Litestep or Geoshell - Which is better? (Replacement Shells for Windows)

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-- Litestep or Geoshell - Which is better? (Replacement Shells for Windows)

Posted by T-1000 on Jun-30-2004 12:05:

Litestep or Geoshell - Which is better? (Replacement Shells for Windows)

Okay, I'm fascinated with the uber-cool desktops I've seen of some people using Litestep and some Geoshell. I know there are Litestep users on this board and possibly Geoshell users as well. I call to them for help.

I've downloaded Geoshell but some of the queer issues faced by some users there has totally discouraged me from trying it out. I'm onmy own and I don't want to install something that might screw up my computer. I don't want downtime and eventually a format to get rid of the problems.

As for Litestep, I registered there, but the download options further confused me. So I call out to the Litestep using TA's out there to please be kind enough to post a working link of a full fledged Litestep build with atleast a few of the basic items included. And also tips/trick...hints....Litestip is what I'm keen on getting up and running on my computer. My OS currently is Windows Server 2003 SP1 1023.

Also I have a few questions. Will other applications like ObjectDock, Yzdock, Windowfx etc work fine within the Litestep environment? Do they stay on screen properly?

Will the windows/dialog boxes/other windows remain properly skinned with the windows skin which I chose? Ashen, for example?

Sory for the long post, but I'm keeping my hopes high, expecting positive inputs from TA's

Posted by Zenchowdah on Jun-30-2004 17:05:

Re: Litestep or Geoshell - Which is better? (Replacement Shells for Windows)

quote:
Originally posted by T-1000

As for Litestep, I registered there, but the download options further confused me. So I call out to the Litestep using TA's out there to please be kind enough to post a working link of a full fledged Litestep build with atleast a few of the basic items included. And also tips/trick...hints....Litestip is what I'm keen on getting up and running on my computer. My OS currently is Windows Server 2003 SP1 1023.

Also I have a few questions. Will other applications like ObjectDock, Yzdock, Windowfx etc work fine within the Litestep environment? Do they stay on screen properly?

Will the windows/dialog boxes/other windows remain properly skinned with the windows skin which I chose? Ashen, for example?

Sory for the long post, but I'm keeping my hopes high, expecting positive inputs from TA's

Download options? you just install litestep, and then download the theme. then, you right click on your desktop, go to litestep, then change theme, install new theme. pick your theme, hit install, and itll prolly have to dl a few new plugins or something, but thats no big deal.

I use samurize with mine and it works perfectly fine, but other than that, i dont know.

The windows and things are still customizeable through the windows interface, ie, Control Panel -> Display and you can change em to whatever you want, though some themes changes the stuff to fit with the theme visually.

Posted by tribu on Jun-30-2004 17:37:

Aston is pimparific

Posted by dig2k on Jun-30-2004 18:28:

I've tried both and ended up reverting to windows explorer shell.

Geoshell has very low memory usage and runs fast even on rubbish computers. It is the more basic of the two (or was). Unfortunately it was quite buggy when I tried it.

Litestep has had more development and is stable. But like Geoshell it is not as easy to configure as windows so eventually i gave up.

I see no reason why objectdock etc. shouldn't work.

Posted by T-1000 on Jun-30-2004 19:00:

Re: Re: Litestep or Geoshell - Which is better? (Replacement Shells for Windows)

quote:
Originally posted by Zenchowdah
Download options? you just install litestep, and then download the theme. then, you right click on your desktop, go to litestep, then change theme, install new theme. pick your theme, hit install, and itll prolly have to dl a few new plugins or something, but thats no big deal.

I use samurize with mine and it works perfectly fine, but other than that, i dont know.

The windows and things are still customizeable through the windows interface, ie, Control Panel -> Display and you can change em to whatever you want, though some themes changes the stuff to fit with the theme visually.

Thanks for the replies guys. ^^^ I'm actually asking about the Software itself (Litestep). At the download page it gave me "builds" in ZIP files with no Installer. Isn't there an installer which will install it for me? How do I get that to work. Help, please!

Edit: Also the current version I can find on the site is a Beta & there are many different distributions Which do I pick up? help!

Posted by La5eR on Jun-30-2004 19:47:

Litestep all the way man. You can configure litestep so easily and while configuring it you learn a little bit of 3 programming languages. they have news of it at www.shellfront.org if youre interested in any modules. They also had an OS that was made completely from scratch. If i get time ill dig for the name in the news posts.

