Preserved Topic: shell recommends? (Page 1 of 1)

hi there, i'm bored, and i want a new visual style for style XP....which one are you using?
can you recommend any?

-THE SPACE-

I set mine to the "silver" color scheme (the other two choices are "overwhelming blue" and "puke brown"). Then I shrunk the window title bar size (the bar with the X in the upper right, and the window's title, and all that) to a size much closer to the size it was in Windows 98. No reason for a 50px tall title bar.

I've had it like that for months and am quite happy with it. Honestly, I think it's very pretty.

How do you do that Slime? I guess I've never found that option.

I'll have to play when I get home.

yeah man, how does this work in XP ???

-THE SPACE-

Right click on desktop -> properties.
Under the Appearance tab, select:
Windows and buttons: Windows XP style
Color Scheme: Silver
Click "advanced"
select "Active Title Bar" from the "Item" list and set the "size" to 21. Do the same for "Inactive Title Bar."

There ya go =)

Oh, I also set the font to Bold. I believe I turned the Bold font off again when I switched my text anti-aliasing to ClearType, though. Bold works better when text AA is off or "standard." But experiment to find what you like best.

sometimes you just know too much, man =)

I switched to LiteStep some time ago and I'm happy with it so far. Takes some time getting used to the way things are set up, but once you get accostumed to the way it works it is easier and faster to work with in my opinion (and it looks better than the standard Windows as well ). Last time I used LiteStep, about a year ago, I had some problems with it causing lag and slow system performace. But it looks like those problems have been fixed now, since I haven't noticed any performance difference so far.


_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"

[This message has been edited by Veneficuz (edited 01-16-2003).]

You could also use Aston Shell

I posted it a while back and I think that Webshaman is using or has used it. I keep forgeting to download and try it out. Looks pretty cool though.

Later,

C:\


~Binary is best~

quote:

---

Small footprint in RAM and few processor resources yield higher performance.

---

So before I install this really neat looking shell let me get this straight. It's claiming to be more stable, use less RAM and less processing power? Or am I just reading it incorrectly


A wise man once said;
"I don't know!?!?"

Well, after using Aston Shell for a few weeks now, I have to admit that it does have a small footprint and doesn't take up nearly as much system resources as the WinXP shell with all the bells and whistles.

It's also been very stable so far. I had one major crash, but a reboot fixed that and since then I haven't experienced any major problems with it at all.

Yup. CPrompt is right...I am using Aston Shell...and I like it very much.

well that just does it for me. I am downloading Aston Shell tonight.

Funny thing is going to be when my fiancee tries to do something. She hates it that I change the computer around on her as it is Wait 'till she gets a load of this

Later,

C:\


~Binary is best~

I concur with Veneficuz. I've been using LiteStep for about 2 years now and I love it!

I run ThemeXP, and I'm using the 'Forever Blue' skin.

Out of curiosity, I tried out Aston in place of my Windows 2000 shell. I like the expanding sidebar menus, but they don't seem to offer any benefits over the normal Quicklaunch bar and Start menu (although admittedly, the Start menu makes you click Programs before you get to the useful part.) There are more visual options, but I've never really cared so much about that. And since I've never had any speed or memory issues with my system to begin with, I don't notice an improvement with Aston.

I'm not disrespecting the shell -- it's quite nice, so I wouldn't mind having an excuse to use it. Does it offer some further advantages over the default that I haven't noticed yet?

Well, PT, the major seller for Aston is the customization ability. It offers a lot of control over all navigation types, however, it does take a day and a half to get exactly the setup you want.

The second selling point would be the coolness factor. After looking at the same windows layout for so many years, having something new is a breath of fresh air and it doesn't look too bad either.

As far as pure performance is concerned, it is very stable and it doesn't take up too many system resources. I'd say even less than having active desktop enabled.

Also, once you've configured it to your liking, it's a breeze to navigate and it can be very efficient if used well.

I'd liken it to a skin for Winamp3. It's mostly preference.

Although, I have to admit that I uninstalled it after a few hours. I didn't have time to really get into the customization options and with everything I've got running at the same time those extra few clock cycles come in handy.

Then again, when I have some time to play around, I think I'll have a go at customizing it and checking the possibilities.