What is a shell? The shell is the interface that you see on Windows - the desktop with the shortcuts, the task bar and the Start button. Windows shell is explorer.exe we have all had it crash on us at one point or other. Yes explorer.exe also runs your "mycomputer" but if you replace the shell, explorer wont be running most of your interface so it will be more stable and in a lot of cases much faster. There are other alternatives to the buggy and unstable shell that microshaft gives us and a lot are more stable. Some are just peoples pet projects and others are....well.....expencive because a lot of R&D went into them. The most common of the high end shell replacements is LiteStep. LiteStep has been kicking around longer than most shell replacements, so there will be a bigger following and more modules for it. Changing shells can give windows a whole different appearance and feel, like buying a 97 for taurus to replace your 92. The look is different, but they are the same in the heart. The engine, suspension, even the tires they use are the same. There are many up sides to switching out a shell. One of which is the fact that you can finally customize the look and how you use windows to the way you have always wanted it.
What I'm going to do is install Litestep. The reason i chose this shell is because of the ease of installation because someone made an installer for it. I know that there are going to be a lot of people who after reading this are going to go and replace their shells. So in choosing an easy shell to handle and configure i save you from the trouble of "WHERES ARE MY PROGRAMS". When i first started messing with new shells i often ended up in a situation where i had to go find another computer to find documentation on how just to get a cmd prompt so i could get a web browser opened. Again there are a lot of modules available for it making easily customizable. And isn't that why we are getting rid of the shell that every shmoe has.
So what are modules? They are specially written add-ons which provide extra functionality such as a taskbar, a system tray, a clock and many other features. The functionality of modules is limited to your imagination. However, the modules themselves will probably require a fair bit of computer expertise because most of them have been designed in such a manner that their configuration requires the editing of text files and a fair amount of documentation reading. I'll most likely not touch on the subject of making your own modules, simply because there are enough out there to choose from, that and I'm a lazy @$$. :D
:!:There is something that you should know before you dive head first into a new shell. Some shells are not for the feint of heart nor the inexperienced. The reason i say this is because some require a lot of setting up manually and doing so is not done with a GUI. (Graphical User Interface) If the shell doesn't have an installer chances are that you only get the core shell. What does this mean? Well it means that when you go to install your new shell all you have is the shell and no modules such as your taskbar or system tray. Not even a cmd console.:!:
Installation of a Shell Manager
Before i get started there is a type of program that you may be interested in before we install LiteStep. The program is a shell manager. It allows you to switch between your shell replacement and explorer.exe before you log into windows. The shell switcher also watches the current shell running and if it crashes it either lets the shell reboot if its capable of doing so or it reboots the shell so your not left staring at what ever program you were using in the foreground. The manager I'm going to use is called LiteSpawn. It can be found here. LiteSpawn is for LiteStep and requires there to be a working version of LiteStep for it to work properly. As much as i absolutely hate explorer there are times when being able to switch back or switch to another shell replacement may come in handy, so I'm going to use the manager. Installation of LiteSpawn is relatively easy but i wont cover that here, ill cover that in another post with other shell managers. For now though, i recommend passing this up because we can install this some other time, because LiteStep allows you to switch. Granted it means you have to reboot but for now that's fine, you need to get used to your new environment.
Installation
Ok, now that you have got your distro of LiteStep and are ready to begin. You did get LiteStep from here right?. You will need to give them a username and pass, don't worry about paying for anything because you don't, and they don't ask. Once the file is unzipped and you click on the program you are greeted with a nice installation program.
The next thing you will be asked is what you want installed. I personally recommend a full install because it makes things so much easier for you.
Next your prompted where you want it installed and where you want your themes and user specific files.
Your evars (environment variables) are self explanatory on how and what to use. Most of the programs you want are in your program files folder (Example; C:\Program Files\
After you finish installing you will be prompted to reboot. No brainer here, finish what your doing and reboot. Once you've rebooted you will see a different look to your desktop. The first thing you'll notice is that everything looks almost the same. Don't be fooled, this is just a generic theme that comes with the installer. This is a screen shot of what it looks like with the "stock" theme.
and this is a theme i just d/led to show the difference in layout.