Posted by T-1000 on Jun-30-2004 19:54:

quote:
Originally posted by La5eR
Litestep all the way man. You can configure litestep so easily and while configuring it you learn a little bit of 3 programming languages. they have news of it at www.shellfront.org if youre interested in any modules. They also had an OS that was made completely from scratch. If i get time ill dig for the name in the news posts.

Thanks, please do. I could use any and all help I can get

Posted by Zenchowdah on Jun-30-2004 20:18:

Re: Re: Re: Litestep or Geoshell - Which is better? (Replacement Shells for Windows)

quote:
Originally posted by T-1000
Thanks for the replies guys. ^^^ I'm actually asking about the Software itself (Litestep). At the download page it gave me "builds" in ZIP files with no Installer. Isn't there an installer which will install it for me? How do I get that to work. Help, please!

Edit: Also the current version I can find on the site is a Beta & there are many different distributions Which do I pick up? help!

im using 0.24.7 (hey, 24/7, i just noticed that.), but i think the newest one is 3.0.2, and you want to download the binary. after you install that, itll pop up with the default theme, from which you can pick a new on in the method i told you about before.

actually,

Version: 3.0.2
Changes: - upgraded to LiteStep 0.24.7 RC1

looks like they're the same thing.

anyways, dont use the beta, go with the stable one.

Posted by T-1000 on Jun-30-2004 21:52:

Re: Re: Re: Re: Litestep or Geoshell - Which is better? (Replacement Shells for Windows)

quote:
Originally posted by Zenchowdah
im using 0.24.7 (hey, 24/7, i just noticed that.), but i think the newest one is 3.0.2, and you want to download the binary. after you install that, itll pop up with the default theme, from which you can pick a new on in the method i told you about before.

actually,

Version: 3.0.2
Changes: - upgraded to LiteStep 0.24.7 RC1

looks like they're the same thing.

anyways, dont use the beta, go with the stable one.

It's beta....but I'm getting it anyway. I hope this would be a nice ride...

Posted by Zenchowdah on Jun-30-2004 22:00:

given that the beta version is like 1/10th of the size of the previous stable version, i think its safe to say that it is in its VERY EARLY stages of development, and therefore not fit to be used by any outside the developer group. just an opinion.

Posted by T-1000 on Jul-01-2004 07:53:

quote:
Originally posted by Zenchowdah

given that the beta version is like 1/10th of the size of the previous stable version, i think its safe to say that it is in its VERY EARLY stages of development, and therefore not fit to be used by any outside the developer group. just an opinion.

gee, thanks Yes, I installed the build you outlined...I don't have a test system, so it's up on my primary system. Now I just have to tailor it to my tastes...

I want floating bars that can be repositioned anywhere on the screen. That involves .rc editing, I guess

Posted by Zenchowdah on Jul-01-2004 13:59:

quote:
Originally posted by T-1000
gee, thanks Yes, I installed the build you outlined...I don't have a test system, so it's up on my primary system. Now I just have to tailor it to my tastes...

I want floating bars that can be repositioned anywhere on the screen. That involves .rc editing, I guess

so, somewhat like these :

you want samurize, then. i forget the url, google it.

Posted by T-1000 on Jul-01-2004 14:48:

quote:
Originally posted by Zenchowdah
so, somewhat like these :
you want samurize, then. i forget the url, google it.

No, I know what Samurize is, I have it too. What I want is something like this.......

You see the taskbar on the bottom? Now I want to be able to take it "Apart" as in....I don't want the entire bar. I want to be able to pull the System Tray "apart" and reposition it anywhere on screen. That's about it. ONLY the System Tray part I want visible/available floating. . I'm pretty comfortable having all my quicklaunch shortcuts etc available in a Right-Click menu, so...the rest of the bar can GO, I don't want it on screen.

Is this possible? This is the ONLY reason I'm looking at an alternate shell, besides the coolness, ofcourse.

Posted by Lira on Jul-01-2004 15:13:

Looks interesting: what do these proggys do and how do they work?

(I don't know anything about it)

Posted by AvPPoW on Jul-01-2004 19:23:

quote:
Originally posted by T-1000 Is this possible? This is the ONLY reason I'm looking at an alternate shell, besides the coolness, ofcourse.

yes it's possible, vtray will do that

Posted by T-1000 on Jul-01-2004 23:55:

quote:
Originally posted by AvPPoW
yes it's possible, vtray will do that

Awesome, thanks. I'm off to fiddle with it

On a sidenote, can anyone post a link to a nice Samurize script for an Analog Clock & a Calendar?

Posted by smallSHEEP on Jul-02-2004 00:39:

Please let me know where i can get some nice simple desktop icons from thanks.