean is looking pretty good.
I wonder how much of the code is the same.

RebelMoogle

Oh, and here's my desktop:

Emerge + Rocketdock + nice wallpaper = LOVELY :-D

portobello_man

I'm a massive Emerge fan since switching to it about 6 months ago. Its appeal lies in the same element that makes Firefox my favourite browser: it starts basic and allows me to tailor my user experience based on my requirements.

Admittedly it can be a bit annoying to learn at the outset - and it doesn't look nice by default - but the effort is absolutely worth it.

I love having it on my Asus EEE 900 too; losing the XP taskbar frees up much-needed space.

One tip: set the desktop (i.e. max. window space when maximised) to be -1 pixel on the left and right. That way, if you move the mouse to the far left or right of your screen you get the launcher menu (that you normally only see on the desktop) and can launch any program you like from the Windows start menu (or desktop... or any other location you wish).

The only downside I've found so far is in apps that make heavy use of XP's shell. Skype, for some reason, doesn't popup the notifications as it should... though frankly that's a minor quibble.

Oh, and I love how you can use the Hotkey module to totally rewrite the Windows+[KEY] combos. I kept my basic ones (Win+E to launch explorer etc) but have also replaced a bunch with much more useful things for me.

Love it!

portobello_man

i have been using Emerge for about 6 months now, and i love it. it's stable, actively developed, easy on resources, and has a great feature set.

it can be pretty sexy too! [www.flickr.com]

garbanzo-bean

@Tux5: I second this. I've been using BBLean and then BBClean, for so long that I've forgotten how absolutely cludgy and cumbersome the windows desktop is.

tarrantm

I'm using EmergeDesktop since yesterday :) I still need a normal desktop I have it with explorer since I keep a lot of temp files on it to email them here and there.

I'm satisfied with other features and they are what I was looking for for a long time having tried lots of alt shells as well.

And here's a small bug: when Photoshop is in full screen ZPosition for bars (set to top) stops working that they just disappear until I restore a window and click a desktop.

SmartyCZ

@portobello_man: Very nice setup. ^__^

Asian Angel

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but the lack of support for inter-window drag+drop made me go back to using the Explorer shell.

I may give Blackbox (BB4Win) a try later on today ^_^

andryou

@andryou: Sorry, to clarify, there is no support for inter-window drag+drop when you, for example, when you're in iTunes and you click on a song, hold down your mouse button, drag it to your "taskbar" over a folder, and then have the folder window display, allowing you to drop the file in there. Emerge Desktop does not have this feature.

andryou

@andryou: That's true, though I always get around it by simply having the two windows (for the respective apps or folders) open and dragging across from one to the other. In my case its not something I do much so its not a deal-breaker...

portobello_man

Emerge does not currently support drag-drop for its Tasks applet, but from what i have heard in the forums, it is being implemented.

in the mean time: grab a file, alt-tab to the target window, and let go. it's quite a lot faster than dragging to the 'task bar'.

garbanzo-bean

i did'nt like emerge, first time around too much configuration needed .... maybe try bbwin

gapo

@equazcion: Sorry missed the link.

equazcion

No screenshots, Gina?

equazcion

@portobello_man: I agree, it was quite the learning curve for me at first, but people on the forums are very helpful, and once you get the general idea it all makes sense. I switched about a month agao and have not looked back...

Defcon1

I tried Emerge once before, but somehow when Emerge was running, it wouldn't show my Digsby chat windows. If anyone knows what's up with that and a fix perhaps I'll give Emerge another shot.

SiPhuYoda

@portobello_man:

ive set the desktop borders to 1 px (settings - configure) and nothing happens,... did i miss something ?

ultrah

Been tinkering around with Sharpe Shell.. [www.sharpe-shell.org] (if you want to preview it - go to the Wiki section). It is very simple to add or remove it from Windows Explorer.

I was reading in the earlier posts on the Emerge that the lack of drag-n-drop support is still an issue with Sharpe too.

Maybe we need a "High Five" for Alternate Windows Shells?

Kent

kdyer

@kdyer: I agree. I've been playing around with all of these shells every time they are featured. I would also like to see a feature on each of them like litestep and others that have been mentioned

The_Last_Skunk

@andryou: use powerpro for your taskbar instead, and you'll be able to do this...

[powerpro.webeddie.com]

snze

I have tried many alternative window shells in the past:

Aston shell
Talisman Desktop
Litestep
Blackbox

But all of them were too cumbersome. Emerge desktop I feel really shines above the rest. Sure, drag and drop between windows is not here, so its not that big of a deal. I use this on my main desktop pc, as well as my asus eee 701, and I love it!

One thing to note is IM applications like Digsby may not show pop up notifications (same with skype), but I'm sure that is a limitation of the software and not the individual programs. Not a deal breaker, but just thought you should know.

versatileninja

Emerge is really nice, I liked it more than any other alt shell I tried, but development is pretty slow unfortunately.

Jeroen-

High Five for shell replacements please cause I don't want to try each one :)

Darkmatter91

can someone teach me how to use this

how do you show desktop. windows and d doesn't work anymore.

ShooterMcGavin

@tarrantm:

I've forgotten how absolutely cludgy and cumbersome the windows desktop is

Understanding what you mean, you know this statement contradicts itself, right?

jupiterthunder

@ShooterMcGavin: there is an emerge command to show the desktop. read the manual. if you launch the hotkey applet, you can set your own hotkey to show the desktop.

but it's kind of pointless since emerge has no desktop :)

garbanzo-bean

@garbanzo-bean:

so how do i view the little task bar thing. i wanted to show desktop to look at it, thats why I tried to show desktop initially.

ShooterMcGavin

I'm a litestep user. Have been for a few months. Love it, but it won't hurt to give any of the ones mentioned here a try. I was doing fine with Launchy until I spent some time with Executor and I'm glad I did so, I think I'll give a couple of these a try.

jupiterthunder

@tarrantm: I second BBLean. I use it at work since I have to use Windows.

urukhaifive

@portobello_man:
That's a sweet one.
And where exactly is that nice wallpaper ;)

Nabeel

This being my first time ever hearing this, I like it alot. I just downloaded and everything, it's a lot nicer looking once you start to tinker around with it.

bradL

I tried this a few weeks ago, on portobello_man's recommendation. I have to say, I was impressed. It's fast, it's smooth, it's sleek. And I'm a fan of just about anything modular; a modular shell is definitely a step in the right direction. :)

Three things that made me switch back to explorer (for now):

- No desktop. I like desktop icons - or rather, I like having them available to me when I can use them. It's a sandbox - it's there to be used, just clean up after you're done with it.

- No window labels on the Tasks object. This is the same problem I have with docks. And in this case, there's the added difficulty of having much smaller icons (smaller targets to hit). I'm continually convinced that the taskbar and its thin tab layout are ideal.

- This isn't really Emerge's fault, but I miss Taskbar Shuffle. All I want is the ability to middle-click to close windows.

Of course, Emerge is still in active development, so I've mentioned these to them as feature requests, and I'll keep an eye on its progress. The door's still very much open.

Kaelri

@Jeroen-: it is only one guy doing the vast majority of the development and it's something he does in his spare time, so it's a little unfair to criticise him for the speed of development.

Anyway, I wouldn't say it's that slow - ironhead (the dev) successfully produced a working, stable x64 build in a couple of months, despite the fact that he couldn't find an x64-capable compiler that was particularly well-supported and, to top it all, he doesn't even have an x64 machine to test it on.
The man's a saint.

Step666

I love to use launchy with emerge desktop. In fact, now I'm thinking I'm going to use emerge on all my machines now. ;0

versatileninja

Been using Emerge on and off for over a year.
Wouldn't look twice at another shell now than ironhead's been able to get a stable x64 build going.

There's an Emerge group on Customize.org here.
It's pretty small so far but it gives you more of an idea what the shell's capable of.

Step666

@Tux5: Another vote for BB

xizdaqrian

I only need desktop to make doubleclick on it - then directory opus pop up on screen and I have everything I need just in front of me ;)

panopticon

Check out my emerge desktop here:

[farm4.static.flickr.com]

versatileninja

I've given most of them alternatives a try including Emerge a month ago or so, I back using Explorer for right now. I would love love LOVE one or two simple guides for getting a basic functioning Emerge desktop up and running. Maybe include Rocket Dock, basic system info via Samize and configuring Emerge's native launchers. I am normally one to read a manual or guide and figure it out myself but right now I just don't have the time.

kiwiboyus

@SiPhuYoda:

same thing happened to me today when I tried out emerge. ended up having to uninstall it. I tried bblean but it channges entire look. Hopefully someone here can tell me which shell to use instead of explorer. All i want is the system tray icons. I don't want the start icon or the taskbar. I have objectdock and launchy. Anyone have any suggestions as to which program I should use to get my desktop to look as such?

calvin6

@kiwiboyus: normally you would read a guide, but you don't have time for that so you want someone to make a guide for you to read :)

setting up Emerge is easy. just ctrl-right-click on tasks or tray to move them around or customize the look. hold alt then use the mouse to re-size them. use the settings portion of the the desktop right-click menu to set which applets run, to customize your right- and middle-click menus, and to pull in the edges of your maximized windows so emerge applets always show. the virtual desktop manager is just like any other. the launcher is too. and to customize hotkeys, press ctrl-esc to bring up the hotkey configuration window. fin.

rocket dock - well that's just too easy.

samurize - it looks scary but it's actually very easy. new config, right-click, add meter, system monitoring, available ram, then tweak the look, colours, fonts... the best way to learn is to poke around in the sample configs to see how things work. or just download one you like if you can't be bothered to learn something new.

garbanzo-bean

@ShooterMcGavin: if you right-click on your desktop, go to settings, then to customize, you can pull the edge of your screen in so that the task and tray areas are always visible, even if you have full-screen apps.

garbanzo-bean

this one is not out yet, but eagerly waiting on cairo [www.cairoshell.com] to release

daftary

This is really awesome! I love it! Definitely my favorite Alt shell!

Gnardar

I'm trying it and like it so far. But is there a site for plugins?

Mofoo

@Mofoo: there really aren't any, other than the ones it comes with. but it works great with things like ObjectDock, Launchy, Samurize, etc. between these, you can come up with a really great setup.

garbanzo-bean

@Nabeel: Here you go - scroll down and its the one called "Gold Sea". I reversed it for my desktop on the basis I have my "open programs" icons on the left.

portobello_man

@ultrah: Try setting them to a slightly higher figure, like 5. Then it should work fine. I guess it depends on your mouse cursor etc. I have mine on 3 and that works great for me.

portobello_man

@garbanzo-bean:
lol I yield! It was late and what I meant didn't come out right. I just meant some quick pointers like you have posted (thanks very much by the way), to get a noobie started. I am going to follow your tips and when I get a chance dig into the manual for some more depth.

Cheers!

kiwiboyus

@Tux5: I used BBLean on my old XP machine, it was cleaner, more customizable and faster than explorer. I wonder if I can install it under Vista with UAC enabled...

tomvw

@SmartyCZ: please list any and all bugs found here.

Step666

@Step666: that's odd - this post shouldn't be here...

Step666

I installed Emerge a while ago, also at Portobello-man's recommendation. It is by far the best shell I have ever tried. I love the customization options.

Focus-Man-Focus

I've been using this for about a day now, and so far I really like it. The desktop is much cleaner, and I love having some of the nice features that I'm used to seeing in linux. Thanks again Lifehacker!

sunglint

I like minimalistic variety in my desktop (vista aero). I tried Emerge after reading this post, and I love it! I combine it with Yahoo! Widgets, RocketDock, Launchy and my custom shortcuts for a very sweet, unobtrusive and efficient desktop.

Yeah, a little resource-heavy with the widgets, but I have the resources, and it is worth it.

The only downside IMO is that I prefer Vista Start Menu Search over Launchy, and I can't use it with Emerge. I just have to figure out how to get Launchy to read my mind like Start Menu Search can... Maybe I will try Copernicus or Google Desktop or something else...

allinthefamily